Good afternoon, and thank you for reading (and being patient)

Disclaimer: the next few (six) chapters will take place on this super awesome island which I have never been to nor personally know anyone from, so I apologize in advance for any incorrect information. (I've also never been to Greece/Athens either...)

The next two weeks went by too quickly for comfort. Some days were overwhelming (with two projects, a paper, and a speech all due within two days), but others were spent reading side-by-side with Rose on the cool rooftop, helping Annabel bake cookies for our hall, walking around campus and talking with Liam, and learning the different techniques in David's video games. And before I knew it, I was in the airport taking my shoes off and putting my phone and computer into their separate plastic tubs.

If you took the quiet peacefulness of my home and configured the opposite, you would get the Athens Airport. A dull roar continually sounded throughout the place: with planes taking off; people speaking on intercoms; other people pushing you, bumping into you, and hurrying you along. I quickly tried to watch and follow Liam and Annabel. But when an alarm sounded when Liam went through the door-less doorframe, I jumped. A security guard came and spoke angrily in Greek to Liam; Liam tried to explain to him in broken Greek something about his arm. The guard took him aside and signaled for me to go through the metal door frame. Afraid the same thing would happen to me, I carefully stepped through with no alarm activating.

Letting out a silent sigh of relief, I gathered my shoes, electronics, and backpack before joining Anna, who had taken Liam's things. I slipped on my socks, "Annabeth, what's happening?"

"Well he has a wee bit of reinforcements, metal rods, in his arm and that's why the alarm went off." I nodded and slipped on my shoes as another security guard, one who spoke English, came; within two minutes everything was okay, and Liam rejoined us.

"Are you not allowed to come back?" She asked as she handed him back his brace and then his shoes and backpack as we moved away from security.

He quickly slipped on his socks, "Aye." He slipped on his shoes and then laced his shoes and brace, as we walked down the hallway.

"So what's our gate?"

"A1" He headed in the opposite direction. We walked past a few shops and people waiting on their phones and computers. Some of the screens were projected in the air, in a variety of language; magazines and book covers matched the different languages of those waiting. We went to the first "gate"; in reality, it was a desk with the logo of the airline we were flying and A1 in four different letterings, including Greek, painted on the wall behind the desk – not at all like the gates in front of my home or in front of AIU. Liam went up to talk to one of the two people, behind the desk.

When he came back, Annabel asked, "How long?"

"Twenty-five minutes approximately"

They started a conversation, and I pulled out my sketchbook and a pencil and began drawing. About thirty minutes later a lady announced that our flight was "now boarding" – whatever that meant. But to Annabel and Liam in meant placing their backpack back on their backs; I put my sketchbook back into my backpack and looked to my companions, silently asking if we were going to follow the other people who were lining by the post near the entrance of the hallway bellow the second "A1".

We headed towards the posts. "So are those your dogs?" Annabel asked

"Yeah: Cerberus and Pogo."

"Cerberus, isn't that–"

"Yep," I cut her off as the lady made a last minute roll call for first-class passengers and families with young children, "My parents are kinda mythology fans; I'm surprised I don't have a mythological name."

A family with two children about four and six quickly sprinted towards the front, and then the people in front of us began heading towards the hallway. "Once we've passed, switch spots with me," Liam said, and I tilted my head slightly, "So you can sit with Anna."

"Oh, thank you." I said as the row in front of us headed down the hallway. I carefully followed Liam and Anna as our row was called. They each showed their passport, boarding pass, and driver's license to the man behind the podium.

"Good afternoon, miss."

"Good afternoon, sir," I stated, showing him my passport with my student visa, boarding pass, and student ID.

"No license?" He asked, incredulous.

"No sir," I glanced up at Annabel and Liam, who were waiting for me.

He scrutinized my visa and passport; those are real, sir; my birth certificate on the other hand… He glanced at my passport for another moment before stamping it, and handing back my documents. "Be sure to check in at Heathrow."

"Will do; thank you, sir; have a good day." I quickly placed my documents in the front pocket of my backpack. "Thank you," I told my friends, as I rejoined them.

"No problem," they both said as we made our way down the hallway. I'm not entirely sure where that hallway led, but it felt as if we walked to the Adjean Sea. At the end of the tunnel we went, single filed (with me in the middle), through a smaller portal than at security.

Claustrophobia began to overcome me, as I glanced in the relatively tiny object filled with people on top of each other. How was this thing supposed to defy gravity to get us to Great Britain? 7 hours, Zo, we can make it…

I followed Annabel down the aisle barely wider than me towards the back of the plane. She stood in the middle of the aisle, waiting for me, "Would you like the window seat or the middle?"

"Window please," She nodded and I slid in to the seat farthest from the aisle. Anna came next to me as Liam clambered into the seat in front of me.

"Here you go," She handed him something small packaged in a shiny silvery wrapper, as I placed my backpack on the ground in front of me.

"Thanks," He said before turning around to face me, "By the way, since you're a wee bit apprehensive of loud noises, landing and takeoff can be quite loud."

"Though it's more of a roar than an alarm," Annabel added, offering me one of the silver packages. I stared at it, unsure, "To help with the bit of pressure during takeoff."

"Thanks," I said taking the shiny strip and holding on to it.

Even more people came in the tightly packed contraption, including one on the other side of Annabel and Liam. When everyone entered and the "Flight attendants" closed the doors – no escaping now, – a flight attendant stood in the front of the plane and explained what to do if we crashed, which was very reassuring and built my confidence,and other information. As she spoke the plane began pulling slowly away from the gate, like I would assume a big car pulling out of a driveway. As the flight attendant finished the plane really started picking up speed. Annabel unwrapped the strip to reveal a white strip with indentations in it, gum – like what Aunt Ava had and gave me on our semi-annual outings. I followed suit as the flight attendant disappeared (I assume she sat down somewhere) and the plane took off with a grumble, gradually slanting to a 30˚ angle. When the plane evened-out and the seatbelt sign went off, Annabel ducked down and withdrew her phone, headsets, a puzzle book, and two pencils. She plugged her headsets into her phone, and offered me an ear bud.

"Thank you," I placed it in my right ear

"If there's a song you don't like just skip it. Also, would you like a puzzle?"

I stared at the page of nine boxes within nine boxes with numbers in some of the boxes, "How do you play?"

She pulled out a page from the front and explained it to me. After she made sure I understood she tapped Liam on the shoulder (because he had earphones in). He looked back at us, and she offered him the puzzle book. He smiled at her and nodded, taking the book with him and then handing it back to her about a minute later, "Thanks."

I stared at the puzzle page, understanding it and seeing two numbers straight away, but I decided to look out the window instead. We were above the clouds – imagine that, imagine touching let alone being above the clouds. As the clouds dissipated, I watched the far-away ground: crossing boarders, flying along the sea, crossing mountains, and seeing cities. Then we came along a big river/sea type of water: the Channel.

Anna glanced over me, "Yes! We're nearly home and a few minutes from seeing Lucas."

"Wrong Island," I murmured, and I could see the edges of Liam's lips turn upwards.

She glared at me, "Natural English-speakers." She raised her voice more at the end than usual.

"Yes, or so I would expect the people of England to speak English; kinda makes sense."

"Thanks, Zoë, didn't know that. Any other profound words of wisdom you would like to share?"

"Um, yes, the earth is round."

She rolled her eyes and said to Liam, "You've influenced her."

He turned around, taking out his headsets, "I've been sitting here quietly; what could I possibly have done this time?" She remained silent. He smiled at her, the clear victor in their "argument."

The flight attendant reappeared and stated that we were "beginning our descent into London," and that we should secure our carry-ons, sit down, and fasten our seatbelts. Then the plane made its nose-first dive towards the airport. The little kid in me wanted to take one of my childhood cars and place it in the center of the aisle to see how fast it would make it to the front.

We hit the tarmac with a shock; I saw Liam's hand tense into a fist on his armrest. The plane continued quickly before slowing down to a stop. The seatbelt light turned off, the doors opened, and the rows started to file out, grabbing their carry-ons from above (if they had them). When it was our turn we left and headed through the short portal ducking and went back down the temporary hallway. I pulled my coat closer around me.

"Come on, Billy Goat!" Annabel whined, trying to hurry us along.

"Not so quick; you forget we have Zoë with us."

"Let's leave her, come on!"

"Thanks, love you too."

"You go ahead; I'll stay with Zo and we'll meet up with you two in a few minutes."

She rushed off, not having to be told twice. "Thanks," I told Liam as we made our way to the immigration desk, "But you can go with her; I know you and Lucas are best friends."

"It's okay; we have a whole plane ride and four weeks to catch up." He smiled as we approached the immigration desk.

The officer asked me lots of questions, on where I was going/staying, what my plans were, if I was alone, and how long I would be in the country.

I answered him as best as I could, and Liam helped me with Annabel's address. When I was okay-ed, with my passport stamped, Liam and I raced towards the MacGlas siblings.

The airport was full of people hustling and bustling about. It reminded me of Time Square, where mom took me when I was little; there were lots of people pushing against us back then and I soon lost her in the crowd. This time, however, was different. This time, Liam took my hand and we ran. The plane was already boarding when we arrived; we showed our tickets and documents to the ticket-taker and entered the plane.

Annabel was sitting next to a guy a couple years older than us, with hair the color of apple cider (darker than the color of Liam's eyes) the same pale-silvery-blue eye color as Anna, and similar features (though more masculine) as her. We sat in front of them.

"Luke," Liam said simply, with a huge grin.

"Billy Goat," Lucas said in the same way, his accent ever-so slightly different than theirs.

"So you're the famous Lucas?" I asked,

He glanced between Annabel and Liam, "Nope, never heard of that name. The name's Andrew, and you must be Miss Winters."

"Zoë," I said as the flight attendant came up front, and began her speech.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Zoë," He held out his hand and I shook it. "I must apologize for Vanellope's behavior; she knows better than to abandon her friends." He looked down at her, but then smiled. She smiled back up at him, not heeding to his words.

I turned back around, as the plane began to speed down the runway, away from the busy airport, and on its way to the "right" island. "So how were classes, Lucas?" Liam asked as the plane took off, and thus beginning a plane-ride-long conversation between the three of them. They spoke quickly, an intensified version of conversations between Anna and Liam the past four months. Lucas was studying to be a doctor (I think a pediatrician similar to Anna.)

Before I knew it, we were descending into Belfast. The three of them, at different points, smiled slightly as we descended onto the airstrip. This airport was much tinier than the one at Athens or London. On our journey from departing our plane to the gates where the other MacGlases and the Hawthornes would be I saw maybe seventy-five people. On the other side of the gate there was about a dozen or so people.

"Ma! Da!" Annabel exclaimed, going up to a couple a few years older than my mom. Anna threw her arms around them, and they returned the gesture. The girl with bright red-orange hair, who was a few years younger than us and with the couple, ran towards Lucas and embraced him, causing him to stagger back a step and a half.

Liam searched the people for his family; when he couldn't find them disappointment flickered across his features. I walked towards him, and when I caught his eye, I flashed him a small smile. He arranged his face into a neutral mask, keeping stride with me as we walked towards the MacGlases.

"Ready?" Mrs. MacGlas asked, and the older MacGlas children answered in the affirmative. Their family headed towards the luggage carousels, and Liam and I followed after them. Mrs. MacGlas slipped back to join us, "You must be Zoë. My name is Sarah, and it's a pleasure to finally meet you." She held out her hand

I shook it, "It's nice to meet you too,"

"How are you, William?"

"Fine. Thanks."

"No need to be grumping about; Kiera's meeting went longer than she expected, or else she would be here as well, and Stephen's out of town."

He paused, and then glanced at me before staring ahead. Taking the hint, I scooted ahead to the rest of the group, as I approached the others I overheard Liam ask Mrs. MacGlas, "Are they…Is she feeling any better?"

But before I heard anything else, Mr. MacGlas came up to me and chimed, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Zoë; I'm Myles."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." I stated as we arrived at the luggage rack, "Thank you for allowing me to stay with you and your family for the holidays. Is there anything I can do to help out?"

"It's no problem, lass. I can't think of anything at this moment, we may need some extra help at the inn later, but I will ask Sarah."

"Thank you." I said as Anna and Lucas picked up their luggage. I glanced around the big metal carousel searching for my dark tan suitcase. When almost all of the other suitcases had disappeared, I started to worry.

"Can't find your luggage, dear? Maybe it's on another carousel." So she and I went to the different luggage racks, and when we could not find it then, Mrs. MacGlas went with me to file a claim.

"It'll show up," Mr. MacGlas told me as we rejoined the others and headed towards the parking lot. The seven of us then piled into a larger white SUV with their inn's logo on the sides and trunk. Anna, Lucas, and Isabel continued their conversation; Liam stared out the window, while answering the occasional question from Mr. and Mrs. MacGlas, and I did the same, though I feel for different reasons. The sky was dark and cloudy, so I couldn't see much of the city, but I was able to see the lights as we made our way to a little building that advertised pizza. It was at this small shop that I discovered that pizza is good: with its strange but delicious crunchy-chewy textured bread, gooey cheese that stretched out, following you, contradicted by the slight acidity of tomato sauce and bites of meat.

After dinner, Mr. MacGlas drove towards where the six of them lived. One large town, small towns, a freeway, and what appeared to be fields passed by my window. He exited off the freeway and drove through a bigger town, Antrim. We arrived about fifteen minutes later at two brown-brick buildings close to each other. One half was appeared three stories, and the other appeared wider but only two stories. The taller had a white garage and a red door and the wider had a blue door. Mr. MacGlas pulled into the garage of the blue door house next to a deep red little hatchback car.

Liam jumped out of the car, and went around to the back, "Thanks, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Mrs. MacGlas said as Liam disappeared. I gathered my backpack from the trunk, as Lucas and Annabel gathered their luggage, and I followed them into a large room with two daybeds along the walls. The room also contained a fairly large cupboard in the corner of the adjacent and opposite walls (the 90 degree angle if you will), two side tables at the corners of the furniture, and a large, ebony, leather ottoman, which was being used as a coffee table, in the center and a matching chair/loveseat whose back was towards me. The room was a muted teal color except the large white square framed by two-inch ebony boards on the adjacent wall. However, within thirty seconds of being in the room, a butterscotch, slate, and white cat came rubbing against my leg. A medium-sized chestnut-colored dog followed the kitty.

I knelt down to pet them, as Anna reprimanded, "Squiggles," and Lucas, "Sasha!" The kitty and puppy stopped and looked up at their owners.

"They're fine," I said, extending my hand to them, and the cat slowly crept towards me to sniff my fingers; once it decided that hey I wasn't a psycho it started rubbing its head against my hand.

"Are they bothering you dear?"

"No, not at all,"

"Feel free to make yourself at home, and we'll be just upstairs if you need anything."

"Thank you." The animals left me and went upstairs with their owners leaving me alone in the room.

I placed my backpack on the daybed in the middle before sneaking into the corner where the wardrobe resided. Closing my eyes I remembered what Rose told me and opened the wardrobe doors. Unfortunately, neither a cold breeze nor the scent of fir trees greeted me. However there was the scent of sawdust came from the wardrobe. I opened my eyes to see the back of the empty wardrobe, as if mocking me. Oh well. I unpacked my backpack, and was reading when Annabel came down about twenty-five minutes later.

"Ma sent these." She said setting a pair of pajamas, a pair of jeans, and a couple long-sleeved shirts on the chair, "Do you need a toothbrush, toothpaste, anything like that?"

"I think I'm fine for now, thanks." She shifted her weight, looking down at the cream and ebony patterned area rug. I placed my book on the ottoman, pushed away the blankets & pillows, and patted the spot next to me.

She gingerly sat down, as if I or the "couch" would bite her, "I'm sorry for abandoning you earlier; I, um, I just wanted to see Lucas and to see him as quickly as possible, and that shouldn't be an excuse to be rude to friends."

"I think I understand… one year?"

"Aye, except a couple days back in March." Was it March?

"So did he take classes or something during the summer?"

"Yeah, part of it; he also helped out Gran and Gramps with their shop."

"What kind?"

"Sweets and bakery/café. And it's not your typical sweets; Gran hand makes most of them, like the chocolates, taffies, and hard candies the others come from local sweet makers. When we were younger, Gran would let us sample/test some of the sweets before she wrapped them for the shop."

As she spoke I pictured the tiny candy store Aunt Ava and I would frequently visit on our bi-annual outings. When I was younger, Mom wasn't pleased when we would come back with a semi-small bag full of candy. "Sounds delightful."

"Oh, it is… the best!" She jumped up, "Anyway, would you like to join us for tea?"

"Sure, thanks." I said getting up and following her up the stairs

"No problem." She said as turned and smiled.

So thanks for reading. I'm hoping the next chapter will be up by New Year's Eve (So Happy Halloween, Thanksgiving -both American and Canadian-, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Boxing Day). Next chapter should be longer, and will be in Liam's POV.

Anyways, have a great weekend :)