Chapter 1:- Welcome to wherever you are.
Dallas Webb sat back in his chair, his dark blue eyes focused on one thing: his duffle bag. He brought his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes. He was still tired from the night before, but he had to get this done. It always hurt him to leave his house in Boston every fall, everything about his hometown made him feel welcome and well. The smell of the harbour, the boats, the tourists and all the attractions, everything was perfect here. But he had no choice but to pack up for school. He was finally going to university and although he was accepted to universities in Massachusetts, close to his mother and home, he wanted a change of scenery and took the opportunity to go to Michigan State. His mother was proud of her only son, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of leaving her 15 hours away. He stood up and sighed brushing his fingers through his golden blond hair.
Before Dallas could get up to throw some jeans into the bag, his phone vibrated in his pocket. "Hello?" He asked into the slim phone, his hands almost too big for it. "Yeah, why don't you come over, I wasn't doing anything, anyways." He finished, pulling the phone away from his face and pressed the red end button. He would be leaving tomorrow, so he still had plenty of time before his departure to pack... how harmful would it be to see the girl he loved one more time.
Dallas heard the doorbell and took the steps two by two, beating his mother to the door. He felt like it was only yesterday he was 15 and doing this every time a girl would come over.
“Hi gorgeous,” He said picking her up in his arms and kissing her, bringing her up the stairs.
A few minutes later, Dallas held Laurie in his arms, her head on his bare chest. She looked up at him, and smiled. Her strawberry blonde hair all wet and stuck to his torso. Dallas moved the hair out of her face and kissed the top of her head. He still hadn't told her yet. She was in for a surprise. He cleared his throat, and Laurie sat up, wrapping his dark blue sheets around her naked body.
Dallas smiled weakly: "Laurie..." His voice dropped, and panic spread across her face, Dallas tried to comfort her, she had nothing to worry about. "I’m leaving tomorrow for Michigan.”
Laurie’s face dropped. “What do you mean... leaving? Couldn’t you have told me earlier?” She said, clearly getting frustrated with Dallas. He got up and picked up his pair of dark jeans and pulled them up over him. It wasn't the best climate to be wearing jeans; his attic room hot and muggy. He looked back at Laurie, the look of guilt all over his face.
Dallas was a little forgetful and absentminded. Sometimes, the most important things in life would slip from his mind. Luckily his mother kept him straight, he sighed.
"Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner... I thought... Well it doesn’t matter; I’ll be home during the holidays, and... I don't want to stop seeing you.” Dallas walked over and kissed her forehead again, she pushed him away.
“What do you mean...? You thought?” She grabbed his t-shirt and put it on, she crossed her arms, and her eyes turned to slits.
“Well, I...” He stopped and grabbed her hands. “Look, I’ve never had a serious relationship. I thought this would last a month and I’d be single and on to the next. I... you mean more though...”
Dallas stared at her, giving her the best puppy dog eyes he’d ever made. He could sense steam coming out of her ears and her nostrils flaring, but her eyes looked like she’d forgiven him.
“Fine, I was going to U of Mass. Anyways, and not the one by your house!” She turned on her heels and walked into his adjoining bathroom and slammed the door.
The following morning, Dallas was packing up his old red pick-up trunk, throwing in his duffle bag and hockey equipment, not to mention the almost six feet long hockey sticks in the back. He was glad, at this moment, that he owned a truck. He looked back at his house, his mother, his girlfriend.
“Ma... really you can stop now.” Dallas said weakly as his mom gave him tons of hugs and kisses. He mumbled: “I’ve got to go...”
“Oh, I know! But you’re the only one I’ve got! And this is such a big moment!” His mom squeaked. “...oh, I’m going to be so lonely.” She sighed.
Dallas never knew who his father was, besides a small picture and knowing he looks exactly like him, it had never bothered him, and surely never would. What kind of man leaves his son anyways? Dallas shook the thought from him head and hugged his mom one last time before giving Laurie a kiss and entering his vehicle. He couldn’t wait for those long nights with friends, breaking the rules and of course, the hook-ups... wait, he wasn’t supposed to have those this year. This year may be harder then he thought.
***
Aleksey Cherkesov waited nervously at the Moscow International Airport. He wiped his clammy hands on his stripped pullover sweater and looked down at the plane outside the terminal; he squinted to hold back his tears. He wasn’t going to cry, of course not, but he was scared to venture off to Michigan, and be thrown into a foreign country, by himself, on his own. Aleksey watched as they loaded the plane, he couldn’t believe this was really happening, for the past year he had been taking extensive English classes, took all the prep tests and learned American culture just so he could attend Michigan State. It might not be an Ivy League school, and not worth moving across to country to some, but they had one of the best hockey programs in the country and Aleksey had finally earned a scholarship. He had high hopes of becoming an elite player in the most elite league. He took this risk along with his family. He turned back to see his older sister, Pavlina, crying in her mother’s arms.
“Guys... I’ll be fine.” He said, in his mother tongue, Russian. He tried to stay strong. “Really... if I need anything, you’ll be the first to know.”
Aleksey wiped the tear from his sister’s face, with his thumb and leaned down to hug her, just as his flight was being announced over the PA system to start boarding. He hugged everyone else who was waiting with him and finally turned to his dad to say goodbye. He slowly walked through security and towards the tunnel, looking back every few seconds to see the people he was leaving behind. He had to remember that he was doing this not only for himself, but for his family too. His dreams could come true with his determination and courage.
It was the first time he’d been on a plane. He was amazed at the screens in the seats and he immediately lost himself in a few of his favourite Russian shows before landing in London and taking his connecting flight to Detroit. He fell asleep during that flight and woke up to the flight attendant shaking him. He smiled, and stretched, in just a few hours he would be at his new home. He arrived in the country where dreams come true; he was living the American Dream.
Finally he took one last, short, flight from Detroit to Lansing there, Aleksey waited impatiently at the luggage claim, he had quite a number of bags, including all his hockey gear and all the sticks he had to pay extra for so they wouldn’t be damaged. He was lucky he wasn’t a short and weak boy, because he had an awful lot to carry.
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