The Distance Between Us

Page 4

The flight to Charlotte was nearly nine hours.

Elena had known that before booking her ticket.

Knowing it and experiencing it were two very different things.

For the first hour, she tried to read.

For the second, she watched the clouds through the window.

By the third, she had stopped pretending she was going to accomplish anything.

She rested her forehead against the glass and watched the endless white landscape below.

Somewhere beneath those clouds was the Atlantic.

An entire ocean separating her from the people she had known her entire life.

She reached for her phone.

There were already several messages from her family.

Maman: Did you eat?

Elena smiled.

She replied.

Elena: Yes.

A few seconds later:

Maman: What did you eat?

Elena stared at the message.

Then typed:

Elena: Food.

Her mother's response came almost immediately.

Maman: Very funny.

Elena smiled to herself.

The tension in her chest eased slightly.

Then another notification appeared.

This one wasn't from her family.

Westbridge International Student Office: Welcome to North Carolina, Elena. Your roommate, Maya Carter, has confirmed that she will meet you at your residence hall.

Elena read the message twice.

Maya Carter.

Her roommate.

They had exchanged a few messages over the past week, but only briefly.

Maya had seemed friendly.

Very friendly, actually.

Almost suspiciously friendly.

She had sent Elena a photograph of their dorm room with the caption:

Don't judge the mess. I was promised storage space and apparently that was a lie.

Elena had laughed when she saw it.

She hadn't known what to expect from her roommate.

A stranger from another country.

Another personality.

Another life.

She wondered whether they would get along.

Then she remembered her mother's advice.

Make friends.

Elena sighed.

That sounded considerably easier when her mother said it.

She put her phone away and looked through the small window again.

The sky had begun changing.

The blue was deeper now.

The clouds thinner.

The sun was moving toward the horizon.

For the first time, Elena realized something.

She was no longer traveling toward an unknown place.

She was traveling toward her new home.

She closed her eyes.

For the next few hours, she slept.

When she woke again, the captain's voice came through the cabin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be beginning our descent into Charlotte shortly."

Elena sat upright.

Her heart began beating faster.

She looked out the window.

Below her was a world she had never seen before.

Highways.

Buildings.

Green stretches of land.

Lights appearing in the distance.

America.

Elena whispered the word to herself.

"Wow."

The plane descended through the clouds.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport was nothing like the airport Elena had left behind in Lyon.

It was bigger.

Louder.

And somehow faster.

The moment she stepped through the arrivals area, she felt as though everyone already knew exactly where they were going except her.

People hurried past with coffee cups in their hands and phones pressed against their ears. Families reunited beside the baggage claim. Business travelers walked quickly without looking around.

Elena stood still for a moment.

Her suitcase beside her.

Her carry-on over one shoulder.

Her passport still in her hand.

She looked at the signs.

Baggage Claim.

Ground Transportation.

Rental Cars.

Everything was in English.

Of course it was.

She knew English.

She had studied it for years.

She could read it.

She could write it.

She could hold a conversation.

But suddenly, hearing dozens of Americans speaking around her made the language feel completely different.

A man walked past her talking rapidly into his phone.

A woman laughed loudly nearby.

Someone called, "Hey, man!"

Elena almost turned around.

Then she realized he wasn't talking to her.

She smiled to herself.

Okay.

She took a breath.

You're fine.

Her suitcase finally appeared on the carousel.

She grabbed the handle and pulled it toward her.

Then came the next problem.

Getting to Westbridge.

She checked her phone.

Maya had sent another message.

Maya: ELENA!!!

A second message arrived immediately.

Maya: Please tell me you landed.

Elena laughed.

Elena: I just got my luggage.

The reply came almost instantly.

Maya: THANK GOD.

Then:

Maya: I'm waiting for you outside. Blue hoodie. Probably holding a ridiculous amount of coffee.

Elena looked toward the exit.

She wondered what Maya looked like.

She had seen one picture.

But photographs could be deceiving.

Elena pulled her suitcase behind her and walked toward the doors.

They opened automatically.

Warm air touched her face.

She stopped.

It was warmer than Lyon.

Much warmer.

She looked up at the unfamiliar sky.

North Carolina.

She had actually made it.

Then she heard someone shout.

"ELENA!"

She turned.

A girl in a blue university hoodie was waving both arms from several meters away, holding two iced coffees.

Her brown hair was tied into a messy ponytail.

She was smiling like they had known each other for years.

Elena blinked.

The girl hurried toward her.

"You're Elena, right?"

"Yes."

"Oh my God! You actually came!"

Maya immediately hugged her.

Elena froze for half a second.

She wasn't accustomed to strangers hugging her.

Then she slowly returned the hug.

Maya pulled back.

"Sorry. I hug people."

Elena smiled.

"I noticed."

Maya glanced at the suitcase. "Is this everything?"

"Almost. I have another bag."

Maya's eyes widened. "Another bag?"

"One more."

"Elena, you're staying for one semester, not moving to another continent."

Elena looked at her seriously. "I did move to another continent."

Maya stared at her for a moment before laughing. "Okay. Fair point."

She handed Elena one of the iced coffees.

"I brought this for you."

Elena accepted it carefully. "Thank you."

"Do you like coffee?"

"Yes."

"Good. I was worried you might say no."

"Why?"

"Because then I would have to drink both of these, and I already had two."

Elena looked at the cups. "You were waiting for me for a long time?"

"Only forty minutes."

"Forty minutes?"

"That sounds worse when you say it like that."

"You told me you were outside."

"I was outside. Then I went inside because it was hot. Then I went outside again because I thought you might be outside."

Elena laughed. "You were confused."

"Completely. But I looked confident."

"You did not."

Maya placed a hand over her heart. "That hurts. We just met."

"You hugged me before introducing yourself."

"Right. I'm Maya."

"Elena."

"I know. I shouted your name in front of everyone."

"Yes. Everyone looked at me."

"That was the plan. Very efficient."

Elena shook her head, but she was still smiling.

Maya reached for the suitcase handle. "Come on. I'll help you."

"I can carry it."

"I know you can. I'm still helping."

"You don't have to."

"I know I don't have to. That's what makes it friendship."

Elena looked at her. "We're friends already?"

Maya began pulling the suitcase toward the parking area. "You let me hug you and accepted my coffee. It's official."

Elena followed beside her. "Those are the requirements?"

"For now."

"And what happens next?"

"First, I take you to campus. Then I show you your room. Then we find food because airport snacks don't count as dinner."

"I ate on the plane."

"That definitely doesn't count."

"Why not?"

"Because airplane food is not real food."

Elena took a sip of her coffee. "This is very sweet."

Maya smiled. "Welcome to America."

Elena looked at the crowded airport behind them, then at Maya walking confidently ahead.

"Is everything here sweet?"

"Pretty much. Coffee, tea, cereal, people—"

"People are sweet?"

"Some of them. The rest are just loud."

Elena laughed again.

Maya glanced back at her. "You laugh a lot."

"Do I?"

"Yes. I like it."

Elena looked down at her coffee, suddenly shy. "You talk a lot."

Maya grinned. "I like that too."