Friends n Family Made

At first, I did not feel lonely.

Everything was new. Big buildings, big rooms, big voices speaking languages I don't know. My heart was full of "Wow". I ran, I looked, I touched.

But then, night came.

The other students sat in groups. Some laughed, some whispered. Some had their older siblings with them—eating together, staying close.

Me? My brother was already gone. Flew back home.

And I was alone.

I sat with my tray of food, holding my chopsticks too tight. The dining hall was warm, full of voices, but I felt cold.

I thought: This is far. This is so far from home.

Then—

“Can I sit with you?”

A girl stood beside me. Greyish green eyes, warm smile, something wrapped neatly around her hair.

I blinked. “Eh?”

She was Farasyah.

Well, it's Lathifah Syahira Binti Abdul Aziz. But Farasyah... She wants me to call her Farasyah. It's her nickname, she tell me that. I don't know what it means, but I know it's beautiful.

It suits her. Really.

We sit down, eat together, and just like that, I was not alone anymore.

We talked. She spoke slowly, and I tried hard to understand. She told me she had siblings back home, too. She said she missed them already. Just like I do.

She's a nice friend. Yeah... Friend.

I'll make more friends here. Maybe.

But family? I don't know.

...~•~...

Later, I met him.

His name? It's a long one *haha* I just call him Irazú-san.

I don't know why, but he looked at me like he understood. Like he could see the lonely inside me.

“You have an accent,” he said. “Kansai, is it?”

Yes, yes it is. It's the dialect I use the most.

When I wondered, Will I have family here?— He said I will.

I did not believe at first. But then he said—

“I, Joaquín Solis Irazú, will gladly be the first member of the family you'll be making here.”