Introduction

Till Aufweisen stood in the Berlin airport, holding his suitcase in his hand. It was the twenty eighth of August; just two days before his school would start. He turned to face his parents, Klaus and Jana Aufweisen, who held the hand of his little sister, Tanja.

“Auf wiedersehen; ich liebe dich! Goodbye; I love you,” Till said to his family, giving Tanja a goodbye hug as she sniffled into his shoulder.

Till turned, took a deep breath and walked on the polished floor through the terminal to the plane that would take him far away to a country called America. It was the first time Till had ever flown on a plane, and his nerves were stirring inside him, making him feel sick with excitement.

“Enjoy your flight,” the grumpy flight attendant said to him as he walked on the plane.

Her looked down at his flight ticket, trying to locate his seat: row R, seat number 1. Near the back of the plane, right next to the window, he found himself staring at the pavement beneath the large machine he was seated in.

He watched as more and more people boarded the plane, filling it with smells of musty perfume, strong cologne and sticky sweat. Till crossed his fingers in his lap, hoping that the people who would sit in his row would be normal.

An inward groan filled his lungs as a mother sat down next to him, with a young child around age five. The little girl was wearing her hair in pigtails and bouncing up and down in her seat. And it was that exact moment that Till Aufweisen released his real self.

The girl bounced, babbling about everything and nothing all at the same time. Till’s fists were white knuckled on the armrests of his seat.

“Brauchen sie etwas? Do you need anything?” the pretty blonde flight attendant asked Till, as he looked up at her with his deadly green eyes.

“Nein,” Till said with a face set in stone.

A brief flash of, was it fear? crossed her face before she nodded and moved on.

The mother of the little girl turned to start up a conversation with Till, who already had an annoyed look on his face.

“I’m sorry about Gabriele; she loves flying so much and she is really excited to go back home and see all of her friends again!” the plain looking woman with the plaid shirt said to Till.

“It is alright,” Till said to her in English, his heavy accent showing through his words.

“Where are you from?” the woman asked, a fake smile plastered to her face.

“Velten, Germany,” Till responded, giving as short of an answer as he possibly could.

“Oh, that is nice! We are from Florida in the United States. My name is Mary,” the woman replied, that stupid smile still staring Till in the face.

He turned slightly towards the window, showing her that he did not want to continue any conversation. He pulled out his ipod from his sweatshirt pocket and plugged his earphones into his ears. The voice of his uncle rose to his ears, filling his head with the angry baritone voice.

His uncle, also his namesake, was the lead singer for the German band, Rammstein. It was one of Till’s favorites, because he favored metal over any other genre of music.

As one song was finishing, the seat-belt light came on, signaling their takeoff. Somehow, Till had the feeling that it was going to be a long eleven hour flight. He took out a letter from his pocket that his family had written to him and told him to wait to read until he got to America. Yeah, right.

He unfolded and pressed out the crinkled page, seeing his mother’s perfect handwriting sprawled across the page. He began to read as the plane lifted into the air.

Dear Till,

I hope your flight went well and that you have landed in the right place. We are missing you dearly already and it will be a struggle to get by here without you. We wanted to write you this letter to remind you of a few things. Firstly, remember your manners. I believe we raised you correctly and we hope you put that to good use in a different country. Secondly, remember that you are a guest of your host family and you are expected to do some help cleaning up and doing chores- more than you did here. Third, if you do not fit in, do not worry. People are probably just scared to make friends with you because they think you do not speak good English. Make your parents proud by being a strong man and don’t neglect your schoolwork. This is not a trip for fun, but a trip to learn in a different country. You are only fifteen and these are the most important years of your life, so you need to make good choices. Never forget that we love you.

Love, Papa, Mama and Tanja

Till knew that he should be appreciative of their concerns and reminders, but he was mostly annoyed. He was practically an adult now, and he did not need his parents interfering with his new life. He knew how he was supposed to act. He could do that without a problem.

An annoying finger tapped his shoulder, bringing him back into the reality that he was on a plane, soon to land in his new life.

“What are you reading?” the little girl in pigtails asked, breathing her smelly breath into his ear.

He tried to shrug her off and annoy her, but her sticky fingers kept poking him. He turned to see if her mother was going to do anything about this, but she had her face buried in an issue of Vogue.

“I am reading a letter from my parents,” he answered as coldly as he could, but the girl was unfazed by his non congeniality.

“What does it say? Read it to me!” the girl said, practically climbing onto his shoulder.

“It is personal. I would rather not,” Till said, prying her fingers off of his arm and pushing her to the side a little bit.

“Mom! This boy is being mean to me! He doesn’t like me!” the girl called Gabriele complained to her mother.

The mother heaved a big sigh and turned to face Till, the corner of her mouth slightly pulled up.

“Please. This is going to be a long ride for all of us if you don’t cooperate,” Mary said, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples.

Who is this lady, thinking she can tell me what to do, thought Till. His anger rose, darkening the tips of his ears. He didn’t ask to be put next to these people, and he certainly didn’t feel the need to entertain some child he didn’t even know for hours on end.

The next time a flight attendant came by, he asked as coolly as he could, “Excuse me, miss. Are there any other seats available on this flight?”

The blonde girl, the same one from earlier, looked around, and returned a smile to him.

“Yes, there is. Just two rows back, if that is okay. It is an aisle seat,” she smiled, her Crest white teeth shining behind her bright red lipstick.

“May I move back there please? This seating arrangement is not working out well,” Till asked, putting away his letter and his ipod.

“Of course,” she replied.

Till smirked at the woman named Mary as he climbed over her and Gabriele, moving himself back two rows to the opposite side of the aisle. It was, very conveniently, next to a pair of gorgeous teenage girls. He flashed his charming smile at them as he said down, asking them if they spoke English.

“Yes, we are from America,” the girl next to him replied.

She was tall and thin, with long, sleek, brown hair. Her shirt was littered with flowers, and her jeans hugged her legs in all the right ways.

“That is where I am going,” Till replied, brushing his gorgeous blonde hair back.

“I’m Amanda. This is my friend, Janelle,” the same girl spoke, extending her hand for him to shake.

“My name is Till. It is a pleasure to meet you ladies,” Till said, grabbing her hand and holding onto it just a bit longer than necessary.

A blush littered her face, her dimples showing as she smiles nervously. The other girl, however, did not seem quite as impressed by Till and his charming personality. She was a bit heavier than Amanda, and wasn’t as pretty, but was still fairly attractive.

“Where are you going, Till?” Janelle asked, leaning forward a bit in her seat so she could look him in the eyes.

“I am going to Houston, Texas,” he replied, laying on his accent very thickly.

Amanda smiled and blushed even harder, turning to giggle with Janelle.

“Something humorous about that?” Till asked, a smile sneaking onto this face.

“That is where we are from,” Janelle explained while Amanda regained her composure.

“Maybe we will run into each other. What school do you girls attend?” Till asked, purposely brushing his arm against Amanda as he stretched.

“We go to Highview on the south side of the city,” Amanda said, flashing her pearly whites in the direction of Till.

“What a coincidence! There is where I am going to be going to my school,” Till replied, a genuine smile filling his face.

“We will show you around! Introduce you!” Amanda blurted out.

“I would like that very much,” Till replied, letting his arm rest against hers.

This was going to be a lot easier than he had originally planned. He already knew someone, and she was the perfect victim.

He turned his face to the floor and smiled not one of his dashing smiles, but one that held ulterior motives behind it. America would be a great place for Till. Any doubt that this would not work out was diminished as the place came to a gentle landing on the airway in the new country. His country.

Author's Note

Comments are appreciated!

Reviews

[Wingless Fallen Angel]

This sounds like its going to be interesting! You have excellent grammar and spelling, which is what I really like in authors and authoresses. 100/100