Crystal Clear

Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

"What are you planning to do on your Day 1 here?" Sophia asked her roommate who was still very much in her dreamland. It didn't help that Jenny had gone through the tedious 12-hour flight.

"Sleep." came her one-worded answer in a hoarse voice but that was a mistake. Sophia was waiting for that answer, any answer.

"Good now that you are awake," she pulled the sheets off Jenny.

"Hey!" Jenny protested.

"Nope, get up! Where was I? Yes, now that you are awake, we are heading out to a cafe, that is the best affordable cafe around here. It is also a great hangout, you know, other than the college cafeteria, you can eat here, so that is the first place I'm going to show you because of first priority- always- food." Sophia ended her speech to see her friend looking up at her attentively. The last word sure had got Jenny's attention. Last she ate was dinner on the flight.

She quickly got up from her bed and took out a small bag from the huge bag of her luggage.

"Bathroom?" Jenny asked.

"In here." Sophia showed her the way to the common bathroom they had in their section. It was one for four people. "You need me to explain the shower to you?" Sophia took the words out of Jenny's mouth as she was looking like a lost puppy at the metal handles in front of her.

"Come out fast!" she told her as she waited for her in the room after explaining.

Jenny cleaned herself up pretty quickly and got dressed up. For her first day in London, she was going for a skirt and a sweater. The weather was pleasant outside and she hoped it would remain the same all day. She had heard that it rained anytime out here. Her mother had packed up a foldable umbrella in her go-to bag.

From that, she remembered that she had to call her mother. She figured she would do it from the cafe as it would be much easier and she would get to see the ambiance of the campus.

"Jenny?" Sophia called out, "Ready to go?" she asked, tapping on the bathroom door from outside.

"Yes, of course," she replied, "Is Noah coming with us?"

"He and Gina are meeting us at the cafe, probably a little late though, Micheal forgot to wake the guy up. I think he will be there with us too." Sophia informed her as they took her purse from the room and headed towards the cafe.

"You have packed so well!" she exclaimed. Sophia had seen that in her large bag, there were two others, one that contained what she would need immediately for her first day and the other one that was supposedly her sling bag to take out.

"Not me, my mom, she loves to pack everything up well, she had even packed my chapstick and an umbrella in this, she searched all night that day for a foldable umbrella of this size." Jenny joked but her smile was bittersweet.

"Hey, come on, I know you miss her, I'm sorry for rushing you this morning, did you have to call her?" Sophia indeed felt sorry for her.

"I think I'm going to call her from the cafe, you know, show her around?" Jenny's mood brightened immediately at the mention of food and the call.

"Ok, so hurry up, let's go." Sophia pushed her out of the hostel and off-campus in the direction of the cafe. "Mello's Home" Jenny read out loud. "That is really close, what was that? A five-minute walk?"

"Nope, it's a three-minute walk for fast and tall people like me!" Sophis flicked her hair.

"Hey! We are the same height!" Jenny began but Sophia already entered the cafe. She trailed behind her silently.

The next half hour went smoothly for both of them, due to the time difference, she could only talk to her parents for fifteen minutes before they went to sleep, and then it was her and Sophia talking as her mood had brightened up very well.

"Look! They are here," Jenny pointed out at Gina and the others. "Now can we order, I'm starving." Jenny had chosen to wait for them to come, soon she had regretted her decision.

"Eh, just get some coffee and cookies, we will go and eat at the restaurant nearby, we'll have some cool fish and chips, you know, you need hunger to finish that huge piece of delicious...." Sophia's description was blocked by Jenny's stomach growling.

"Sure!" Jenny rushed to the counter, her cheeks red.

"I take it back!" Gina announced as she settled down at their table.

"Take what back?" Sophia was intrigued.

"My apology to this doofus yesterday, that I take back." she huffed and folded her hands turning away from both Micheal and Noah as they occupied the chairs to her side.

"What happened?" It was Jenny this time, who asked, mouth full of cookies, trying to brush them down with the help of coffee.

"Your friend over here," Gina continued.

"He's not my friend," Jenny mumbled but Gina just stared at her. "Okay, continue, I won't interrupt." she quickly grabbed another cookie before her stomach could grumble once again.

"Your friend over here is such a doofus."

"I think we have settled that," Micheal began but was shut down by Gina's stare once again.

"As, I was saying, your friend over here is such a doofus and a heavy sleeper. It took Micheal, me, and half a bucket of water to wake up this man, and then, he poured the other bucket over our head instead of thanking us!"

"You poured water over me, I think that's enough reason to be cranky in the morning!" Noah interrupted her once again.

"Hey! It wasn't me who wasn't waking up back there, huh, Micheal, what was Noah saying to us huh? 'Two minutes more Mom,' Like I'm gonna let you sleep as your mother would have, I'm going to pour a bucket of water over you each time, look forward to it every morning." She got up and went to get some coffee to cure her mood.

"Seems like you are the only tea person here, Sophia," Jenny joked to clear the atmosphere and steer the topic far away from what happened. Noah was clearly not going to talk anymore, he looked extremely put out.

"Yeah, Gina is a disgrace to being English, then, what about you, Micheal?" she asked him.

"Oh, I am a fan of them both, cold coffee, though, doesn't have the same effect tea does after a hot summer day, but talk about winters, it's a hot cup of tea that calms you down, huh?" Micheal replies lost in his own thoughts.

"Anyways, we have decided that we are going to 'Fish 'n Chips' in an hour, are you coming with us, Micheal?" And their conversation continued for a while.

Jenny and Noah got a lot of input in the lives of people living in London, all the other three told them about the subways, the colleges, the beautiful landmarks around and whatnot. It was fascinating, to say the least for both of them.

Soon, they headed out to the specific restaurant. Jenny was walking hand in hand with Sophia far ahead of the rest of the group which consisted of an arguing pair and a lost-looking Micheal.

"Guys, catch up!" Jenny turned back to inform them when she collided with someone.

She tried to balance herself, but both of them fell to the ground. Jenny tried to distance herself from the other person who had held her waist so that she wouldn't fall off and had taken the fall on himself. She hid her face in his chest out of embarrassment for a few moments but then looked up to see his face.

The guy looked her age and had blonde hair and blue eyes, he looked down at her for a moment in annoyance as she continued to stare, tingles erupting at the places where he held her.

"Jenny!" Sophia's voice brought her out of her reverie and she immediately got up on her knees and began to apologize.

"Oh, God, I'm extremely sorry. I wasn't looking while walking and then you appeared out of nowhere, so, I'm sorry, really," she stood up and offered him a hand.

The man got up on his own. "Next time, eyes on the road, okay?" he spoke and walked away from the scene.

Jenny was left there on the street dumbfounded as she was so sure she did not see anyone in front of her before she had turned around