Trouble in Paris (a Romeo Beckham fanfic)

Chapter 2

The plane ride was awful. There was a little boy behind me who looked about four who kept kicking my seat to the beat of twinkle twinkle little star as he sang along. All. Thirteen. Hours.

Which meant I got zero sleep, how could you with a little boy singing and kicking you in your back? And every time we got food passed out to us, the over-weight man next to me who shook my hand at the beginning of the flight and said, "I'm Herald from Wisconsin," Always asked me if I was going to finish what they gave me, and even though I was hungry, I always passed it over to him. The only upside to Herald was that it gave me a good, tired laugh when Herald about cried when they passed out cheese and crackers, as he turned and gave me a, "I love cheese!" Giddy grin.

The only good part of my flight was when the flight attendant said, "We are now landing into Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris."

I practically jumped when he said that and we began to land. "Leaving so soon? I don't get off until we reach Clamart."

"Thirteen hours is long enough for me," I joked as I snuck a glance at the brat behind me. He was now playing on his DS.

"It was nice meeting you, Harper from New York."

"You too, Herald from Wisconsin." I smiled as I made my way into the isle from the window seat. I stopped once I stood in the isle, my carry-on draped across my arm. "I hope they give you more cheese." I smiled.

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My GPS was going absolutely crazy. It kept making me go in circles around some huge fountain as I was trying to find the school I was being forced to go to. I finally decided to look up from my phone and look around for someone to ask. I had taken a year of french in high school, but that was only because it was mandatory in fifth grade.

I looked up and saw a cafe, then as I spun around I saw a huge rustic brown gate that had a huge, brown, long building behind it that had black windows. It was kind of hard to read, but at the arch of the brown gate it read, "School of Americans". Finally!

I wheeled my luggage toward the gate and stood there for a second, confused on how to get it open. I finally saw some type of touch pad system on the one side of the gate. I pressed the red glowing button and some guys face popped up. I jumped back in surprise.

"Désolé, je vous ai fait peur?" The man said. He was wearing a white uniform and he had only a little bit of black hair left on his mostly-bald head.

"Huh?" Was all I could think to respond.

The man cleared his throat. "Sorry, you must be one of the new students. I said, 'sorry, did I scare you?'"

"Oh, yeah but it's okay." I said, trying to give a genuine smile. "And yeah, I am."

"May I ask your name?"

"Harper Collins."

I watched him as he flipped through a few pages, "Carr, Cavric, Cooper, oh wait, there it is! Collins!" He smiled. "Come on in."

He pressed a button and the doors made an unlocking noise. "Thank you." I said as I took a small step toward the right side of the gate and gently pushed it open.

It swung back in and locked behind me as I walked to the big door that said, "Main Entrance" over it.

"Harper Collins." The same man I saw through the video chat thing said to me as I stepped through the door. "How are you doing today?"

"Fine." I answered quietly. "How are you?"

"I'm great, thanks for asking." He said, a little too happy for my taste, almost like Herald when they passed out the cheese. "This man right here will take your luggage up to your room. Here is your room key, room 448, fourth floor. You only get one so don't lose it." He said, finishing the sentence with a stern look. "And could you step over here in front of this blue background please?"

I slowly made my way in front of the background, a little hesitant. "I am going to take your picture for your ID card so you can just scan it out there instead of having to press the red button and tell me your name. This thing will get you right in, and it will get you your meals from the lunch room, so don't lose it!"

"Got it." I said, a little shocked I have to take my ID picture for the whole year with an Adidas sweatshirt on and my hair in a messy ponytail, but I guess it's whatever, who's going to see it anyways?

I smiled as the camera snapped, sending a bright flash at me, blinding me temporarily. "All done." The man said as the ID with my picture on it came through some odd type of machine. "Just scan this barcode at the bottom out there and in the lunchroom and it will get you right in, and food."

"Thanks," I said as I looked down at my card. At the top it read, "Harper Collins", with a photo of me underneath, then it had a small, but long number above the barcode at the bottom, and that was it.

"No problem." He smiled. "I'm Robert, but we are bringing in another guy to work here since I've been working here so long, he's from the United States too, I just can't remember his name, but he is coming in after he spends a week with his sister in Clamart."