A Little Bit... A Little More. (Huh?)

Type: Chapter 1

"Don't stay up all night playing your games just because I'm not there to tell you to go to sleep."

"Okay, mom!"

"It's not good for your eyes to be on your phone that long."

"Yes, mom!"

"Remember to eat your meals on time."

"I will, mom!"

"And remember to..."

"Come on, honey! Type is grown now. You need to push him out of the nest for him to learn how to spread his wings," my dad interjected.

My mom, who had been holding it all in finally showed the first signs of breaking as her eyes glistened with tears threatening to fall at any moment. Looking at her, my chest constricted even though I couldn't understand why. I was happy to be leaving home; this tiny, sleepy isle where I had spent my entire life; to move to a city to experience life and things that wouldn't be possible here. But when I looked at my mom's eyes glazed with tears, it made me want to abandon it all, without even knowing how to wrap my head around the reason.

"Ever since you were little, I've dreamt of you growing up, moving to the city and bringing a beautiful girl home to meet us," my dad said to break the silence.

"A different one every time," he added with a wide grin on his face. 

That made my mom thwack his forearm with the back of her hand as her expression changed from one of sadness to annoyance with an edge of bemusement. When I saw her relax, it helped me shake off the previous hesitation and I smiled at them both. I caught a glimpse of my dad looking at mom with this look in his eyes that I've noticed since I was very little. He looked at her the same way every time he made her laugh. No wonder they'd been married for as many years as they have because my mom, who was almost about to burst into tears a few seconds ago, was now smiling.

"I will make sure to sleep on time, eat my meals on time, and call you to tell you all about how college is going for me," I said while I held on to my mom's hands as I swayed them with the rhythm of my words. 

I then turned to my dad, "And I'll call you as soon as I find my first girlfriend so you can prepare the best cottage in your beautiful resort for us when we come down to visit." 

My mom released my grasp on her hands with a jerk and slapped the side of my right arm. 

"How many times have I told you not to humour your dad? I'm glad you're leaving now to finally be free from his influence," she said as she gave a side eye to dad, who just laughed at successfully employing his son to annoy his wife.

I hugged my parents, said my goodbyes, strapped my hand bag to my right while dragging my suitcase with the other and walked into the airport, a ball of excitement, fear, and trepidation. 

I'd been to Bangkok before on a school trip and I still remembered being awestruck at how different a place it was compared to our little island. I had made a decision there that I would find a way to go back and today was finally that day.

-

I couldn't even remember how I got to the dorm. The last time my mind was working hand in hand with my body, I was handing my boarding pass at the gate as I turned around to say goodbye to everything I was ever familiar with: my home, my parents, my island.

Now, I was sitting on the bed that was going to be mine for a year, in the little dorm room as I looked at the other bed that seems to take up all the space that was left over after the two study tables and closets that lined the empty walls of the room. There was less than half a meter of space between the two beds.