Be My Escape

Waking up in a whole new bed, a whole new room, a whole new country is not an easy task.

I woke up dishelved, confused, and cold. So fucking cold! “Why is it so cold?” I muttered as my teeth chattered together. I guess that’s what I got for going to England in the beginning of April, but still.

Throwing my legs over the side of the bed, I let my feet dangle for a minute as I readjusted to my new position. When I no longer felt like I would fall over if I stood up, I got out of bed and padded across the hardwood floor of my room.

Still only in my sleep shorts and old, oversized t-shirt, my normal uniform of sleepwear, I padded into the kitchen and went directly to the tea pot sitting on the stove. I filled it with water and started the stove, eager to get some caffeine in my bloodstream. Anyone who didn’t know me or the fact that my father was English was surprised that I was such a tea freak and that I drank it with milk and sugar. My mom thought it was disgusting, considering she was such a coffee nut. She drank so much coffee that my stepdad joked that he was going to have to build a separate room in our house just to store it all; she always retaliated that he shouldn’t tease her with such dreams.

As I waited for the water to boil, I heard my phone going off. Or rather, a phone, since I had permanently turned my phone off for the duration of my stay so I wouldn’t get slammed with fees when I went home. Frantically, I went in search of the telephone. “Coming!” I called out stupidly, as if the person could hear me.

Finally, I located the simple cordless phone on a table in the entryway. “Hello?” I answered breathlessly, wondering who could possibly be calling me.

“Oh wonderful, you’re awake! I didn’t wake you, did I love?”

I smiled. My dad. “Nope, I’m awake, just making some tea. What’s up?”

“How about a welcome home breakfast with your dad and stepbrother?”

I quickly debated not going. I hated meeting new people, save for Hanna, who made it feel like she wasn’t new at all. Meeting new people often brought along the fact that eventually, I could get attached, and getting attached would mean a hard goodbye; because let’s face it, there’s always a good bye, no matter what. Even if the goodbye is unexpected, it still happens.

“Peyton? Still there?” my dad said, snapping me back to reality.

“Still here,” I said. Ignoring my previous internal debate, I agreed. “I’d love to have breakfast.” I figured breakfast with my family wouldn’t hurt, and it was the least I could do.

“Wonderful! Max is going to pick you up and you two are going to meet me in town, alright?”

I agreed and got a brief description of Max, then hung up. I leaned against the wall that the table with the phone was resting against and sighed. I hated meeting new people, and it was one of the reasons I had only a few friends on campus. I hadn’t always been like this, but I was like this now so I just couldn’t help it.

Suddenly I heard a loud whistling and remembered the tea pot I had been waiting for previously. I hurried into the kitchen and took it off the stove, dumping the water down the drain. I was no longer in the mood for tea, just in the mood to get this breakfast over with.

After I took a quick shower and got dressed in a pair of warm jeans and a plain black t-shirt with my favorite Johnny Cupcakes hoodie over that, I slipped on my vans and was ready to go.

No sooner did I walk out into the living room, there was a knock on the door. I hurried over and looked through the peephole only to find who I assumed to be Max. He had brown hair that was kind of a mess and he looked as if he had just rolled out of bed in the clothes he was wearing. His eyes looked tired, which didn’t surprise me really.

I opened the door and gave him my best fake smile. “Max?” I asked, just to make sure this was really him.

He smiled too. “’Ello there!” he exclaimed, pulling me in for a hug.

At first, I was a little shocked. I wasn’t big on hugs, unless it was my mom or dad. Even when Hanna first hugged me when I arrived, it freaked me out. “You're stiff as a board, love. Come on! I’m your brother!” he laughed, pulling back.

I just smiled as I felt a blush creep up my neck. “Sorry, I'm not big on hugs. Or any kind of physical things, really.”

“By the time you leave, I’ll bet you will be just as big on hugs as the rest of my family.”

I laughed because he obviously knew how touchy feely his family was and how I had been thinking practically the same thing moments ago. “So, breakfast?”

“I’m starvin’ so yes, let’s go.” He reached out and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. As we walked out of my apartment, we were face to face with his own. “This is where I’ll be stayin’ with my mates while we record. You can meet them later, the lazy lot’s probably asleep still.”

I nodded, unsure of what else to do.

As we walked, Max filled me in on the band and their history, how long they knew each other, and all the other details of his life. He had a girlfriend currently, but it wasn’t too serious. They were just having fun. He loved his friends in the band and he loved the band itself and he felt extremely blessed to be able to do something he loved so much. When he finished talking about the band, I realized I had no idea what it was called. When I asked him this he laughed. “Guess I left that part out, didn’t I?”

I smiled and shrugged.

“We’re called You Me at Six, and I can’t believe my mum didn’t tell you that.”

Shrugging again, I started to feel awkward. He sounded genuinely hurt that she had left this part out. “I was dead tired when I got there so for all I know she did and I just missed it.” I was trying to cheer him up and it was obvious, but he just shrugged it off.

“No worries,” he smiled at me just as we reached the place we were meeting my father at. “Let’s eat, shall we?”

***

“So how’s Emmy?” Max asked my dad as we were all quiet for the first time since the two of us arrived. In our defense, we were busy eating. In my case, I was just more comfortable listening to the two of them talk and catch up, only speaking when being asked a question.

“She’s been rather fussy lately, unfortunately. Maybe she just misses her big brother, eh?” my dad joked, poking fun at Max’s absence. From the sounds of it, Max wasn’t home often. While he still lived with his mom and my dad, he just wasn’t home often in general. He toured a lot and when he wasn’t touring he was working on the newest CD that they were now recording.

“Not my fault I’m a rockstar!” he laughed, making me smile. Max, like my father, had a laugh that was contagious. He liked to make others laugh and he was very friendly and personable. I could tell he would be the perfect person for me to be around in an awkward situation because he talked to just about anyone about anything, even if he had just met them.

“What about you, Peyton? Sleep well?” my dad asked me, and I nodded.

“Great, actually.”

“The lot must have had an off night last night,” he joked, referring to Max’s friends. From what I gathered, the group was rather loud but what could you expect from a group of guys living together?

“I’m a college girl who lives in a co-ed dorm, I think I’ll be able to take it,” I smiled, starting to feel comfortable with the two of them finally. It may have taken me awhile to warm up to new people, but when I did I was golden.

Max smiled at me. “She reminds me of Josh,” he told our dad. “Doesn’t she? She’s sassy and serious, broody but smiley.”

My dad laughed too. “That does kind of describe Josh.”

“Josh is…?” I trailed off in question.

“The singer for our band. You’ll meet all the guys later, and then you won’t be able to forget them. Quite the group, we are.”

I nodded, not particularly caring if I met any of the guys or not. I was content knowing my dad, Hanna, Emmy, and Max, and if they were the only ones I associated with for the rest of my stay than that was fine with me.

After we finished our breakfast and caught up a little, it was time for Max to get back to the loft. Apparently, today was their first day in the studio and he didn’t want to be late. “I can walk you back if you'd like though,” he offered to me as he stood up from the table, slipping his jacket on.

I nodded. “That’d be good, yeah.” I stood up and slipped my own hoodie on and then looked at my dad. “So I start the internship tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, love. Just get to the office by nine and my secretary will get you all sorted.” He stood up and hugged me, kissing my forehead quick. “I’m really glad you’re here, lovely. I know things back home have been rough and its probably hard, but I’m really glad you’re here,” he told me quietly so Max couldn’t hear.

I smiled a tight, forced smile and nodded. “Glad to be here,” I told him honestly. And I was. I just didn’t want him bringing up “back home” anymore.

After finishing our goodbyes, I followed Max out of the restaurant. We were rather quiet at first, which surprised me considering Max was a very talkative person. Once we were about halfway back to the loft, Max gave me a sideways glance and said, “What was your dad referring to back there?”

“Hmm?” I knew what he was referring to, but I wished I didn’t. I glanced around, avoiding his stare, at the buildings surrounding us. Reading was a beautiful place, and I could understand why my father would want to come back here. Despite the lame drizzle happening currently that was apparently a usual occurance, it was still really pretty.

“Why’s it rough back home?”

“I’m a college student, a busy one at that, so that’s all,” I lied flawlessly. At least, I thought it was flawlessly, but Max didn’t buy it.

“I think you're lying, but alright.” With that, that was the end of our conversation.

When we finally got back to the apartments, Max stopped me outside. “I don’t wanna bombard you with new people or anything, but I’m sure my mates would like to meet you.”

I nervously started chewing my lip, a habit my mother frowned upon, and debated the consequences of meeting the guys. If they were anything like Max, I knew I’d like them, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that, as I said before, I didn’t need anymore new people in my life right now. Everyone was lucky I hadn’t had a panic attack with just Hanna, Max, and Emmy. They were really pushing it with all of Max’s “mates”.

Obviously, he could tell I didn’t feel like meeting them right away. He smiled and patted my shoulder. “’S alright, love. I can tell you don’t feel like meeting them right now. Maybe tomorrow?” he suggested and I nodded just to get him off my back about the subject.

“I better hurry off to the studio, but I’ll see you later. Good luck tomorrow!” he called out as he hurried off down the sidewalk.

I smiled and waved at his retreating figure. In the next couple of months were going to be like the past few days, then I could handle this. I was beginning to really enjoy England.