Chapter 6

Luna

"Hurry up, Alyssa! Luna's gonna be late for his flight!" Papa called from his seat on the couch. Miss my flight? Hm...doesn't seem that bad.

In that case... "Take your time, Mama!" I joked, earning a hard glare from Papa. Oh well. It was currently 6:45 in the morning and I was preparing to leave for my flight which took off at 7:30. Of course, I was trying to stall as much as I can to avoid this horrible trip. Who the heck wants to be stuck in another country for months without any friends or family? I already knew how this trip would go:

Terrible.

Papa and I had been standing there for ten minutes, waiting for Mama to finish getting ready. We're just going to the airport. I didn't understand why she needed to take forever to get ready. Finally, Mama came down the stairs, dressed in nothing but sweatpants and a sweater. She took years to get ready just to wear that? Are you serious?

"Oh baby! I'm gonna miss you so much!" I cried when I spotted Aurora poking her head out of the kitchen. I immediately scooped her into my arms and placed kisses on her furry little head.

"Luna we don't have time for this," Papa sighed. I nodded and gave Aurora one more kiss before exiting the house with my parents. We entered our car and began to head off to the airport. As I passed through my hometown, which mostly consisted of trees and ranch houses, I began to tear up a bit. Yeah, I'm crying because I'm leaving home. I'm an emotional boy, so what?

It wasn't long before we finally arrived at the airport. Papa grabbed my bags as Mama and I filed out of the car and into the airport. They followed me through the airport until they couldn't go any further. I turned to face them with tears starting to well up in my eyes. Stupid emotions...

"Don't cry baby," Mama frowned, pulling me into a hug. I glanced over her shoulder at Papa who was giving me an unamused look. Right...I'm supposed to be a responsible adult...

not a crybaby.

"I'm not crying," I lied, wiping my eyes. "I'm just allergic to...planes..."

Mama giggled, squeezing me even tighter. "Right...I'm gonna miss you, honey."

"I'm gonna miss you too, Mama," I sighed, pulling away from her. She kissed my cheek before moving out of the way for Papa to say goodbye. As I reach for a hug, Papa holds his hand out, stopping me in my actions.

"I'm trusting you, Luna," he said sternly. "Do not mess this up for me."

"I won't!" I smiled. "I'm going to exceed your expectations, trust me."

"You better," he gave me a stern look which made me a bit uncomfortable. I cleared my throat and prepared to leave as I heard my plane being called. "You're not gonna give your old man a hug?"

I felt the heat in my cheeks as a ping of embarrassment filled me. Oh god... "I-I didn't know you wanted one," I whispered and headed over to give him a hug. He was about a head taller than me so I could only reach far enough to wrap my arms around his torso. A smile grew on my face as I felt him return the favor by giving me a tight squeeze and a kiss on the forehead.

"I know I don't show much affection towards you but I do love you, Luna. I think you're gonna do an amazing job with this," he muttered.

"Thanks, Papa," I grinned, pulling away as my plane got called for the second time.

"You should go before you miss your flight," Mama gave me a weak smile. I nodded and gave my parents another hug before running off towards the plane.

"Bye guys! Love you!" I yelled as I ran away. I handed the flight attendant my ticket before entering the plane and finding my seat. I was situated towards the back of the airplane, next to the window. At least my seat was good!

Before I knew it, the plane was beginning to land at JFK airport. Excitedly, I stared out of the window before grabbing my bag and exiting the plane behind everyone. I waved goodbye at the woman who was sitting next to me throughout the flight. She was a sweet, older woman who spent a lot of the flight telling me humorous stories of her kids. In return, I also shared of few stories of mine. Once I'd received a small smile from her, I exited the plane and made my way over to the baggage claim. I was intrigued by all of the American accents I was hearing as I walked through the airport. It sounds kinda ugly, to be be quite honest.

Eventually, I had my bag and was walking around the airport again; this time, looking for the exit. Once I'd found it, I tried to gain the attention of a cab driver but that was a fail. Can't anyone just stop and help a small British boy get to his hotel! After a while of failing, I grabbed my phone and decided to just order an Uber. That was much easier than hailing a cab. Dumb drivers.

My uber arrived within fifteen minutes, and came to pick me up. I hauled all of my stuff into the back of the car before climbing in. I gave the driver the directions to my hotel (which I'd received from my parents), and relaxed in my seat as I enjoyed the ride. It wasn't long before we pulled in front of a tall building. My Uber driver helped me carry my bags into the hotel, which I immediately thanked him for, and drove off. I made my way into the main lobby, passing by a few tall men with an insane amount of buttons on their jackets. I think we have those in England too. The receptionist of the hotel gave me a smile as I walked up to her.

"Hi, welcome to the Hilton!" she exclaimed in her strange accent.

"Hello!" I smiled. "I have a reservation set under the name Petit."

She typed on her computer for a bit before she handed me two room keys and small pamphlet. "Room 601. Enjoy your stay!"

"Thank you," I said as one of the button guys came to grab my bags. I shrugged and followed him onto the elevator. We spoke very few words to each other on the ride up. Eventually, we reached my suite where I'd be staying over the next month or so. The button man carried the bags into the suite before bidding me a goodbye.

"Bye Mr. Button-Man!" I yelled behind him, earning myself a strange look. I giggled to myself and closed the door, turning around to examine the suite. There was a small orange living room area which had a white couch along with a coffee table and a flat screen television. Next to the living room was a door which led into the bedroom. It was typical bedroom that connected to a bathroom. The last thing, was the kitchen, where i would proudly spend most of my time. I unpacked my bags, neatly hanging them up in the closet before deciding to explore New York City.

I made my way out of the hotel room and began to walk around, making note of the route back to the hotel. It was a bright, sunny day in New York City which was great in comparison to gloomy England. I was enjoying my walk, when all of a sudden, I spotted a large park on the other side of the road. Excitedly, I ran towards it and began to head to the swing set.

I was obviously way too excited because I didn't even spot the large wall in front of me that sent me to the ground. "Oh crap!" I gasped as I hit the ground. I'm such a klutz...

I looked up to see what wasn't a wall, but was a tall man holding his hand out to help me up. I gratefully wrapped my hand around his and stood up. As I dusted myself off, I noticed an adorable tan puppy licking a blue liquid off of the ground. I cleared my throat and looked back at the man who'd I'd previously run into. "S-Sorry about that," I mumbled, biting my lip and looking away, trying my best to avoid eye contact. It took a while for the man to respond. He seemed to be in some kind of daze or something.

"Ah, it's okay," he finally replied, sighing. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Did it hurt when you fell?"

"N-No, I'm okay," I answered, despite the slight throbbing I began to feel in my elbow from the fall. I noticed a familiar looking woman walking up to him. Must be his girlfriend or something. That was my cue to leave. "Sorry for running into you. I'll see you around!" I called and ran away.

First day in New York City and you've already embarrassed yourself. Good job, Luna...