Elena sighed as she walked into the baggage claim area of the LAX airport. She could not believe all that had happened in the last few weeks. First, her parents had been killed in a car accident, then she discovered she would be moving away from her home, to Venice Beach, California. She would be living with her aunt Jenna, whom she had never met before, and who hadn't even bothered coming to her parents' funeral. At least her younger brother Jeremy would be with her. In all of this moving around and changing, it was nice to know she would have one thing from her old life that was constant.
Jeremy and Elena found their bags, then walked out of the airport. Once outside, they were greeted by a slender, auburn haired woman holding a sign with their names on it. Elena could only assume this was her aunt Jenna. As soon as the siblings walked over to the woman, she gave them both a grim smile and enveloped them in a large hug. "I am so sorry about your loss," Jenna said, "I hope you can make a home here."
Elena just nodded, while Jeremy stared at her with no emotion on his face. After the accident, Jeremy had become extremely closed off to everyone. The only person he had spoken to was Elena, and even she could count on her fingers the words he had said to her. Elena hoped that this change of scenery would help Jeremy (and herself) heal from their loss.
"Ok, so it is about a 20 minute drive from here to my house- or, our house- but, we may have a little bit of traffic..." Jenna began to ramble on as the three got into the car. Elena tuned her out and dazedly stared out the window. She couldn't focus on Jenna's small talk then. Her mind was flooded with other things. What was her new home like? Would she like her new school? Or make any friends? Her mind was also occupied with Jeremy, and concern for him and whether or not he would like it here. There was also, of course, the lingering thoughts of her parents' deaths, which she thought would stay with her forever.
Suddenly, the whirlwind of thoughts was interrupted by the breaks on Jenna's car indicating they had reached their destination. She got out of the car and saw a shabby little house that reminded her of one of those little beach bungalows you see in travel magazines. It wasn't much, but it had a homey feeling, regardless. Then, Elena looked past the house and saw the ocean. The sand from the beach was literally in the house's back yard, and the view was one of the most beautiful she had ever seen. The sun was setting and casting a beautiful purple-orange color on the waves, and at once Elena started to feel that this place might not be so bad after all...