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CHAPTER ONE | WELCOME TO NEW YORK
Xiaoyu Zhang wasn't looking forward to her first day in America. Her father had been convinced America was a perfect place for her, due to the rising tensions within her family home, and thus the exchange program had taken place. Xiaoyu was to stay in an American home and learn from American textbooks for a year, eat American food and learn their culture.
Only when the divorce had been finalised, which would take a long time according to her mother, could she go back home. Needless to say, Xiaoyu wasn't too happy about it.
Currently she was at the airport, waiting un-enthusiastically for her homestay family to arrive. They'd texted her, saying that they'd meet her at the international flights gate. However she'd landed an hour ago, and no one was there to say hello. Perhaps Americans were exactly what her mother thought: uncivilised and late to everything important.
Since she was getting progressively pissed, Xiaoyu decided to go on her phone. Aimlessly scrolling through social media helped take her mind off things.
However five minutes into the aimless scrolling, Xiaoyu was more annoyed and upset then before. All she saw were photos of her friends, flawlessly posing for the camera. They all looked so happy. They all looked so unaffected. They didn't seem to care Xiaoyu was gone, and wouldn't be returning to Shanghai for 12 months.
A tap on her shoulder made her turn round, eyes wide. Who was it?
It turned out to be a middle-aged woman with a bright smile and spectacles. "你好." She grinned, her eyes shining. "I hope I'm saying that right."
Xiaoyu was shocked for a moment. Then she recognised the woman. It was the woman who was going to look after Xiaoyu for a year. "You're May?" She asked, her accent thick. "You person who will be help me?"
She dug her fingernails into her palm, realising she'd ruined the sentence. Greater shame weighed on her chest when she realised she didn't know how to correct her sentence. "Sorry, my English not good." She explained to the woman.
May shook her head again with a big smile. "No problem. I should be the one saying sorry to you." She checked the watch on her wrist. "I'm an hour late aren't I? You got to America at 9 am, and now it's 10." She exhaled heavily. "My nephew and I were debating on when you were going to get here. Then there was traffic and-!" She broke off, exhaling again.
She was still adjusting to the time zones, and Xiaoyu's english wasn't perfect, so she wasn't entirely sure what May just said. But Xiaoyu had understood some of it. "Don't worry. I feeling fine." She replied.
That was a lie. Xiaoyu was tired and grumpy. It didn't help that she had to go to the Chinese International Office to discuss the terms of her stay here in New York, where there was nothing but old, grumpy Chinese men with their reinforced governmental ideals.
"You just follow me," May said. "We don't have a car, sorry, so we'll be taking a taxi. I'll drop you off at the International Office but I'll bring your luggage back to the apartment." She moved towards Xiaoyu's side, taking the handle of Xiaoyu's dark red suitcase that was resting against the wall.
"Oh." Xiaoyu dipped her head in a respectful fashion. "Thank you."
"No problem," May readjusted her glasses that sat nicely on her seraph nose.
She started walking towards the exit. "Come on Yoot." May called back to Xiaoyu, positively destroying the pronunciation of her name. "Let's get to the taxi."
Normally, Xiaoyu would object to her name being called out wrongly but she was far too tired. Besides, she didn't know how to protest in English. She was good at screaming hostile phrases in Chinese, but she wasn't too well-versed in English. So, to avoid the embarrassment of being left alone, she ran after May without opening her mouth.
