Friday, July 2nd, 2004.
I wake up, feeling more refreshed than ever, the best sleep I felt so far. It's still dark outside, which is good. I leave for my flight at 5, and it's currently 3:45 am. I hear Alex in his room putting his clothes on, I slowly get out of bed, still in my underwear. I go inside my suitcase and get a new shirt and jeans, the shirt being a "Ghostbusters" with the Stay Puff man on it shirt and the jeans being regular old blue and a new pair of Boxers, I threw away my Smashing Pumpkins shirt yesterday night, the shirt seeming starting to deteriorate as soon as I grew big, the jeans seemingly still fine, despite being faded due to the fact it's been in a good amount of stomach acid during this trip. I walk to the bathroom, taking a quick shower and also needing to use the toilet for the first time in forever, that side affect of being shrunk seemed to wear off in no time. I got out, around 5. My teeth brushed and freshly showered and all, I walked through the hallway and back into my room. I put on the shirt and pants I chose when I woke up, put on a pair of socks and my Nike shoes, which held up pretty well when you think about what I've been through.
I walk out of my room, my Suitcase in my left hand, the house still pretty dark, the skies are cloudy outside. Alex walks out of his room, dressed in his Blockbuster Uniform.
"You ready, mate?" He says, with a smile on his face.
"Let me say goodbye to your sister before we leave out for the Airport" I say, walking into Emily's room.
I walk in, opening the creased door. Emily's laying down in her bed, the room only lit by the light of the lamp in her room.
"Hey, Emily" I softly whisper out, she slowly starts to rise her head up.
"Thought I'd say goodbye, I'm leaving out for America" I say, with a sad smile on my face. Emily's messy brown hair is kinda cute.
"Bye, Matt" She says, with a sheepish smile before putting her head down and going back to sleep again.
I walk out of her room, closing the door.
"Ready?" Alex says, jingling his car keys in his pocket a bit.
"Ready" I say, as we both start to walk down the stairs.
We walk down the stairs and Alex unlocks the front door, leading out into the English Early morning, the sun starting to rise up but it's still mostly dark outside, quite cloudy too. I climb into the backseat of his Vauxhall, putting the Suitcase on the other seat. Alex opening the front door of the car, getting in and putting the keys in the ignition and driving off. I find it funny that he also doesn't lock his car doors, just like Nate.
"So, do you think you'll come back after this? I'd love to get a proper chance to hang out" He says, turning the radio off.
"Eh, Maybe. We'll see" I say, as I really start to notice how much the roads truly do look different compared to in the states. Not that many cars and trucks on the road due to the time it is, the Semi trucks also looking different too. The front of the truck is more flat looking and showing off different brands like "Scania" and "Man". Brands I've never seen in the states.
It's quiet for a couple of minutes, as Alex makes the transition from streetway to the motorway. I can feel him speed up much faster.
"I think I might come back sometime next year, depending on how things go" I say.
"Nice, I'd love for you to be back again" He says, switching lanes. I notice the highway signs here seem to be a white triangle with a red outline.
"Did you mention to any of your friends to me?" I say.
"I mean, I'd say I'd be talking to a Yank online whenever I did bring you up, that's really about it" He says, sniffing a bit.
"Ah, interesting. Have you been out to the states before?" I say, actually curious.
"I mean no, I haven't. Went to Winnipeg Canada though in 2001, lovely place. A friend of mine, Jerry, his older brother was having a wedding and his wife was Canadian, so Jerry's older brother Kenny bought me a ticket and made me one of his Best Men. It wasn't much different from America though, from what it seemed" He says.
"Yeah Canada's not much different from America besides a couple of things here or there, or at least that's what my Dad told me when he came back from his Business Trip from Halifax" I say, thinking about how it was around this time four years ago.
"Was this your first time outside of America, Matt?" He says, I notice that we're about to come up on a turn on the highway, Princess Parkway. The sun is coming up more and the sun is going up, more light is coming outside. More cars are seemingly on the highway.
"Yeah, it is. I've never really went on Vacation much anyways, besides New York city in I wanna say 6th grade, and San Diego and Los Angeles in the summer before 8th grade" I say.
"You sound pretty well traveled to me" He says, smiling.
"Yeah, I guess so" I say.
The last 10 minutes or so is pretty quiet, I notice when we get closer and closer to the airport, judging by the signs and the sound of planes flying overhead.
Alex gets into the the space and stops.
"Talk to you on Myspace" he says, looking back at me.
"I'll message you as soon as I'm settled" I say, getting out of the car, grabbing my suitcase on the way out, my passport in my left pocket.
Alex pulls off and drives away, back into the motorway as I walk inside the airport.
I wait about 20 minutes or so until my flight is called, I use one of the few actual British coins I got from the McDonald's yesterday to end up getting a Coke from one of the vending machine, and a Kit-Kat bar. My personal breakfast of champions. Eventually my flight is called and I board the plane, going through security and all that. I take my bags with me on the plane, due to the fact it can fit in the upper compartment above my seat. There's no in-flight movie on this plane, due to the fact it's a cheap Irish Airline, Ryanair. Ironically, I end up in Berlin, the Flight from Manchester to Berlin being about two hours. I land in the Tegel airport. The layover is about 30 minutes, I buy a small replica Brandenburg Gate from the airport's gift shop, as a souvenir. My flight is called and I board it, nothing like good ol' Delta Airlines to remind you of home. I board the plane, it seemingly filled with also fellow Americans and a handful of Germans. I thought it was pretty cool when we flew over Amsterdam and a section of England. I didn't look out the window when we were flying over the ocean though, gives me the creeps. The in-flight movies were Forrest Gump and Men In Black, and I think Rush Hour 2. These were the only movies I really payed attention too, people laughing at the funny scenes in the movies. The flight was a direct flight from Berlin to Charlotte, so it was about nine hours non-stop. I've never felt so at home when I saw we were flying over Virginia, coming closer to North Carolina.
Funny enough, due to how time zones work and all that, I ended up landing around 10 am or so. Never have I felt so good, being back in America. I got through TSA fairly quick. It's nice to travel, but it's also great to be back at home.
I walk out the front of the airport, a bit cloudy and cooler out than expected. I see my Dad's Black 1998 E-Class Mercedes parked in front, the only car we have left from when we drove down to Charlotte, my dad and mom and Nate in it also. It feels so good to see my family again after this long two weeks without hearing or seeing them. I walk towards the car and get in, the smell of Dad's cherry scented car air freshener.
"How did you know I would be out here?" I say.
"I mean, we did the math for what day you'd come back, kinda odd you didn't contact us during the entire trip though, but we figured you were fine, since you could probably contact us if you were any trouble" Dad says, as he pulls out of the space and onto the road.
"Oh yeah, that makes sense" I say.
"How was England?" Mom asks me.
"It's uh, nice. Roads seemed a lot smaller than over here, English people are polite" I say.
"Ha, I remember when I went to London I heard someone saying fuck you every minute on the street" he says, as he turns off of the Airport roads and onto the highway.
"JOHN!" Mom says, upset at his language, Nate laughs at this.
"Hey, just saying what I heard. Did you go anywhere else in Europe son?" He says, as he speeds up more on the highway.
"I mean, I had a 30 minute Layover in Berlin on the return flight home" I say, half lying and half telling the truth.
"Ah, nice" Mom says.
The rest of the drive home I'm prodded with questions, I answer them too. I get reverse Culture Shock too, but it doesn't last too long before my eyes gets accustomed to how huge and wide the roads are over here, and how pickup trucks are common.
"Home sweet home" Dad says as he pulls into the driveway, Mom's SUV in the garage.
"Wait so you're off today dad?" I say.
"Yep, I am. Go back to work on Monday though" He says.
I get out of the car with my suitcase and into the house, the familiar site and smell of the house flooding my senses, and I take my shoes off and climb up the stairs and enter my room, still the same way I left it, Alarm Clock disabled and all. I look around.
"Finally, I'm home" I say, before falling down on my bed and getting back up again.
Saturday, July 3rd, 2004
I wake up, it feels amazing to sleep in your own bed again after two weeks of sleeping in someone else's or a suitcase. It's about 9 o'clock in the morning or so, I spent the rest of yesterday mostly napping and trying to get adjusted to the Time Zone again, and just lounging around the house, watched a little bit of TV in my room, really just flipping channels and watching whatever seemed interesting until I fell asleep. I get out of bed, looking at the Brandenburg Gate replica on the side of my Computer, as a way to remember my trip. I announced that I back in America yesterday evening on Myspace, after talking to Alex.
I get up and go downstairs, everyone else in their rooms, I put on a plain black t-shirt and red mesh shorts before I go down. I eat a package of Blueberry pop tarts and wash it down with some milk before going back upstairs and brushing my teeth and using the bathroom, not needing to shower due to the fact I did last night. I see we have left over from last night, a couple of slices of Papa John's Pizza and half a two liter of Pepsi. I go back up stairs and go on my cell phone and call Jon.
"Matt! You're back from Europe! I saw your updated Status on Myspace" He says, he sounds really happy.
"Yep, I wondering if we could hang out today?" I ask.
"HELL YEAH DUDE, I'll be right there" He says, hanging up before I can say anything else.
Before I close the phone up my "Buddy Holly" by Weezer ring tone goes off, I pick up the phone.
"Matt, I've missed you" Molly says.
"I've missed you too babe, I'm going to go out with Jon, do you want to come along. I'm pretty sure he'd be alright with it" I say, asking her.
"OF COURSE, you're my boyfriend, I'm off today and Sunday and Monday. Do you think you can spend the 4th of July my family tomorrow? We're going to go the river and Barbeque and probably shoot off some fireworks" She says.
"I hope so, I'll ask my parents later on" I say as I start to walk out of my room and down the stairs, my parents still in their bedrooms watching TV, my Brother playing on his XBOX, I think judging by the sounds it's that Hulk game, Limp Biskit's "Break Stuff" is also playing out of his room, but mom and dad are telling to turn it down whenever the song curses.
"Well, Love you" She says, before hanging up. I say out loud that I'm going to hang out with Jon and Molly and parents respond that it's fine. Nate says bye from out of his room. I quickly get changed into a pair of white shorts and a Polo shirt, the collars on it seeming pretty stiff from the last time I've worn it, being in dry cleaning and all.
I walk down stairs with my cell phone in my pocket and go out the front door, still feels so good to see my neighborhood again, and to be back in suburban America right before the 4th of July. I wait about 5 minutes and I see Jon pull up in front of Nate's red Dodge Neon, I'm surprised that his parents allow him to drive now, after he ended up crashing his Mom's Ford Focus going full speed into the shopping mall, it was on the local news early last year.
I get in, Jon borrowing his dad's 2001 Lexus ES300.
"They let you drive again?" I say, as Jon pulls off, jerking the car forwards.
"Yeah, they said they trust me to drive again I think the 5th day you were gone" He says, starting to slow down and pull out of the neighborhood.
"Hey, can we pick up Molly? She's just right down this street" I say.
"Ugh, Fine. You better not start making out with her in front of me dude, I really rather not be a third wheel" He says, shifting the car to Reverse and making a u-turn, I'm really glad he did this when there were no cars around, he still sucks ass at driving.
"Dude, you know I wouldn't do that. I have class" I say, sounding kinda offended.
He drives down the street and takes a left then right turn onto the next row of houses in my neighborhood. He pops open the center console department and takes out a CD case, the CDs in there being a mix of bands I've heard of like "Blink-182", "Good Charlotte", and "The Starting Line" and "Box Car Racers", but mostly bands I've never heard of like "Mest" or "Home Grown" or "Allister". I think I might of heard of "Gob" but that's about it.
He pulls out a CD of a band called "Sugarcult" and inserts it into the CD player of the car, he skips the first song but keeps it on the second song, it being called "Stuck in America".
He parks in front of Molly's house, and she comes walking out, I get out the car to open the back door for her, she gives a small kiss on the lips and says that she missed me.
We get back in the car, the song "Stuck In America" really sounding catchy to me as we get in.
"Do you always listen to that whiny mall-punk stuff? I mean I know everyone's listening to it now but it's kinda annoying" she says, with a bit of a vocal fry in her voice.
"Hey, you have your music and I have mine" Jon says, sounding annoyed.
As we drive out of the neighborhood, I do realize something that's a also a lyric in the song. After everything that's happened, I've felt differently about my life in a positive way, ever since I was in Germany and being treated as food inside Jessica's stomach and intestines. Finally making this realization as the car speeds off into the traffic and we go into Charlotte and away from Matthews to go to the mall and spend the rest of today talking and having fun there.
Today, I changed.
Giantess World
Chapter End Notes:
Epilogue comes out tomorrow.