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God, I hate LA. That has been the only thought on my mind since my plane landed at LAX. Being from Oregon, I'm used to clouds, rain, and a significant amount of dampness in the air. Los Angeles had not one of those things. It’s hot, dry, and so sunny I had to buy sunglasses before even stepping outside. Why did Mom have to marry that stupid asshole? Why did we have to move to the breeding ground for all assholes? Why does my life suck so goddamn much? These questions and more plagued me throughout the entire drive to our new home. Mom couldn’t shut up about how much I was going to love our new house, my new room, my new school, and more. I finally had to slip some headphones on and just close my eyes for the rest of the drive.
I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, my mom was yanking my headphones out of my ears and loudly exclaiming, “We’re here!”.
I could practically see the excitement oozing out of her pores. I just rolled my eyes and put my headphones back on, and stepped out of the car. The heat hit me immediately. Sweltering and intolerable heat. It just fueled my irritation more. I quickly got my stuff out of the trunk and took a look at the house. It was big and white, that’s all I could really say about it. I just huffed and walked inside. Everything was white. White walls, white floors, and white furniture. Just looking at it made me miss our home in Oregon even more. With its oak floors and colorful furniture, it was homey and comfortable. Nothing about this place was homey or comfortable. I felt like I was in a hotel lobby, and just as that thought settled in my mind, my mom and Rick walked in.
“So, what do you think?” My mom said to me as she put her arm around my shoulder and pulled me into her side. Rick stood next to her with an expecting smile.
God, I hate him. He met my mom only 6 months after my dad died, and only 4 months after that, we moved to California to live in his stupid white house. I only shrugged and begrudgingly asked where my room was. Rick, smile now more obviously forced, pointed me upstairs and told me to look around. I sighed and began my hike up the marble staircase.
I took a look at my new room. Rick and my mom went ahead and set it up while I was still in Oregon. It was pretty scarcely decorated. A bed, dresser, and a mirror was all it contained. I shrugged once again, locked the door, and put my luggage down. I unzipped the biggest bag and pulled out an old blue sweater. My dad's sweater. I hugged it to my chest and inhaled deeply. If I tried hard enough, I could still smell him on it. I sighed heavily, put it on and layed down on my new bed, took out my headphones, and hit shuffle. Tomorrow was my first day at a new school, and I have never felt worse in my life. I held back tears and shut my eyes, just listening to music until I fell asleep.
I awoke to sun shining in my eyes. I grimaced and rolled over, opening my phone and checking the time. Damn it, I had to get ready. I reluctantly got up and went to brush my teeth. I looked in the mirror, long brown hair and green eyes. My dad’s eyes, one of the many things we had in common, I had to look away. I looked in my suitcase and pulled out the first things I found. Baggy jeans and a dark grey T-shirt. I put them on and started getting my things together. My jeans were definitely too big for me now, but I didn’t have it in me to dig through my suitcases to find a belt. I put back on my headphones and walked downstairs.
Rick and my mom were waiting for me at the kitchen counter, “want some breakfast?” My mom asked.
I shook my head and said we had to get going or else I would be late. She frowned and kissed Rick goodbye. I grimaced and looked down. Have I mentioned how much I hate that asshole yet?
Palm trees. I looked out the car window, and all I saw were the sun and palm trees. It made me miss the cold, wet mornings in Oregon so much, riding my bike to school surrounded by fir trees. I missed the forest and the clouds. I turned up my music and shut my eyes once again. I couldn’t even bare to look outside anymore. It just made me hurt worse. 10 minutes later, we pulled up to school. My mom started to wish me luck, but I got out before she could finish. I couldn’t talk to her right now. I felt a wave of rage come over me, which I’ve been used to lately. I shouldered my bag and went inside. Great, now I have to be the new kid in the middle of April. Fan-fucking-tastic.
I entered the school with my head down, determined to get through this day as quickly and easily as I possibly could. I went to the front office to get my schedule.
The lady at the front desk greeted me cheerily, “How can I help you today?” She said with a smile. I couldn’t manage a smile back, “Today is my first day. I need my schedule,” I replied.
“Well, isn’t that exciting? Wait one moment and let me get your schedule and your student guide,” she responded as she got up from her chair, walking behind a set of double doors. A student guide? Great. One more person I have to talk to today.
A few minutes later, she returned with a boy about my age in tow. “Okay, I have your schedule here,” the front office lady said as she handed me a piece of paper, “And this is Nick Sturniolo, he will be showing you around the school to help you find your classes today.”
I glanced up and saw that he was tall, taller than me anyway, and had brown hair and blue eyes. As he came closer, I noticed he had a nose ring. He looked nice enough, not the blonde bubbly barbie I was expecting to see. “Hi, I’m Nick,” he grinned.
“Yeah, I heard,” I replied, looking back down at my feet. I really wasn’t in the mood to talk, but he seemed to not notice or just ignored it because he continued, “Oh yeah, sorry, it’s just habit, so your Samantha Burns, right?”
I looked up in surprise. The only person that called me Samantha was my dad. I frowned at him, anger bubbling up once again, and replied through gritted teeth, “It’s just Sam”.
He chuckled awkwardly, “Okay, Sam, got it, so why don’t we just start the tour then.” He began walking out of the office, scratching the back of his neck.
I guess I sort of felt bad. He was just doing his job I suppose, so I shouldn’t be so rude. It was just really hard for me to even think about being pleasant right now, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. So I caught up to him and said, “I’m sorry, I really don’t mean to be such a bitch. It’s just I really didn’t want to move here or start a new school in the middle of the year, so I guess im just in a bad mood.” I laughed uncomfortably.
I don’t really know what I expected him to do, but turning and grinning widely at me wasn’t high on the list. “Oh yeah I get it, don’t worry, if I was in your position right now i’d be pissed too, so, Sam, where’d you move here from?”
I took out one of my headphones, “I’m from Oregon, I lived there my whole life”, I replied earnestly. This guy seemed okay, truly not what I was expecting from this LA school at all. He reminded me of home in a weird way, almost like i’d met him before or something. I rolled my eyes at myself. I really am grasping for straws here, aren’t I?
As Nick showed me around the school, I got to know him better, apparently, he was from Boston, and he and his family moved here for his Dad’s job. He was a triplet, which intrigued me, I had never met triplets before. He told me his brothers went to school here too, and to keep an eye out cause I had a couple of classes with them.
After showing me around, he dropped me off at my first class, “I’ll come back and take you to your next one, so wait up for me here,” he said, smiling.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I managed to smile back, “Okay, I will”.
Just as he was saying goodbye, another boy knocked into him with a laugh, “Nick, what are you doing here man, your first period is on the other side of school.” He said, wrapping his arm around Nick.
Nick looked annoyed and sighed, “I’m a student guide today, remember? I told you earlier, this is Sam. She’s new”, he said while pointing a thumb at me.
The other boy looked over at me in surprise, seemingly just noticing I was there right then. He had to be one of Nick’s brothers, his hair was longer, and he was slightly shorter, but they had the same face and the same eyes. Although his seemed to have a childish glint in them that Nick’s didn’t. He shot me a lopsided smile and said, “Well shit, we’re in the same class. I’m Chris”.
I just told him “Hi” in response and went inside the classroom, letting Nick know I’d be waiting for him after class ended.
“Woah hold on,” Chris came jogging after me, “sit by me, yeah? I can try and help you catch up, but if I’m being honest, I usually just sleep through this class,” He said, laughing.
I noticed he had a hint of an accent, more evident than Nick. I looked back at him and replied, “Yeah, okay, sure.” He looked happy at my response and walked to the back of the classroom. I followed him and sat down in the seat next to him.
“So, what brings you here, to the sunny city of Los Angeles,” he asked sarcastically.
“My mom married a douchebag and moved us here to live with him,” I replied, putting my chin in my hand.
Chris sucked his teeth sympathetically, “Man that seriously sucks. I’m sorry.”
That was the first time a single person had told me sorry about this. Most of my friends in Oregon just told me how lucky I was to be moving to Los Angeles, the home of all movie stars. It made me like him a bit more. “Thanks, usually people just tell me I'm lucky to live here,” I replied, turning to face him.
“Oh man, when I found out I was moving here, I was really bummed, my brothers too, but honestly, it really grows on you. I don’t wanna impose or anything but you might end up really liking it here” He said smiling once again, “I mean now that you’ve met me, your life definitely just got better.” He said with a smirk, running his hand through his hair in a flamboyant manner.
I scoffed and rolled my eyes, “Oh yeah? You’re just that great huh?” I said laughing. God, I haven’t laughed in what feels like forever. Again, that weird sense of familiarity and comfort washed over me, if i’m being honest it was started to fuck with my head.
“Well yeah, obviously, ask anyone, i’m fantastic”, he said with a boasting grin. I just chuckled quietly and shook my head. Maybe this school isn’t that awful, maybe I could actually like it here. Or maybe i’m so desperate to feel happy i’m seeing things that aren’t there. I don’t know, I really don’t.