Fresh air! Irish, fresh air. I'm not sure if it's possible for air to have a nationality, but let's pretend that it can.
We are finally here. Belfast, our first stop.
Now, you must be wondering why our first stop is Belfast. To answer that question, I don't know. We're going to visit Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; so, the whole Ireland basically, and we are starting from the top.
Everyone is excited and euphoric now that we've arrived; we are outside the airport waiting for a bus to pick us up, supposedly.
I'm sitting on top of one of my two bags, eating a KitKat with Sarah and Beth by my side, also eating. I can't explain my love for this chocolate right now. I've always loved KitKats, but at this moment, I love it more than anything; more than James, than my friends, maybe even more than myself. I spent 8 hours and 19 minutes on that plane, and I am starving. Around the middle of the flight, I asked an attendant if we were going to have another meal, and she answered me with a fake smile, and a simple "no". So, I tried again and asked if there was any other food on board that I could buy, and again she said no.
As you see, I was starved.
The flight itself was long, not helping my hunger. The jetlag does not help either; where I live, in Nashville, Tennessee, it's 5.00pm now. In another words, snack time. On the other hand, here in Belfast it's 11.00pm.
My bad mood left, which is always a good thing. A long nap and food always help a girl act like a lady. At least in my case, that is what happens.
Mr. Smith appears at the front door with other teachers that are coming with us. They say that they're here to make sure we don't vandalize any monuments.
Who do they think we are? Stupid teenagers? Without the intention of doing so, my eyes focus in on the animals.
Oh yeah, stupid teenagers. Got it.
Mr. Smith places himself in front of all of us and tries to speak. Key word there, 'tries'.
"Everyone calm down. I understand why you are all so thrilled, but yo- "No one, and I mean no one, gives any attention to our teacher. "Please, hear me out," slowly but surely, the noise is replaced with silence and Mr. Smith begins.
"As you all have noticed by now, we have finally arrived." A mix of hoorays, shouts, and howls erupt "Before the bus arrives - in around 15 minutes, we are going to talk about the plan for tomorrow. Belfast is a big city, and for the first day of our marvelous travel, we will be going to visit the site where the Games of Thrones is shot, Crumlin Road Gaol, Victoria Square, and a few other places. Keep in mind that this trip is for the sole purpose of what we are studying in my class. With that in mind, lets have fun!"
Once again, the hoorays start and this time the girls and I decide to join. The noise is starting to rise when Mr. Smith interrupts again, "Oh wait, I forgot something important," Here we go again. "With me I have several sheets of paper, and all of them contain the information about the person who you are going to share your rooms with."
What? What does he mean by that? The fuss begins again, but this time louder. I look at Beth, and she has a look of confusion and panic across her face. I can only bet that Sarah's and mine are the same.
I thought that we could choose our roommates and that I could stay with one of the girls. Even though there are three of us, we could probably play some game like rock, paper, and scissors, to see which one of us would end up staying alone in one room.
"I'm not finished. Please, listen up kids." No one cares dear teacher; we all have our pants in a twist right now, yeah? Since nobody is going to shut up anytime soon, Mr. Smith decides to raise his voice, " Hey... on that sheet is a list of all your names. When you find yours, beside it is going to be your partner's name, the one that will be sharing a room with you for the rest of the month. Before I give you the paper sheets, I just want to tell you that when we arrive at the hotel, go check in and then leave immediately to your respective room, and try to rest. It may be hard because of the jetlag, but it is the best thing for you to do. The breakfast is at 7.30am and we will be meeting there tomorrow to start the day. Now come here and discover who your partner is."
Sleep? I can't just 'sleep'. What if my roommate is some kind of a rapist or psychopath? Forget it. I'm not going to sleep with someone crazy in the same closed space as me.
"Are you ready?"
"Huh?"
"You're coming with us or not?" Beth asks, pointing to the queue that is forming to receive the paper.
Oh crap.
Walking to Mr. Smith with my two best friends by my side, I can only think that maybe I will get lucky and stay with someone that is not a total jerk or bitch.
I want to laugh at myself, the odds are not in my favor; they never are. And that is not going to change now; I'm definitely going to end up staying with a rapist.
"Ms. Blair," I was so concentrated on my thoughts that I didn't even notice I was face to face with Mr. Smith. He sends me a small smile when I reach him and gives me the paper. I nod at him as a thank you and leave.
Please, please, please, let it be someone good.
I keep this in my mind as a lullaby while a search for my name on the list.
Anderson, Miranda - Jones, Jessica
...
Allen, Ruth – Jackson, Martha
...
Baker, Lydia – Palmer, Amanda
...
Blair, Katherine – Parker, Lucy
Who is this chick?
I have never heard this name before; I don't even know any Lucy's' in my life, forget about knowing one girl with this name in college.
As if on cue, the bus arrives and in the 10 minute drive, I discover that not even Sarah and Beth know who this girl is. And this is a serious problem to Sarah, why? She loves gossip, and with that comes the need to know everyone in school. When she becomes an old lady, she is going to know all the dirty secrets in her neighbourhood. So, imagine her surprise when she didn't know this girl.
I don't know if I should be happy because Sarah doesn't know her or concerned. Maybe she really is a rapist. You would NOT want to cause attention if you are a rapist, right?
I don't even wait for the rest of the students to leave the bus; I jump to my feet and enter the hotel as quickly as possible. I headed straight to the desk where a young man was, obviously the receptionist. I ask him for the keys to my room and imagine my surprise when he says and I quote, 'I'm sorry madam, but your key was already requested. Hopefully it was from the lady who is sharing the space with you.'
I am pissed. I was one of the first ones to leave the bus; how was it possible for her to get the key before me? I'm going to rip her head off her shoulders, and then burn her body like they do to the vampires.
I must look like a mad woman while walking in the halls in search for my room, which the receptionist gave me the number to.
Now that I don't have the key, I can't just simply enter and sleep. And if that Lucy chick appeared, I would be too sound asleep to hear her knock on the door and she would have to sleep outside. But that will probably happen to me.
214
...
216
...
218
Got ya.
Finally, when I reach my destination, I knock, wait and plead to God to let me in.
If she doesn't open the door, I'm going to kick it with my foot.
A girl then opens the door, and I must say that she does not look like to what I was expecting. And by her facial expression, I can tell she's thinking the same about me. That's a good sign, correct?
She has dirty-blond hair, big brown eyes - not like a brown the colour of poop, it's like the colour of chocolate, the dark one, and she also has a cute face, with freckles on her cheeks and nose. She is a little bit smaller than me, but in a cute way. All in all, she looks like a really sweet girl.
"Kate Blair?" Saying my name, I notice the accent in her voice. Australia, maybe? She is really far away from home then.
"That's me. I'm going to guess that you are Lucy?" A cute laugh leaves her lips and she nods.
"Yes. Come in, I was just taking my things out of my bags." That being said, she moves to the side to let me pass by. I take my time, taking only the necessary items out of my bags and while doing that; I make small conversation with Lucy. I take a quick shower and then go to bed.
It is not the most comfortable bed and by far not the fluffiest pillow, but I don't care because when the sleep takes over, I go with the flow.
Before drifting to sleep, one simple thought - a simple phrase, floats through my mind and it's with this thought, I fall asleep.
Let the trip begin.