Chapter 2
As it turned out, Miles’ college of choice ended up being in the UK. His parents were surprised, but continued to be as supportive as ever, waving goodbye tearfully as he entered the airport by himself.
After an exhaustingly long plane ride, he’d finally made it. He was finally on his own, ready for whatever the world had to throw at him. Probably.
Setting down his luggage at the entrance of his dorm, he inspected the area. There was an open concept kitchen with a couch across from it, and further up there was two rooms, and upon closer inspection it was the bathroom and his room. He smiled to himself, and began to unpack his things.
A few hours later, Miles decided he would wander around the school, to take a break from trying to organize everything. Heading first towards the elevator,he waited until the doors opened, where there was a girl with mostly blonde hair, pink tinges at the ends, she also had an eyebrow piercing and was looking down at her phone, presumably texting someone. She looked familiar to Miles, but before he could say anything, she looked up, and spoke, surprised.
“Miles? Holy shit is that you?” Suddenly everything clicked into place and Miles grinned at the girl.
“Gwen! No fucking way man, how’ve you been?” He was promptly tackled into a hug before the girl let go and laughed,
“I’ve been good, I’m just-how are you here? I haven’t seen you in forever!” She exclaimed, the elevator doors closing with both of them inside.
“I decided I wanted to go into the arts, do something I liked, so I kind of applied secretly, never thought I’d actually get in,” Miles smiled sheepishly
“That’s fuckin awesome Miles, I’m glad you’re finally doing what makes you happy,” she smiled warmly, the corners of her eyes crinkling slightly. Miles beamed back in return.
“What about you Gwen? You kind of left school abruptly after only being there for like what,,a year?” She shrank back slightly.
“Yeahh, my family moves around a lot, and so I don’t tend to stay long enough to make friends. I’m glad I became friends with you though, even though we lost contact,” she paused, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly, not really sure if she should continue. Though that explanation seemed to be enough for Miles, as he didn’t push further, simply smiling and nodding in acknowledgement.
The elevator opened once more, and the two stared, before Gwen asked,
“Where were you going?”
“Eh nowhere in particular,” Miles shrugged, so Gwen invited him to meet her friend Pavitr, whom she had gotten close with in her time in the UK. Miles was a bit nervous to meet the other, always the introvert, but Gwen assured him the two would get along just fine.
It turns out Gwen was right, the two got along like two peas in a pod. She watched as the two discussed various topics, both curious about each other’s backgrounds.
“Growing up, my auntie taught me traditional dances, and Ioved it so much that now I'm here to continue learning!” Pavitr exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air with a laugh, and Miles nodded eagerly.
“My mum taught me how to dance as well! She doesn’t have much family here-er in New York, but she wanted me to stay connected to our culture, so we spent a lot of time dancing,” Miles smiled, feeling nostalgic as the memories played in his mind. He hadn't been gone for more than a couple of days, but he already missed his mami and papi, so he made a mental note to call them soon.
“Woaaah that’s so cool Miles, we should teach each other dances sometime!” Pavitr was grinning excitedly at the prospects of swapping dance moves, he enjoyed learning any new moves, especially with friends! Miles grinned and nodded back, the two already making plans for the future.
“You guys wanna go out for some food?” Gwen asked, interrupting the two's conversation. The boys paused their excited chatter, so they could think, Miles quickly agreed, realizing he was, in fact, hungry, and Pavitr also nodded in agreement, so they quickly got on their shoes, and left the dorms.
On the way there, Gwen stopped Miles for a bit, as Pavitr excitedly bounced in the direction of the place they had picked. It was now evening, but the food joint they picked was open until midnight.
“Hey, I just wanted to apologize, I know I left suddenly back in high school, but I’m really glad we got the chance to meet again.” Gwen looked down at her shoes, frowning slightly, waiting for Miles’ response.
“I mean,” he sighed a bit, “it sucked having to find out from one of the teachers why you went MIA, and honestly? I felt betrayed.” Gwen winced.
“But it’s been, what, two years now? I’ve had time to think and reflect on it. I wish you had given me a heads-up or something, but I also know how closed off you were about your personal shit back then.”
“I’m really sorry Miles, I fucked up-“ Gwen was cut off by a hug, and Miles whispering.
“It’s okay Gwen, we’re here now, just, I don’t know, don’t up and leave without saying anything again? Tell me if something happens, I want to be there for you, like you were for me.” They pulled away and smiled at each other before Pavitr interrupted.
“No way, are you guys doing a group hug without me? Unfair!” He whined jokingly, before pulling the two into a hug, and the three laughed, standing in the middle of the street.
Gwen was the first of the three to pull away, with a smirk on her face.
“Alright you saps, let’s go get some food in our system!” the other two cheered as they continued their journey.
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After eating, the three decided it was better to head back to the dorms, and so, Miles lay awake in bed, thinking about the events that had transpired. Pavitr was upset that the three of them weren’t all in the dance course, when Gwen told him about Miles’ graffiti art, but smiled nonetheless when Miles agreed to show him some of his work. Pavitr was speechless for a moment before showering Miles in so many compliments that he had the poor boy blushing.
All in all, Miles was excited for his old and new friends to be part of his new life, and was excited to see what the future had in store.
He quickly sent a text to his mother, telling her he was going to sleep, not waiting for a reply before heading to bed. He didn’t sleep much, as insomnia had always had a grasp on the boy, and the time difference surely wasn’t helping him. Miles decided to turn on a lamp light next to his bed, and began to draw. Eventually he fell asleep, sketchbook and pencil in hand, his posture horrible, and he would surely regret that in the morning, when all his muscles were sore. But that was a problem for future Miles, not the one who was already asleep.