I felt giddy and lightheaded as I stepped off the gigantic metal aircraft, my legs feeling almost non-existent. I wasn't sure whether my giddiness was because of the excitement brimming within me, awaiting an explosive outlet or just my usual motion sickness and the after-flight tiredness catching up with my body.

The warm summer air kissed my face and the bare skin of my arms lightly, and the first thing I noticed was that it tasted different. Somewhat saltier, but cleaner all the same. The air felt alive, almost electric.

Clutching my cabin luggage, I hobbled towards the bus waiting to transport the passengers to the airport terminal where we could collect the rest of our baggage. This was my first international flight and although the feeling of making it alone to a completely alien place was surreal and terrifying at the same time, it was something I wouldn't mind getting used to.

Tell yourself that once the jetlag gets to you, Akira!

Collecting my baggage from the baggage ramp, I strode to the immigration office to get my papers verified and my passport stamped.

The JFK airport was hands down the biggest airport I'd ever seen in the entirely of my life and the sheer size and endless sea of people made me feel a tad bit frazzled as I navigated my way towards the exit.

So many people, so many dreams waiting to be fulfilled and opportunities waiting to be grabbed. Each with a different story to tell.

Honestly, me coming to the USA was more about exploring my choices and discovering myself before it was too late to. Of course, Vinay being here was a major plus point but he'd already graduated from Cornell a month back so we weren't exactly going to study together.

Vinay was starting at a reputed publishing firm as an assistant editor and I was going to complete my masters in Computer Science and Business Management.

As I stepped out of the airport and caught a cab to take me to my university, I felt like I left behind a small part of me inside the airport. A tiny part of my essence to commemorate my arrival and the volume of dreams I'd brought with me.

"First time in the States?" the man issuing tickets at the bus service booth asked in a friendly manner as he printed out my ticket.

His skin was pale and a wispy, greying beard covered most of his mouth and chin. For moment I remained silent.

Watching English television ever since I remember, the thick American accent wasn't anything new to my ears but it felt weird anyway. It made me slightly conscious of my accent and how it would sound to man.

"Yes." I smiled politely, "Is it that obvious?"

The man chuckled at that.

"Most people don't have time to notice such things. This is New York, sweetheart." Said Bill, that's the name his badge stated, with a small chortle, "But that curious, watchful gaze of yours is a dead giveaway."

"Oh." I laughed nervously.

"Here you go," he handed me my ticket and pointed in the direction of my bus, "That'll be sixty dollars."

I fished out the money from my purse and gave Bill the money, mentally converting the amount into Indian currency.

'Four thousand five hundred rupees, for a bus service?!', I gasped softly.

Jeez! I needed to stop with my obsession with grovelling about the dollar to rupee index conversion if I wanted to sleep peacefully every night.

Inhaling a deep breath, I boarded the bus quickly and stalked over to my seat, hauling my large trolley behind me. I'd decided to travel light since I was going to be alone, choosing instead to send my things in advance.

As the bus began to move, I rolled down the window and rested my head on the seat- exhaustion slowly descending over my body.

The success of DantelSoft had accelerated very fast in the last four years and we'd been rated the seventh most successful start-up in the country for the previous business year. We were aiming for the top five this year.

After multiple discussions, Neel and Harsh had agreed to let me do my two years long post graduation course from Cornell, the university Vinay had studied in. Most of my tuition fee was covered by scholarship waivers, and the rest I paid with the money I'd earned from company profits.

I was still to work remotely from Ithaca but my workload was considerably much less now. The boys had been pretty unhappy about it until I promised to do the same for them when they chose to do their masters.

I pulled out my phone from my purse and inserted the temporary sim card I bought in the airport duty-free store. When I finally had cell service, I texted my parents and friends telling them I'd reached safely and attached a couple of picture I'd taken at the airport and the busy New York streets.

Ma was quick to repost them to the family group chat and on her social media handles. Daddy sent me a long encouraging email, while my friends kept teasing me endlessly about flying halfway across the globe for my one true love. Roshni even went so far as to make a meme about it and putting it as our group chat status.

Chuckling, I rolled my eyes and put away my phone to save its battery.

The bus ride to Ithaca was almost five hours long so I decided to take a nap to try and curb the inevitable jetlag I was in for.

And as my eyes fluttered close and sleep slowly caught up with me, my mind couldn't stop buzzing about the endless possibilities the next two years had in store with me.

●○●

"Vinay she's here!" A tall, light haired girl who I remembered as Harper shouted from the doorway.

She'd come out to put away the garbage when she noticed me step off the bus a little distance away from the large cream coloured, two storey house in a long row of similar looking houses of the off campus housing facility, a few miles away from Cornell University.

I waved my hand at her and smiled in response. She jogged towards me to help me with my things.

"Hi, I'm Harper." She grinned in a friendly manner, her tall body frame towering over my petite form, "I'm going to be one of your new housemates."

"Yes, I remember you. You're the girl who's in the varsity swim team right?" I answered, recognizing her from one of my video calls with Vinay.

"Yep, that's me." She laughed, "I'm surprised you recall that. I crashed that one video call like last year."

Before I could respond, Vinay came rushing out of the house and ran towards me so fast that I barely had any time to brave myself before he launched himself onto me.

"Okay!" Harper raised her hand in the air with a loud snort, "I'll leave you guys to it. I'm going to go inside."

I cast her an apologetic smile as she turned to walk into the house.

"Fuck, I can't believe that you're finally here!" Vinay enthused as he squeezed my body in a tight embrace, "There are so many things we need to get done before your classes start next week. Also why the fuck did you send seven bottles of that green apple shampoo. Are you starting a new business or something?"

The first thing I registered was that Vinay's voice sounded different, before I felt the air being knocked out of my lungs. It had become deeper and he'd developed a slight American accent which I'd never quite noticed on call. I found myself thinking about how attractive it sounded.

I slapped his armed lightly, and asked, "You went through my stuff?!"

"Duh." He replied in an obvious tone, like he was saying that dark chocolate is better than white chocolate.

"I don't appreciate you going through my things Vinay!" I asserted, "I sent my stuff by a courier service so I could travel light. Not so you could flick all the shiny things from my stuff."

"Come on, stop comparing me to a magpie. Besides I was looking for Indian snacks in your bag." He pouted, "I promise I didn't move a single thing out of place. I simply took a small peek."

"Whatever." I shrugged, stepping inside the house and Vinay followed me in.

Everyone seemed to be waiting for me in the common room already because the moment I stepped in, my new housemates began to introduce themselves excitedly.

"Akira!" a tall, dark boy with a crew cut started, "Welcome to our humble lair. I'm Faruq. And this is Jamie and Magnolia. And think you've already met Harper."

A stocky boy playing a video game on his phone looked up at me and nodded politely.

"Jeez Jamie!" Magnolia shook her head as she flicked the back of Jamie's head, "Well Akira, Jamie here is a total introvert so don't feel bad if he doesn't acknowledge you around the house. He took a couple of months to warm up to us too. And I'd really like if you could call me Mags, Magnolia sounds damn trippy."

I snorted at that and everyone laughed with me.

We spent the next hour bantering amiably, and I vaguely recalled what I knew about each one of them from what Vinay had told me on the phone over the last for years.

"Ok I think I'm going to call it a night." I said apologetically as I stood up, "My jetlag isn't going to miraculously disappear."

"Shite! I almost forgot about that," Faruq slapped his forehead, "We're so sorry to have kept you waiting."

"Oh no, I really loved getting to know you guys." I smiled.

"All right, would you like to eat some pizza before you go to bed?" Mags asked, already making her way to the kitchen.

"No, I'm not hungry." I shook my head, "And I really don't need you guys to go out of your way to be so nice to me."

Mags laughed, "Enjoy it while you can, girl. Just wait until Jamie has a tantrum and Harper has a tournament. They'll turn the house upside down."

"Yikes!" I pulled a funny face at Harper, and she mumbled whatever.

Vinay showed me to my room upstairs.

It was pretty big and had plain brick red walls. There were two beds, one on either side of the room with a large common closet and a bathroom. There was a large window between the beds and it overlooked the small garden in the courtyard and the road outside.

It wasn't too big or too small. And the air smelled of lemon tinted air freshener that I like the smell of instantly.

I plopped onto the bed that looked unused, and lay my head on it.

"I'm guessing we're actually going to be sharing a room this time?" I surmised aloud.

"Yep." Vinay replied, laying down next to me and we stared at the bare white ceiling together.

"This brings back so many memories, don't you think." I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment.

He hummed in response but didn't say anything.

I frowned, finding that rather odd. Given, that the frequency of our phone calls had reduced to once a fortnight after the first couple of months but we were still considerably close.

"Why are you so quiet suddenly?" I frowned, turning my face towards him, "If you think I'm pissed at you about going through my stuff, I'm not."

Vinay shrugged his shoulders passively.

"No, it isn't anything like that." He said quietly, "It's just that...you know...I'm not sure what to say."

I sucked my lips into my mouth at his truthful admission and sat up on the bed abruptly. Vinay followed and looked at me cautiously.

"Look I didn't mean it in a bad way." Vinay began to clarify but I interrupted him.

"I totally understand where you're coming from." I breathed.

Vinay sighed and combed his fingers through his hair, a nervous habit that he still hadn't shaken off.

"Well, I suppose there's only one way to rectify that." I finally said, a determined smile pulling up the corners of my mouth, "How about we start over?"

"I'd love that." He agreed, his attractive smile distracted me for a split second, "A clean slate, zero awkwardness."

I smiled and interlaced my fingers with his. I looked down at our intertwined hands and said, "Great. So, what's the first thing we should do to commemorate this new chapter?"

Vinay tsked loudly.

"You've forgotten everything I taught you about letting loose right?" he rolled his eyes, "Don't worry. I'll help you remember. You should sleep today, maybe for the next twelve to fifteen hours. Be ready at five in the evening tomorrow, I'm taking you out."

"Where?" I asked instinctively.

"You'll get to know tomorrow." He chuckled, placing a light kiss on my forehead when I pouted.

I swallowed.

New country, new people, new room, new weather, new night sky so why not a new me.

Suddenly, I just knew that it was time start afresh and trust the magic of new beginnings.

The End

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