Ryder's POV

We landed in Sydney at about 18:00, according to the time (in England) on my watch, but in Sydney it was around 4 in the morning. Travelling across so many time zones felt weird. The flights and the time spent in the airports were pretty similar to the others: talking and wandering around.

I expected that we would land in an international airport in New Zealand, but I was surprised when we neared what looked like a private airstrip. It was surrounded (at a safe distance) by plane hangars, with interesting types of aircraft I hadn't seen before, and helipads with helicopters ready to go.

"Now that, is home," Sam said, pointing to a large series of buildings to the left of the airstrip.

"I thought we were going to land in another airport," I said.

"You could say that this is an airport, just our own personal one," Sam said. "It's one of the hottest times of the year in New Zealand at the moment," he added.

"He's giving you the reason why you're going to see many shirtless men walking around," Josy explained, making us laugh.

"Thanks for the warning," I said.

The area was quite isolated from the rest of the city, surrounded by tropical woodland. There were many tall buildings situated near each other, making the place look almost like a mini city. A tall metal fence surrounded the whole place, including the airstrips and hangars. As we got closer to landing, I started to see small figures of people walking around and stuff. There was an air traffic control tower with a light on it, probably giving Blake and Hayes the go ahead to land.

Tex pulled out a cowboy hat, and placed it on his head. Once we landed, I felt a little nervous. Like what if people didn't like me? What if I got lost? Sam seemed to sense my worry because he placed a hand on my shoulder as he stood up.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned. "You seem tense,"

I nodded. "Just a little scared,"

"Of what?"

"What if people don't like me?"

Sam smiled. "Don't worry, they will. And if they don't to start off with, they'll warm up over time. I won't let anyone bother you," he added, and I relaxed a little bit.

It was morning in New Zealand, meaning the sun was starting to make it's way towards it's height. We got off the plane and multiple people came to help us with our bags and stuff. A girl came towards me, and I stepped a little closer to Sam, unsure of what to do or say.

She ruffled Sam's hair. "Samuel! It's been quiet here without you!" she was very pretty, and she seemed 7/8 years older than us, maybe the same age as Taylor. She actually looked quite similar to him, and I wondered if they were related.

"Hey! Missed me?" he joked, before turning to me. I wasn't sure if he even realised he did it, but he placed his hand on my lower back and gestured to me. "This is Ryder, she's joining us. Rye, this is Tessa, Taylor's twin sister,"

She gave me a genuine smile and held her hand out. "Hey, it's nice to meet you Ryder," she said.

I shook her hand, "You too,"

"I'll take this for you," She said, wheeling my suitcase for me.

"It's okay, I can do it," I started, but she waved me off, leading me and Sam off the airstrip.

"it's the least I can do, if I had known you were coming earlier, I would have done a proper welcome," she said.

I was grateful that the first person I met was so nice.

"Sierra said we can share a room," Sam said as we entered a tall building. As we walked, multiple people nodded and greeted Sam.

"Yeah, I think someone was setting that up earlier," Tessa said. We stepped into an elevator and Sam pressed floor 14, unlocking it with a key card.

As we waited, Tessa got to know me. "So how old are you?"

"12, nearly 13. How about you?" I asked.

"20. Even though you're like 7 years younger than me, it's gonna be so cool having another girl around. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of cool people here, but sometimes it can get boring," Tessa said.

"I'll try and stick with you as much as I can, and show you around," Sam said, "But Tessa, make sure to keep an eye out for Ryder," he turned back to me, "I don't want you getting lost or anything,"

I nodded. "Thanks, really,"

The doors opened and I followed the two out of it, down the hall. The interior of the buildings looked a lot more modern than the outside. Sam stopped outside a room that said 14B on the from of it, probably for the floor number and room letter. He stepped inside and held the door open for me. "Welcome to my homely abode," he joked.