The Deep End.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.” I could hear my grandmother say from down the hall. “England is just so far away.”
“Obviously, but it’ll be good for her. She needs to be on her own a little bit before she goes to college.” My grandpa replied.
“I don’t see how sending her to another country is getting her ready for college. She’s going to college in Nashville. Three hours away.” My mom said.
“It’s a test. She’ll be able to see if she can handle being totally isolated from her family.” He explained.
I eventually ended up shutting my bedroom door. Neither of my grandparents asked me if I wanted to go to England for the summer. By myself. Quite frankly I’m surprised they’re letting me do something so strenuous. My grandma was never up for anything that involved being 50 feet away from me. That’s why she got a job at my school as the librarian. Being in another hemisphere than her just meant she was entitled to visit me frequently. I’d have to make sure to be busy a lot…
As I finished packing up the last of my belongings, I found myself looking in the mirror at my reflection. At least I had gotten a good tan before being shipped away to study for my summer. I’m sure that was the only sun I would be getting for the season. Then again, I didn’t get too much sun to begin with. My grandma was big on sunscreen.
But I loved it whenever my skin turned bronze. I thought it made me look appealing, if that was possible for me to do. I ran fingers through my wavy, thick brown hair. Trying to get the stray pieces to lie down. Though it didn’t do any good. I rubbed underneath my round, green eyes, trying to remove the excess make up. ‘It was crucial to look your best. You never know who you’re going to meet.’ I could hear my grandmother’s voice in my head. I smiled to myself as I realized that I also heard my mother’s voice. That was the one piece of advice they had agreed on.
Maybe I’d meet a gorgeous British boy who never wanted me to leave. Or maybe a guy from France who was in the same predicament I was in, and we’d hide in England together and never leave. Or maybe I’d go, study, and then come home at the end of the two months.
The last scenario sounded accurate.
“Megan, are you almost ready? We have to get you to the airport in an hour.” My mom asked, poking her head into my room. She caught me examining my self in the mirror, and let out a ‘coo’. “My baby girl is leaving me.” She said, coming over to hug me.
“I’m not your baby girl anymore. I have to grow up, remember?” I stated, dully.
“Yeah, I remember.” She spoke just as sullenly as I did. “Can I give you some advice?” She asked, plopping down onto my bed.
“Sure.” I said, sitting down a bit more gracefully than she did.
“You’re going to be in a foreign country, miles and miles away from your family. Have some fun. Get a little crazy. Make some memories.”
“Are you promoting promiscuity?” I joked.
“Never! You see where that got me. All I’m saying is, if there’s a guy who wants to take you out, then let him. You don’t have any kind of adult to influence you. So be you. No, better yet. Be the girl you’ve always wanted to be.” I listened to my mother as she spoke. She could always make me want to do something that I had never dreamed about before. “Trust me, if I had this chance when I was your age, I would have jumped all over it.”
“It’s kind of hard to jump all over something when you have a baby on your hip.” I joked to her.
“Very true! Which is why I never had this opportunity. You’ve been a good little girl for seventeen years. I can barely make it day. So break loose a little. Okay?”
“I will definitely try and become loose.” I joked, yet again.
“I didn’t mean it like that!” She laughed. “Have fun. That’s all I’m saying.”
I nodded my head. “I think I will.” I stated. “Or at least I want to.” I admitted.

It seemed to take an eternity to get to the airport. With the many goodbyes I had to bid to my family, the time seemed to drag on. But what was even more of a drag was the five-hour flight to London. I tried sleeping most of the way, but I had never been a girl to sleep on the plane. Especially when there was a crying toddler and an old man snoring two rows away.
Once I had finally landed, I was just happy to find the car that was arranged to pick me up and get to my hotel suite. I couldn’t even stay in a dorm room like the other kids who were enrolled in the same program as me.
How was this preparing me for the real world?
As soon as I got to my suite, I realized that it wasn’t just regular suite- it was a penthouse suite. It was a perfect room for a girl to have endless parties in. That was if I were the girl to have a party. Or even go to one…
The first thing I did was call my mom. I had hoped to avoid talking to my grandparents, but of course they were waiting by the phone.
“Is your room okay?” She asked me.
“It’s a penthouse suite, mom. It’s huge.” I explained, wandering around the huge, empty suite, trying to acquaint myself with it. “It was a dinning table, mom. Who am I supposed to eat dinner with? And a hot tub outside? Are you kidding me? Mom, this is ridiculous. I don’t need something this big.”
“Oh, just embrace it. The dinner table’s there for you and a hot Brit to eat at, and the hot tub is where you’ll have dessert.” She laughed. I heard my grandparents automatically scold her for being ‘so inappropriate’. I had to admit though. That didn’t sound like a bad idea…
I then sent a text to my two best friends, Taylor and Annie. They were the two girls who had put up with me and my crazy family all through middle school and high school and were the only people I felt somewhat comfortable letting loose with. They seemed interested in how my flight went and were already asking if I had met any cute boys. I had only been on English soil for an hour, how could I have met a boy already? But then again, it could have been the end of the two months and I would have still had the same answer- No.
After I talked to my family and friends, I had nothing else to do unpack. And once I unpacked, I had nothing else to do but got to bed. “Oh, yeah. England’s going to so fun.” I muttered, climbing into my huge kind size bed.

The next day, I had to go to an orientation at Temple University for my program. I realized that there weren’t many people who were enrolled. Only about thirty boys and girls were there. “Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life.” The advisor David Carnes said, standing in the front of the room. “Seriously, being in London will change your life. Some way. Some how. Everyone in the room is going to have a different story. But everyone’s life will change in some form or fashion.”
I began to feel antsy as I looked around the room. All of the girls were very pretty, much prettier than I was. And their style was insane. They were from America, everyone there was, but they looked different than I did.
I subtly let my hair out of the low ponytail that it was in, fluffing it out. I wanted to fit in here. Not stand out. I even went as far as pulling my shirt down a little lower, and pulling my skirt up a little higher. Maybe my clothes still didn’t meet the standards, but at least I didn’t look like the little conservative girl I did when I left my hotel that morning.
“It’s just day one, and you already have an assignment. How does that make you feel?” David asked, looking around the room. “Don’t worry though. It’s easy. I want four of you to introduce yourselves and then go out for lunch together. I don’t care where you go. Just go. Talk to each other. Become familiar with each other. Be friends.” He stated. People instantly started to look around the room, deciding whom they’d want to talk to. I was surprised when I saw a couple of girls, and maybe even a boy or two look my way. “You may begin.” David said, peering at his watch. “Don’t bother coming back here after lunch. You can have the day to explore London if you’d like. Maybe with your new friends?”
“Hi, I’m Lucy.” I heard in my right ear. I turned to look at the petite girl standing next to me. She had light blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.
“I’m Megan.” I smiled.
“Do you want to come get lunch with us? This is Kayla and Brie Anne.” The two girls standing behind her showed an inviting smile towards me. Kayla looked a bit athletic, though still very pretty with her dark brown hair and light brown eyes. And Brie Anne looked exotic with her voluminous red hair and green cat eyes. All three girls were gorgeous.
“Yeah,” I said, a bit intimidated by their looks. “That’d be great.”

Louis’s POV

“Can we go yet?” Niall whined. “I’m starving.” The boys and I had just gotten out of practice. It had been a three hour one with our vocal couch Savan. We were trying to learn the song ‘Nobody Knows’ by Pink, and some of us were having a little trouble with the harmony.
“Yes, Niall. We are finally going.” Liam said, trying to soothe our hungry friend.
“Where are we going anyways?” He asked. “You know Nandos isn’t that far away.” He perked up just by thinking about his favorite restaurant.
“Niall, we’ve eaten there three times this week.” I said. “I’m officially sick of it.”
“Watch your mouth!” Niall shouted, baffled by the fact that I would say that.
“Let’s go somewhere low-key.” Zayn said, using the glass door as a mirror to smooth his hair down.
“Yeah,” Harry said. “Like that little diner a couple of blocks away. There usually aren’t many people there.”
“Hazza, you always have the best ideas!” I cheered, patting my curly haired friends cheek.
“Okay, that sounds good.” Liam said. “Is that good with you Niall?” He asked the Irishman. Niall didn’t say anything; he just walked out of the studio. We all laughed and followed our friend. Niall was a bit touchy when it came to food.
We all piled in to the vehicle that the X Factor provided for us. We told the driver exactly where we wanted to go, and then we were off.
It didn’t take long to get to the diner, and once we did, we had to run to keep up with Niall. The waitress seated us near the middle of the diner and gave us our menus. “I’ll be back in just a minute to take your orders.” She said, winking at Harry. It never failed, he always got attention from girls.
“I think she likes you, Haz.” I laughed, once she had walked away.
“Yeah, yeah.” He said, looking over his menu. He was used to it.
“What are you getting, Niall?” I asked, curious to how many plates he would order this time.
“I don’t know mate. There are so many choices!” He exclaimed.
“Okay, if Harry gets the waitress, does that mean we automatically get those four girls?” I heard Zayn ask.
I looked over the top of my menu to eye these said girls. The four friends were being led to the back of the diner, the opposite direction of us. They all seemed to be pretty. One had blonde hair, and the others with light brown, dark brown and bright red. The girl with light brown hair immediately caught mine, and I’m sure the rest of the boy’s, attention with her short skirt, that showed off her long legs. There was even a scar down one of her legs that was playing peek-a-boo. What I wouldn’t have given to seen her face when she walked in.
“Yes, please.” I said, still somewhat mesmerized by the girls as they piled into a booth. I had to crane my neck a bit, but was finally able see the faces of two of the girls. The red head and the girl with the short skirt. I nearly choked on my drink when I did, because I knew this girl with the light brown hair, and the short skirt that showed off a scar. In fact I knew exactly how she’d gotten that scar.