I never liked the idea of moving around so much, picking up the pieces my mother left behind, but I was the only one who would. I wasn't in Riverblossom Hills long enough to see the apple trees blossom flowers; I missed out of Angela and Lilith's thirteenth birthday party; I never found out why Strange Town was so strange, and I'll never know whether or not Desiderata Valley finally got interesting. I have seen a woman try at almost every career path imaginable, though, even being a psychic. So, as the wind brushes against my cheek, I can't understand what's so interesting about Belladonna Cove, the name sounds like a city they shoot movies about the cit-com families whose idea about family problems is a daughter dating a guy with straight B's—because a thirty year old with tattoos and a motorcycle, wearing nothing underneath his leather chaps can't possibly top that—or their baby has the chicken pox and now suddenly everyone has the chicken pox. Obviously I've got some issues with perfect families, why? Wouldn't you like to know!
"Look Mika, we're here" she pointed to the windshield, because I apparently don't know what direction "here" is.
Belladonna Cove is a fair sized city facing the beach of Lake Caramia. I'm not surprised that the first thing I saw was a happy family of four. My face scrunched up in disgust at the way the two girls skipped while holding their parents hands.
"I hate it here" I muttered.
"Why, you've only been here for two minutes" my mother protested. "Aren't you excited about having a clean start"
"No, you're excited about having a clean start, mine didn't even get a chance to get dirty in Riverblossom Hills." I stated with deadly poisen in my tone.
She frowned at said tone and said nothing until we were in front of the apartment she'd looked at online. She pulled to the curb and got out to see the landlord checking on the hedges.
"Ms. Nova" he said, smiling and intertwining his fingers with hers. "How are you?"
"Great, I had no trouble finding the place" she said.
"Except when you read 31st street as 13th street, or when you nearly ran over a seven year old, or when you nearly parked on the beach" I retorted as I stepped out of the car.
"If you need me, I'll be checking on the common room" he said, walking away.
We now live in the Ocean View Apartments. The entire building is three stories tall, four apartments, three regular apartments and one starter apartment. Each apartment has a garage, two bedrooms and 1 ½ bathrooms—so basically, once her boyfriend moves in, I'm gonna have to shower with the hose behind the building.
I opened the trunk up and shrugged my backpack over my shoulders before trying to lift the first of the many boxes my mother had stowed away in here to save money on a smaller moving truck.
"Need some help" I heard a low, smooth voice say. I looked up to see a guy about my age standing before me.
Simply looking at him was sensory overload. He had wispy chocolate brown hair that almost hid his face, calm azure blue eyes, and a soft, almost pouty, smile. Did I mention he was also tall, with a good build.
My senses kicked in soon enough. "Yeah"
He picked up the heavy box and smiled.
"Where to" he asked.
I walked to the apartment my mother had disappeared into. I stopped in the long foyer.
"Here's good" I said. He put the box down and I dropped my backpack on it, only to hear the slight clang of a dish breaking. "Oh… I guess I know why it was so heavy"
He smiled and laughed gently. "You can say I broke it"
I couldn't help but smile back. "I might have to take you up on that offer when the fresh start high wears off on my mother. I'm Mika Nova"
He shook my hand, saying: "I'm Derek Greyson"
We stood there in quiet silence until my mother came down the spiral staircase. "Oh, who's this?"
"Derek Greyson, Derek, this is my mother" I said, my hand rubbing my neck self consciously.
"Hello Derek, I'm Jeannette, are you helping us unload?" she asked.
"Yes, but I think I might have broken a dish, my apologies" I watched as he put voice the equivalent of velvet to use.
"Well that's no problem" she said, almost musically.
As she left to get a box from the car I turned to Derek with my brow cocked.
"What was that?" I asked with a friendly sarcasm.
"Well, I don't want her mad, we're neighbors now and her running off to my dad to complain isn't exactly something I want" he said. He looked like he had given something away for a moment, and turned to go get another box.
I decided I wouldn't question it now, as he was the only person in the town I knew. The three of us unloaded boxes for about an hour before the truck pulled up. Jeannette began instructing them on where to move the furniture. Most of it was lavish in taste, because, above all things, Jeannette believed that the house represented the person. The color scheme was crème in every room but mine—thankfully, for her, the apartment was painted in crème.
"Hey, Derek, are you bored enough to accompany me to the paint store?" I asked.
"Yeah, let's go" he said.
We took the car to the store Derek said was best. The music was playing a The Fray song, and we were singing along.
"So… you don't seem eager about moving to Belladonna Cove" he stated.
"I've been moving across the country since I was six, I've gotten a bit sick of it." I explained.
"So, why did you move this time? Army brat?" he asked.
"I wish, that would mean Jeannette would have to have a stable job" I muttered.
"You call your mom by her first name? You didn't before" he observed.
"Oh… when I'm in a bad mood I often refer to her as 'my mother' instead of my her first name... you're not the kind to judge a person by that… are you?" I watched his out of the corner of my eye for a second before looking back on the road.
"No" he assured me.
We sat in silence for a while, nothing but the music filling the air.
"So… what's your dad think about moving so much?" he asked finally.
"I don't really have a dad" I said, biting my lip.
"I don't understand" he said slowly.
"I never knew my dad, so it's almost the same as simply never having one… I don't even know if Jeannette knows who my father is" I pulled into the parking lot and parked the car.
I got enough purple paint for three of the walls, and some mural wallpaper for the forth, which was the a large landscape of Nork Yew City, which was not too far from Belladonna Cove.
"Thanks for coming with me" I said when we got home.
"No problem, feel free to need paint sometime soon" he said, a goofy smile gracing his features when he realized how dorky he sounded.
"Have a great day Derek" I said before closing the apartment door.
I spent my afternoon pasting on the wallpaper and painting my walls before I made dinner for Jeannette and I.
"What's cooking?" Jeannette asked as she walked in to unpack a box of glasses.
"Spaghetti, I went to the store" I told her.
We ate dinner and I fell asleep on the couch while watching an old thirties movie. I awoke to the sound of something crashing. Startled, I looked around the room. I grabbed the pillow next to me and checked the kitchen, dining room, extra bathroom. Clear. I went downstairs into the foyer, checked the garage—nothing but our beat up little car. I went upstairs to the third floor and checked on Jeannette.
"Mom, are you awake?" I asked, my voice on edge.
"No" she muttered into the pillow.
"I think someone's in the apartment" I whispered.
She got up slowly and noticed my weapon.
"What were you gonna do Mika? Scare him away with your pillow of death?" she tossed me a barbell from her closet and picked up a book end for herself.
She checked the bathroom and I checked my room.
"Nobody in sight, are you sure you didn't have a nightmare" she asked as we sat on the couch, sipping hot chocolate.
"Yes… well I was" I stared down at my cup for a while, wondering what to do now.
"Well, go get cleaned up, you have some unpacking to do" she said, smiling like she was bubbling with happiness. "Oh, and don't worry about breakfast, I'll go pick up some donuts from the café across the street"
She left the room and I felt an eerie aloneness. I decided to start with my room, the paint should be almost completely dry—fans had been running all night, along with an open window allowing the early autumn air to roll in. The day pasted quickly and soon, I was falling asleep in my own room.
The guidance councilor rambled on and on about my schedule. I was taking AP Chem., AP English, Honors History, Honors Geometry, Spanish I, Gym, and Art II; all in my Freshmen year.
"You have an impressing schedule, have you thought about what college you're going to?" she asked me.
"Somewhere far away from my life" I muttered.
She looked at me for a second and finalized my papers before handing me a map and my timetable.
I was walking to my history class when I saw Derek. He saw me to and walked over to me.
"Hey" I said.
"Hey" the smile on his lips was contagious.
"So, what grade are you in?" I asked.
"9th, you?" he asked.
"Dido, where's your next class?" I asked.
"History" he looked at my schedule. "Cool, same class, come on"
I had three of the seven class periods with him, and I was glad I at least knew someone.
We walked home and decided to study in the common area of the apartments. We joked and laughed and had a great time.
"Derek, are you in here?" a petite woman called, she had chin length brown hair and big azure eyes.
"Over here" he called.
"Dinner's almost ready" she said. Her eyes met up with mine. "Hello, who's this?"
"Mika Nova, me and my mom moved in next door last weekend" I told her.
"I'm Amy, Derek's mother… obviously" she shook my hand and smiled warmly.
"Well, Mika, I'll see you at school, have a good evening" he packed up his books and said goodbye.
"Bye" I packed up and decided I needed to make Jeannette dinner.
Dinner was fish, I finished my homework and looked in the newspaper for a job. Tomorrow I was going in for an interview for a job as a waitress for a nearby café, Mom was going on the streets for a job again. I eventually went to bed around midnight.
