Going the Distance ✔️

Chapter twenty three.

When Friday came around, I felt tired, but relieved that I had caught up on all of my work and never ditched any of my classes. I couldn't say the same for Liam, though. I was pretty sure he ditched more times than I could count and I wasn't sure why he ditched. He was doing quite well, so why would he ruin that?

Xanthe poked her head through my bedroom door just as I finished packing my things for our weekend away. "Hey, are you ready?"

"Yes," I said with a smile, "I am really looking forward to seeing what American colleges look like." I zipped up my bag and placed it around my shoulder.

Xanthe smiled and it glowed. She always had that winning, pearly white teeth smile, just like her brother's. I noticed that about the two of them, they looked so much alike. "Are you thinking of studying over here?"

I shrugged and walked towards her. "Maybe. I need to look at my options and see what they offer. I think it'll be a good experience to see what other places can offer me."

Xanthe chuckled. "Wow, you've really thought about this."

I nodded and as we both left to go downstairs. "I have."

"You have what?" Liam appeared from the kitchen, chewing on an apple.

I dumped my bag near the front door. "Nothing." I simply said just as their parents came from downstairs.

"You kids ready?" Mrs. Gilbert smiled as both of them had their bags glued to their hands.

Xanthe nodded. "We're ready. How long is the trip?"

Mr and Mrs Gilbert walked towards the front door and opened it, letting the evening air rush through the house. "It's about an hour," Mrs. Gilbert replied as we all left the house, "we'll stop off at the hotel first before dinner. The open day starts at nine so we'll have breakfast at the hotel first and then we'll look at the first college. The next open day isn't too far away, we can make a stop on Sunday. Maybe go out to dinner tomorrow night." Mrs. Gilbert finished just as we all piled into one car.

"Do we get any say as to which college we attend? I wouldn't mind having a look at New York or even California." Xanthe said as Mr. Gilbert started the car and drove us down the street and out of the city.

"Sweetie," Mrs. Gilbert said, "that's a little too far, don't you think?" Xanthe slouched in her seat and gazed out the window at her mother's response. I could tell there was more to the story and maybe Xanthe wanted to live someplace else, someplace bigger and maybe even better. I shrugged the thought away and enjoyed the ride.

I was sitting in between Xanthe and Liam because I basically had no choice. Liam made me sit in the middle because he didn't want to be near Xanthe and honestly, I thought the argument between the two of them had gone on long enough. What happened between them happened last year and they were siblings, they should stick together. I kept my thoughts to myself and the rest of the drive was silence apart from Mrs. Gilbert talking about the colleges and what our agenda was going to be. I was excited to see how different it was between America and England.

When we arrived at the hotel, I was stunned. I mean, I knew their parents were wealthy, but I didn't think they were this wealthy. The hotel looked to be one hundred stories high with windows all along the building with the lights shining through. When we all got out of the car, I couldn't keep my eyes off it.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Liam nudged me as somebody came to help us with our bags.

I never kept my eyes off the tall building. "We don't have anything like this in Bristol."

"Come on, Lou. We don't want you to get even more sick." Liam smirked as I met his gaze. I rolled my eyes and followed everyone into the hotel. I didn't understand why their parents went through so much trouble just to have a look at colleges. I honestly thought we would just drive down for the day and drive back home. It wasn't that far so why spend so much money on accommodation?