A.N - Please don't kill me. It was hard enough to write. Now you know why my update wasn't as quick as it normally is. Well, when you reach the end of this chapter you will. On the other hand, it's over 2000 words. Go me. :D
This can go out to Emily - who has put up with a lot from me today. I wouldn't stop talking about Adam Pascal from RENT.
William Shakespeare was a very gifted and versatile writer. He probably only had some grammar school education, compared to the other writers of his day who would have been to university and thoroughly educated. Despite this, Shakespeare surpassed the 'professionals' of the age. Though most of his work was met with great success, his most famous plays were written in his later years. Some examples include : 'Hamlet', 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'King Lear'.
European Literature
An Essay by Susannah Simon
Chapter 4
How much does it suck, that I'm in London - London! - for possibly the first and only time in my life, and I'm stuck inside of Heathrow airport? Yeah, a lot. And to make it worse? Jesse and I got separated in the whole getting off the plane thing. I don't know why we couldn't have just stayed on. It was only refuelling.
Our suitcases weren't going to get off the plane. Why should we?
I wasn't happy, to say the least. I was sat, once again, in the departure lounge with my arms crossed and a pout on my lips, refusing to talk to anyone, like I'd been doing for the past ten minutes.
Not even Cee Cee and Adam. Despite how much they tried to get me to talk.
"Come on Suze!" Cee Cee tried to enthuse me. "We're in London. The United Kingdom!"
"It's not like we can leave the airport," Adam muttered, earning a slap on the shoulder from Cee Cee. "What? It's true."
"Shut up, Adam." Cee Cee hissed. Their exchange almost made me laugh.
But I was stubbornly remaining silent.
"Hey, Suze!" Cee Cee tried again. "It's that hot guy from California."
My head picked up, looking desperately for Jesse.
"Guess he was on our flight after all." She finished.
Which proved how much attention she paid to me on the flight. I don't care if I was four rows behind them. It could still be done.
"Where?" I asked, finally speaking when I couldn't find him.
"Ha!" Cee Cee shouted. "Got you to talk."
My mouth fell open. That was so unfair. I turned to face Cee Cee and Adam - who was looking a bit confused, considering he had no idea who this guy was - and opened my mouth to tell them off.
At least that was the plan. I discarded it as soon as I saw Jesse over Adam's shoulder. I felt a smile crack my face as I saw him wave me over and left my best friends without another word.
"Hey," I greeted coolly. "Having fun here in England?"
Jesse laughed.
"Oh yeah," he joked. "Heathrow is the highlight of the trip. I'm quite fond of Gatwick Airport myself, but Heathrow has its charms."
"You've been to England before?" I asked as we moved to find some seats.
"Yeah," he admitted. "A few times when I was growing up."
"Wow." I smiled at him. "I wish I was as well-travelled as you. I've only ever been to New York and California."
"London was the only place I went to as a child, you know." He told me. I could see Cee Cee looking at me in shock out of the corner of my eye. "I lived in Barcelona and now I live in California. That's all I've been to."
I nodded.
Before any of us could say anything else, the call for our flight to re-board crackled over the speakers.
"That's us." I said before mentally wincing. I think he kind of knew that it was our flight, before I told him.
"Thanks." He said, making me smile. "I never would've gotten it otherwise. See you on board."
I nodded again and walked back over to Cee Cee and Adam to collect my hand luggage, which didn't consist of much. A notebook - which I'd already started my essay in - and a few pens was pretty much it.
"Suze," Adam began, putting his arm around my shoulder while Cee Cee walked next to my other side. "Cee and I were talking -"
"And we came to a decision." My boarding pass was snatched out of my hand.
"Hey!" I protested.
"Adam is going to sit in your seat." Cee Cee announced, passing my card over to Adam.
"And you are going to sit next to Cee Cee," Adam shrugged. "We thought it only fair, considering you were on your own for the trip here."
"No, guys," I tried to get my boarding pass back out of Adam's hands. "It's really okay. I like my seat."
By now, we already on the aeroplane. Cee Cee walked to her seat by the window, pulling me in behind her to sit in the middle seat while Adam walked four rows back and stole my seat.
"Cee Cee!" I whined.
"There's no point in complaining," she stated. "You're not getting out now."
"What do you mean?"
Cee Cee pointed to the person who had taken the aisle seat.
"Paul is my bouncer. He's there to make sure you don't try to leave."
I turned to face Paul Slater with an expression of horror on my face. Darn it! She'd thought of everything.
"What happens if I need to go to toilet?" I asked. "Really, really badly?"
Cee Cee raised any eyebrow.
"Oh, please," She rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the British newspaper she'd bought. A souvenir she said it was. "You went, like, twice in the airport."
I resumed my 'moody' pose from earlier and crossed my arms, hung my head and refused to talk to anybody.
"I don't know why you don't want to sit by me so badly." She carried on. "It's only two hours. We've had lectures longer then that which you didn't mind sitting next to me during."
"It's not you, Cee," I told her. There was no way I was going to be able to not talk for the next two hours. Like I told Jesse, I'd go insane. "Remember the guy from the airport?"
Cee Cee nodded.
"I was sitting next to him," I admitted.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked.
"It's not like I didn't try!"
"Girls," Paul interrupted the beginning of our argument. "Not to sound like I was eavesdropping or anything, but, it would look a bit suspicious if you went up to Adam and demanded that you switch, wouldn't it?"
Damn Paul Slater. He had a point. I was forced to stay in this stupid seat, between people I already knew - neither of which I had a crush on - for the next two hours.
My heartbeat began to race when the speed of the plane began to pick up. Take-off. Again. Only this time I didn't have Jesse to calm me down, and neither of my partners were aware of how scared I could get.
I forced myself to look at the seat in front of me and didn't dare let my eyes stray. My fingers gripped the armrests and I took deep breaths, focusing on that more then anything else.
I jumped when I felt a warm, large hand settle on my own.
"It's okay," Paul said. "We're in the air now."
Sure enough, the seatbelt signed pinged off. I snatched my hand out from under Paul's and crossed my arms.
"Thanks," I muttered.
Paul looked at me a bit longer before returning his attention to the book he'd brought with him. Considering Cee Cee's nose was stuck in the newspaper - and, if not, her pen was scribbling in her notebook - it looked like I was truly alone for the whole journey.
It was times like this that I hated both of my best friends.
----
Landing was worse than take-off was. Purely because Paul had caught on how nervous they made me and insisted on holding my hand throughout the entirety of it. His hand was cold and clammy - compared to Jesse's warm and hot grip that had been around my own not three hours before.
By the time I got off the plane, I was annoyed and exhausted. Our flight had left at eleven that morning back in L.A. The journey was thirteen hours so it should be midnight-ish back home in California. It was way too sunny for it to be midnight here in Barcelona. My guess had been confirmed when the captain had very kindly told us that the local time was nine a.m.
I swung my hand luggage onto my back and made my way to baggage claim, ignoring both Cee Cee and Adam who were shouting after me.
"Suze!" Adam's voice cried again. "Listen! That guy I sat next to wanted me to tell you something."
I stopped and turned to face him.
"What?" I asked excitedly.
"He said he'd meet you out front." Adam's eyes narrowed. "What's that about anyway, Suze? What about your host family?"
I rolled my eyes.
"Jesse is a member of my host family," I told them. "Jesse de Silva. I'm staying with the De Silva's, remember?"
They were both stunned.
"Wow," Cee Cee muttered. "Big coincidence."
"Yes," I told her, grabbing her hand and walking to baggage claim even quicker. I was not going to waste part of my three months with Jesse because I had missed my suitcase. "I know."
"Geez," Cee Cee complained. "Calm down. He wasn't that good looking."
I refused to answer her.
"Hey, you." Jesse's now familiar voice sounded from behind me as I spotted my suitcase come trundling around the corner, on top of the conveyer belt.
"Hey." I muttered distractedly, readying myself to reach for it.
Jesse laughed and picked it up easily, when he realised what suitcase I was going for. Let me tell you, last time I checked, that case was very heavy. Very heavy.
"Ready to go?" He asked.
I nodded. We'd been told that a member of one of our host family's were going to be meeting us at the airport. I'd met mine on the flight, so I was free to go.
"Just let me say goodbye to my friends."
Jesse nodded his consent and I turned to try and find Cee Cee and Adam, waving as I noticed them. I didn't need to talk to them, not really. We were meeting up later tonight anyway.
"All set." I told Jesse with a smile.
I pulled my suitcase along behind me and followed Jesse out of the unfamiliar airport. I almost ran into him when he stopped suddenly.
"Jesse?" I asked him.
He didn't answer me. His face paled visibly. I could tell and I was behind him. He'd obviously seen something he wasn't happy about.
"Maria?" His voice was raw, scratchy. "What are you doing here?"
He spoke to an unbelievably attractive woman, She was tanned and had black, curly hair that was tied back in a simple ponytail. Every item of clothing on her screamed designer.
"Your mother sent me here to pick up both you and some American that she's hosting for three months." The woman I could only assume was Maria answered.
"Um," I interrupted. "That would be me. I'm the American."
Jesse remained frozen as Maria looked me up and down condescendingly.
"Charming." She stated, unimpressed, as she look at me from over her sunglasses - designer, of course - before pushing them back up on her nose, uninterestedly.
"Well?" She demanded of Jesse. "Aren't you going to greet your fiancée properly?"
Fiancée?!?!
Jesse shook out of his … whatever he'd been in and slipped an easy smile on his face.
"Of course." I noticed a muscle ticking in his jaw. I only caught it because I was standing behind him.
I was too shaken to speak - or move - as I watched Jesse stride over to Maria, wrap his fingers in her dark curls, and kiss her. Thoroughly.
Just when I thought it couldn't possibly get worse, I saw Maria bring up her own hand to wrap around Jesse's back and I was faced with the biggest engagement ring I'd ever seen before in my life.
Of course Jesse would have a girlfriend - look at him. I was just stupid enough to think he actually liked me.
Blinking back tears, I raised my head, grabbed my suitcase and began pulling it out of the airport, leaving the sight of Jesse kissing his fiancée behind me. The only downside was that I couldn't actually go anywhere. Maria was supposed to be taking me to the de Silva household.
Suddenly, three months in the same house as Jesse wasn't sounding so good.