#passage1

Now that her mind was wrapped around the thought of college, particularly her college life, she let out a huge sigh, loud and heavy enough to be heard by the person she was sitting next to. Her ten-month stay in Davao was a mixture of different feelings. It was freeing and utterly adventurous, what with living in a dorm room with people she barely knew at first, discovering them as the time passes by, and budgeting her own money--deciding whether to spend the money for something she really needs or something she just wants to have. But it was miserable all the same. Heaps of requirements and paper works were often thrown at them mercilessly by professors, sucking the life out of their eyes. Not to mention juniors and seniors who think of themselves better. Although there was a large amount of truth to that, given that Anya is still a freshman, she couldn't help but feel it such a burden. Many were nice, many were two-faced. It couldn't be helped. College was not a bit far unlikely from highschool. You had to stay with your own clique.

And her family, her family were two huge islands away from her, she could only be with them during semester breaks and christmas breaks, which were only twice a year. There was a time when she cried her eyes out for missing them so much but she eventually recovered, the gaps in her emotions were filled by long nights of partying and short days of studying and drousing off. Her college life had been ironic. Fun. Lonely. But fun.

Overlooking the clouds beneath them, she couldn't quite figure out where they were now. She could clearly see the tall buildings from afar, they weren't so tiny in sight, so she thought they weren't far from Ortigas(it was her second favorite city) now, which means in ten minutes or so, they would land safely to the ground. Luzon at last. She made peace with her final thoughts on Davao, swearing never to go back to study there again but she would surely miss the people she became good friends with. She would miss their weird, little group. In her mind, she vowed to only go back for vacation purposes and to see how her friends were doing. In the future, maybe. Davao is such a nice place. But home is home, and this is where she belongs.

Her calculation was a bit far off. It was twenty minutes later that they landed and her nausea had worsen, her stomach churned and her ears popped. She used to think that travelling on a place was amazing but when it becomes too often, it could really bore and annoy you. She knew that after this is hell of a jetlag.

Just as the pilot announce over the speakers that it was already safe to unbuckle their seatbelts, she decided to turn on her phone first and dial her mother's number. A few messages came in, some from her sorority sisters wishing her a safe flight, and one from her mother telling her that they were already waiting at the bay. She called anyway. 'Hello, Anya?'