Page 1 of A Twist in Fate
CHAPTER 1
Ivy
Song 1
You'regonna go far - Noah Kahan
23/06
Bailey: I can’t wait to see you! Text me once you have landed, please.
You are destined for something great. You are meant to be someone great. That is what I have been told for as long as I can remember. From learning how to play the piano at the age of seven and achieving the second highest grades in my year at the age of sixteen, it is all I have known. But how much longer will I be good enough at everything but be great at nothing? How long must I wait to find out where my future is meant to lead me?
I am tired of not knowing.
Apparently, my parents had decided that their lives, and my own, fell apart when I had chosen to take a gap year so that I could earn enough money and travel over three thousand miles to see mybest friend in Pennsylvania. According to them, my life has been planned out almost entirely from when I was six and instead of taking a gap year, I should be following this plan to be at university, at home, in London. Even though I could have committed to studying nursing and staying with them, I have always wanted that one thing that I have done completely on my own. It would be the one thing that was not decided for me, or I had completed without their influence and them helping me.
I love my parents, I really do. They have worked hard their entire lives to secure me every opportunity and give me the big, important future that I have wanted. I am really happy that they have. I am fully aware of how lucky I am to have parents who are experts in the field I am working towards and that everything they have done for me makes me extremely privileged. So far, I have learnt two instruments and gone to a private school, that so many people would dream to go to, where they taught me that working hard will bring me to success. It did. I have worked tirelessly for the past five years to get the grades I have been wanting.
I was getting the highest grades in every single one of my classes until the age of thirteen when the stress and pressure I put on myself started to get to me. I still didwell but it felt as though I was failing at doing the one thing I was always meant to be able do. My parents never wanted me to push myself this far and they came around about me coming to the States. It has just been a hard couple of years.
I lean my head against the plane window as I wait for it to land, listening to my favourite playlist for what feels like the hundredth time since I got to my gate back in London. I watch as the sea starts to gradually morph into the land, waiting for the moment I can get off this horrible flight. The window has fogged up slightly with small icicles around the rim of it and maybe if I was not surrounded by strangers, I could draw stars or sunshines in the condensation. Maybe that would get rid of this heavy feeling forming in my chest but instead I take a photo of the wing of the plane to send to Bailey when I land and maybe my parents too. Despite the uncomfortable seat and the dry air conditioning, I could not be more excited for the next eight weeks of my life. After the death of my grandmother and the increasing workload with A levels, I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. My parents had spoken to school about it, and they put me in this programme they had recently started which connects you with a child from another area of theworld who has struggled too. That is how I met my best and sole friend, Bailey Miller.
The lifestyle I have set out where I focus all my attention on schoolwork, left me little to no time for a social life. It is not like I overly wanted one anyways. My school was full of entitled girls who had believed that they should get whatever they wanted just because they exist. I had never really made friends or enemies in school, not even when I was little. It just felt as though I was just there from reception to year 13. The people at school knew me and I knew them, but my existence was never really important to them, just like theirs did not really matter to me.
School may have just put us in contact as a way of supporting one another but me and Bailey have made our friendship into what it is now. While we never really felt as though we had to talk about those things we had been through, we had bonded over who we are. It was the simpler things like the books we read, the movies we watched and the songs we listened to that really brought us closer. We knew that we would always be there for each other if we needed but we have mainly reminded each other that even though the past was difficult, it isimpossible to change it. If we focus on it, it will only hurt even more.
Bailey is the kind of person who feels like she can bring happiness wherever you are. She is the type of person who makes you want to experience every single part of this cruel and amazing world just as it is. She has completely changed my perspective. My parents first thought that she might be a bad influence on me, as she came up with the plan to go to Pennsylvania to volunteer at the summer camp she grew up going to. They like her now. They think that she is the one who has helped with my anxiety, and they are right. This year has been so much less stressful. I’m not saying some days haven’t been difficult because they have but I’m definitely improving. This is the first time we will be meeting in person, ever. We will get to spend an entire summer together.
Once my plane hits the rough tarmac, I rush as much as I possibly can, through security and then to collect all my bags. The more I followed the exit signs around the airport, the more the nerves build up and the feelings of butterflies erupt in my stomach. Even though me and Bailey have been friends for over a year now, seeing each other in person may lead to changes in our friendship.What if I am not what she expected? I don’t want to get too attached just for me to inevitably leave.
I blankly stare at the reflection in the mirror in front of me. I look as tired as I feel and my hair looks alright considering the long flight but still, I definitely look like a slight mess. I can’t sleep on planes. I never have, even though I have been on quite a few since I was little. My parents love to travel and get out of London. It is a nice place to be, but the constant traffic and air pollution easily bothers you after a while. They would never let it interfere with school though. Either way, I still hate planes. They are far too high, and the likelihood of crashing is too high too. the worst part is when they tell you all of those safety warnings because all it does is freak me out, every single time until I have the perfect visual of the plane crashing. That feeling usually lasts until the plane lands.
I force myself away from my thoughts and rake my fingers through my untameable waves. I wash my hands, running them under the cold water to calm me down. I hate being nervous like this. It feels embarrassing having a fear of planes when they are supposably safer than cars. It feels even more embarrassing to be nervous about seeing my best friend. She’s an absolutely amazing person and I’ve never been closer with anyone else.
After leaving the bathroom, I make my way through the airport to where I have planned to meet her, for the very first time. When I reach the large clearing, right before the exit, my eyes catch a blonde girl jumping through any crowds and it only takes me a moment to realise that she’s shouting my name.
Bailey’s arms are stretched right above her head, holding a sign while waving it around so frantically, I cannot work out what she’s written across it, in the slightest. We both start running towards each other and without a single thought I fling myself into her arms. All the air rushes from my lungs along with all the pent-up nerves I have had since leaving London. Her arms wrap tightly around my shoulders and once we pull apart, I take a moment to take in her entire appearance.
Her blonde, sun-bleached hair reaches an inch or two below her shoulders and seems to fall effortlessly around her face, framing it. She has bright blue eyes, and her cheeks are slightly pink, probably from running over to me. Mine are similar, maybe from stress or excitement but it is probably because of the recent summer weather. She is wearing a long white skirt with small daisies layered throughout the fabric paired with a denim corset top. All of her jewellery is gold except for the bracelet on her leftwrist that consists of small seashells linked together by a thin yellow string.
She’s taller than I expected. She must be five foot seven or eight as I’m five foot five and there is a noticeable difference in our height. When we would facetime, it has always felt as though she had this brightness to her, but I never knew how right that was until now. She brings happiness. It is as if she is creating the light pouring through the high airport windows.
“I cannot believe you are finally here!” She squeals, slinging one arm around my shoulder and ruffling my hair with the other, probably making me look more of a mess. I laugh as we walk through the exit, holding onto my bags with my free hand.
“I am so sorry that it has taken so long but I cannot wait to start the best summer ever!” I say.
Meeting her now feels surreal, like a moment I have been building up in my head for the longest time. I never thought I would be so calm about it. Even though I knew this entire year that I would be seeing her, I didn’t think I fully processed it. I don’t think I have ever thought it was truly going to happen. If I’m being completely honest, I thought my parents would find a way to shut down the idea the moment I told them. They ended up helping meget the money after realising how much I wanted to come here.
“Exactly,” she replies with a swing in her step as she walks and a large smile on her face. She turns to me and says, “what do you think?” She pulls the large sign up from underneath her arm, before unravelling it to show me. I laugh as I read the words ‘welcome home, Ivy’, painted in large capital letters. The sign is decorated with sunshines and flowers and in what seems to be every colour in the rainbow. The sign reflects the vibrancy she brings.
“I love it! When did you make this?” I ask, pulling it from her hands to take a better look. I’m definitely taking this back to London.
“See, I could say I made it last night and seem normal, but I started making it the night you booked your ticket. I was just so excited, and I could not wait,” she replies. I could cry, she’s so sweet.
“Thank you so much. I am sorry that I didn’t get you anything, I was focusing on finishing schoolwork and saving up money for here,” I say, in a slight panic. Me and my parents agreed that if I take university courses and classes, I could take the year off and attend university next year. I wanted to anyways as I didn’t want to lose myspark for school next year. Either way they still keep an eye on all my assignments or any studying.
“Don’t apologise! I got the best gift because you came here. It feels as though I have been waiting for this forever,” she says as we walk through the exit to the airport carpark.
