Page 3 of Meet Me at the Metro

I swallow back that difficult truth as the pilot speaks over the intercom. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome aboard this flight from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International to London Heathrow. If we could call forward your attention while the cabin crew points out the safety features aboard this Airbus.”

I try my absolute best to pay attention to the flight attendants as they demonstrate the various safety procedures in the middle of the open row ahead, but it’s no use. All I can think about is the big city waiting for me.

London—the city of dreams.

I deserve to feel happy about this, despite my sorrow toward leaving home—despite the fact that this new journey will be one that I’ll have to navigate on my own.

This is all going to work out.

It has to.

I settle back into my seat, relaxing the tense muscles of my body as the aircraft roars to life and begins making its way down the lit runway. The plane moves nearly as fast as my heartbeat, and as it ascends into the sky, my eyes watch the city’s twinkling lights grow smaller.

The beautiful, golden sun is setting over the Georgia skyline as we rise higher into the air.As it does, I take a deep breath and wish the home I leave behind the most heartfelt goodbye.

2

WARM WELCOMES

E L L I E

The taxi cab comes to a screeching stop in front of the tall, multi-complex apartment I’ll live in during my enrollment atGildenhill University.I pay the driver and hurry out of the car, bursting with excitement as I unload my suitcases from the trunk. It speeds off behind me before I even have a chance to say thank you.

Standing alone on the sidewalk, I realize I’m about to finally meet the people I’ve chosen to room with for the following two school semesters.

This can either go one of two ways: in my favor or the latter.

I pray that it’s the first one.

I stand at the apartment entrance and allow my senses to take in my new, unfamiliar home. Street lamps, store signs, and car headlights give a beautiful glow to the bustling city before me. I listen to the mixture of laughter, chatter, and music while the smell of Chinese takeout from a few meters away causes me to salivate. From the history-laced brick and stone foundations of the apartments surrounding me to the quaint, charming bar,Gullie’s, that catches my eye, I find myself falling more in love with how alive London makes me feel.

I reach for the buzzer beside the main double doors and press it before I have a chance to change my mind.

I’ve video-chatted with my soon-to-be roommates several times in the past few months, but the realization that I’m finally meeting them inperson chases away my excitement for my new home and replaces it with nerves.

I know the weight of a first impression. The last thing I want to do is screw mine up.

The speaker alongside the entrance suddenly buzzes. “Dave’s Sperm Bank! You spank it, we bank it! How can we help you?”

“Evie?”I recognized her familiar, feminine British voice immediately.

“This issheee!”

“It’s Ellie,” I tell her, happy to see her bubbly, bold personality is just as lively as I remembered it being over the phone. “Your new roommate!”

“Oh my God, Ellie?!Harvey! It’s Ellie!”The speaker crackles with racket that I can’t quite make out. “We’ve been waiting for you all day! Come on up. Second floor. B20!”

The door immediately clicks to my right, and I smile, elated by Evie’s welcoming energy. Having been previously warned about the building’s lack of an elevator, much to my dismay, I waste no time in finding the stairs and beginning my ascent. My arms and calves are on fire when I reach the second-floor landing, and a sigh of relief escapes my lips as I turn the corner of the main hallway.

B20 happens to be the first door I see to my left, and the flat can’t be missed.

An exotic shade of orange paints the door, and my pupils constrict at its brilliance. A rainbow-splattered doormat lies before me, and I grin at the words stamped against the pattern.

Jolliest Bunch of Assholes.

I’m about to knock on the glossy metal door when it opens wide. Evie bolts out of it, bubbling with pure, unfiltered enthusiasm as she wraps me into a generous hug. Like second nature, I return her embrace.

“You made it!” Evie squeals, squeezing what little life is left in me after a long day’s travel. Once she releases me, she pauses and allows her dark eyes to scan me briefly. “You’re even prettier in person!”

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