I shut my eyes tight and grasp the arm rest. Flying has never been a favourite thing of mine, and that certainly hasn't changed since my birthday. I hear Liz chuckle beside me and grit my teeth. Taking off is worse than landing, but it's still terrifying. I almost cry out as the plane bumps against the ground before flying down the landing strip. Once the plane is completely stopped do I finally open my eyes and unclasp my hands.
"Flying not your favourite thing, huh?" I glare over at Liz as I check my carry-on.
"You could say that."
"How many times have you been on a plane?"
"A few. My grandparents live in Greece, so we fly there once a year or so. I'm surprised you didn't know that." I grin over at her and she smiles.
"I never like to just assume, even if I know things. It's hard to get to know someone when you know everything about them, you know?" I shrug.
"Sure." We're quiet as we exit the plane until we claim our bags.
"This way. Mr Tomlin is very excited to meet you." I struggle with my shoulder bag, looking around for a cart.
"Who's that?" Liz claims a cart and I toss my bag onto it.
"He's the founder of the project. His father before him, and his before him."
"Does he have any special ability?" Liz pushes the cart and I follow beside her, dodging people too rude to move.
"Unfortunately, no he doesn't. But, he is very dedicated to what it is the project is trying to do."
"And what's that?" She glances over at me.
"I thought you read the information I gave you."
"I might have skimmed over it." Truth be told, I hadn't even looked at it.
"Well it would do you some good to read it." I shrug and Liz sighs. We walk for a few minutes in more silence until I spot a guy holding a cardboard sign reading SLATE. Classy. I see him before Liz so I lead her over to him. "Hi Geoffrey." I get nothing from what little expression I can see of his face, half of it hiding behind big sunglasses.
"Miss Wood." We all turn and head out of the airport. I'm itching to get outside and away from airports and planes and sitting. It was a six hour flight on two planes. I'm just sick of the whole thing.
There's no talking as we head to the car, a big black Mercedes, and as Geoffrey drives down the highway. There's very little to see, so my mind wanders. I recall that Liz never did explain how my ability works different than others that can do what I do. I'll ask her about that later.
We drive for what seems like hours before finally pulling into a driveway. Or, more accurately, a side road. I'm beginning to think we'll never get out of this car when suddenly the trees clear and a big house appears in front of us. I gape up at it. I've seen some big houses, but this one is huge. It looks to be 4 storey's, with a big wing on the left side, and a smaller building off to the right side. It looks like a shed, except three times the size.
"Big, isn't it?" I just nod while getting out of the car. Once I'm out, all thoughts of the house leave my mind and I'm consumed with stretching out my limbs. It feels terrific. "It's definitely way more space than we need, considering how many people are staying here at a regular basis."
"How many?"
"If Jackson joins us, that will make 6 teens and 2 adults living here all the time." Huh. Somehow I'd always imagined it like a regular school, with tons of kids attending during the day and going home at night. But, the more I think about it, the more I realize how silly that is. If they got me all the way across the country, then of course there won't be many people here full time. Liz hands me my bag. "I'll give everyone a grand tour tomorrow, since you're all probably exhausted, but for now I'll show you up to your room and you can meet everyone."
"Will I get to meet Jackson?" I can't explain why, but he's been on my mind a lot since Liz told me about him.
"Yes, but not for another couple days." I get the feeling there's a reason behind it that she's not telling me. I follow her up the front stairs, that lead to a wrap around porch on both sides on the house, and in the front door. There's a staircase going up directly to my left and one going down directly to my right. There's a hall that stretches out in front of us, with a few doors on each side, some open and some closed. Liz leads me up the stairs. There's two landings, and I'm lead to the very top one. There are four doors, two on either side, and one at the very end.
"The door at the end is the bathroom on this floor, there's one on the boy's floor as well. The far left room is Tessa's and the far right is Samantha's. You can pick either of the two left. The boy's downstairs are Lawrence and William."
"Zee, not Lawrence." I turn around to see a guy climbing up the stairs behind us. He looks at me and winks. "Do you know how much it sucked growing up with a name like Lawrence?" Liz rolls her eyes.
"Well whatever your name is, you know you're not supposed to come up to the girl's floor."
"Hey, I know. I was just coming up to welcome the newest newcomer and say hi." He extends his hand toward me. I take it after a second. "Name's Zee, and don't forget it."
"Gem." I take my hand back.
"Gem, like as in a jewel?"
"No. Gem as in Gemma." He grins. He seems really easy going.
"Are you about done? Gemma needs to pick her room and get herself settled in. You can see her later at dinner." Lawrence - Zee - gives me another wink before heading back down the stairs. When he's gone Liz sighs and shakes her head. "So, back to what I was saying, you can pick either of these two rooms. Dinner is at 5:30, so that gives you little over an hour to get yourself settled. If you have any problems I'll be down in the study. Middle door on the right."
I watch as she walks down the stairs and then turn around. I look at both rooms and opt for the one on the left. It isn't as big, but it's got a great window seat and a double bed, instead of a single. I drop my bags on the floor and sit on the bed, looking around. This all seems kind of surreal, like it's not really me and I'll wake up at any minute and resume my old, boring life. I smile a little. This really is me, and this is my new life, I'll just have to get used to it.
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