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So… new roomie it was.
Yay.
“His name and information are on the sheet along with his flight information. His plane lands tomorrow. Be at the airport to pick him up.”
My lips curled in as warm anger bloomed inside me. If I wasn’t so put out, I’d probably be ashamed I hated someone whose name I didn’t even know.
I grabbed the paper and walked out of Coach’s office without even looking back and stalked into the locker room and over to my locker. The paper crinkled when I jammed it inside and grabbed my Speedo.
I needed to swim. I needed to push my muscles hard and let the cold water numb me.
Once I was changed over, I shoved my rumpled clothes into a heap inside my locker, intentionally reaching in to mess them up some more. The paper I tossed inside crinkled again, and I jammed my hand under my clothes to yank it out.
I scanned over the words, looking for the one I wanted most. The name of the guy who was literally ruining everything.
Winston Sinclair.
I felt my upper lip curl, and I shoved the paper back inside, slamming the metal door behind it.
Winston Sinclair… What a stupid name.
1
Win
When the planewent wheels down in Sweden, I decided to take a moment to review everything I knew about the country I would be calling home for the next semester.
Sweden is in Europe.
Linska Institute is ranked #1 in sports medicine in the entire country.
And that concluded the extent of my knowledge of this place I’d literally just flown roughly eight hours and fifty minutes to get to. Probably should have done more research.
Oh wells. What better research was there than experiencing it firsthand? Better than reading it in some stuffy old book or on Google. I read enough stuffy books for my major, and I liked to use Google for more entertaining activities.*wink*
The second the door to the plane was opened, passengers started moving around, stepping into the aisles, eager to stretch their legs. I hung back, powering on my phone and shooting out a text to the group chat I had going with my brothers, Max and Wes.
Just landed. Will call later when I’m in my room.
I wasn’t even sure what time it was there or here for that matter. The time difference was going to be a bitch to get used to. Not for the first time, a pinch of unease tightened my stomach at the realization of how far away from my brothers—my only family—I was. Being apart was something the three of us were not used to. It almost stopped me from doing a semester abroad. But this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Having this on my resume in the future would set me apart from other people in my field. How many others would be able to say they studied at the top college in Sweden?
Besides, I knew Max would be there with my little brother Wes. I knew they’d be okay. It was only a few months.A few months of freedom.
I shook my head at the thought, trying to bury the smile it brought, shoving it right beside the guilt. The plane was emptying out quickly, so I yanked my duffle from the overhead bin into my chest and headed down the narrow aisle. As we had started our decent, the pilot had announced to the cabin it was raining, and the heavy downpour echoed through the entire plane as it hit the roof.
Inside looked just like every other airport, and I barely paid it any attention as I slung the strap on my bag across my chest, anchoring the weight against my back. When I glanced up, my gaze caught on the view out the oversized windows. Deep-gray sky filled with ominous dark clouds. It had been sunny when I left Virginia. I preferred the sun to rain.
I wandered through the terminal, following the signs to baggage claim, which was a huge area with more than one giant conveyor belt to spit out luggage. A short while later, I had my large silver suitcase rolling beside me.
Knowing someone from the university was supposed to be picking me up, I walked to the edge of the crowd, scanning the space for someone who might be waiting. There were a few people near the exits with large white signs with people’s names, so I ambled over, figuring one of those might be for me.
This was like shit out a movie, right?
Not my movie, though, because no one was holding a sign with my name on it. Frowning, I dug into my jeans to grab my phone so I could double-check the email with all my arrival information. No big deal, though. I could just order an Uber—They have that here, right?—and get to the institute myself.
Another language swirled around, Swedish obviously. My brain pretty much skipped over it all because I had no clue what was being said. That’s right. My knowledge of this country was just as good as my knowledge of the Swedish language.
My body collided with someone, both of us bouncing back a little. The person I’d collided with looked up, her eyes widening. She said a full sentence… and I understood none of it. So I smiled bright and gave her a wink. “Sorry. Just trying to find my way.”
