Hey everyone! Here's a new story of mine, Roses are Red. I hope you enjoy it. Sorry if this chapter's a little slow- its getting the story all set up. I'll post the next chapter very soon.

Red.

Everywhere.

That's all I see- nothing else, nothing at all. Just a vast expanse of red, red, red.

I woke up gasping, groping the air in the darkness. I sat up in my bed quickly, flicking on the lights and wiping the sweat off of my face. I've never had a nightmare so strange, so unclear before.

I threw my shaky hands over my face. "Calm down, Seph," I sighed to myself. It's probably just all the stress you're feeling from packing up your life and moving to LA.

I look around at the 4 or so boxes crowding my small room. It felt so... empty. I had spent my entire life in this room, and now I was just throwing it all in a box and moving to Los Angeles. Although I had always wanted to live in LA, and I was ecstatic that my parents finally gave into my constant nagging about me moving there so I could properly pursue my love for music and songwriting, once they broke the news that it was actually happening, that they were sending me off, it was exciting but... kind of a lot to take in, to say the least.

I remember back to the day my parents told me the news just a few short weeks ago. I was sitting in my living room, plucking the strings of my worn-out guitar, ready to sing a new tune I had just written.

"Seph? Sweetheart?" My mom said to me tentatively. "We need to talk to you."

You may be wondering, what the hell kind of name is Seph? Its like someone shortened Stephanie, but took out the 't'. Its because my full name is Persephone, but no one calls me that except for my grandparents and other very close relatives. Yes, I know, its unusual to hear someone named after Hades' wife from Greek mythology, but since both of my parents are 100% Greek and my mom is a HUGE mythology nerd, which includes teaching mythology courses at my high school, she had to have me be 'unique and named after a Greek goddess'. My dad very reluctantly complied. Persephone was always her favorite goddess. If your wondering, yes I was bullied and ostracized for having such a different name as a young child.

I looked up at them. They had that classic parent facial expression that told me this was serious business. I put down my guitar, worried.

"What is it? Is Yia Yia okay?" That means Grandma in Greek, if you're wondering. She was in the hospital because she fell recently.

"Oh, of course, honey, your Grandmother is fine," my Dad assured me. "Actually, the news we have for you is very exciting."

"We've thought about how much you've always wanted to move to Los Angeles, about how much you love music and writing songs," my mom began. "At first, when you began to show interest, we thought it would just be a little hobby of yours. But when you started becoming so interested, and asking to move to LA, well... we just weren't convinced you were sure it was what you wanted, that maybe this was just a phase. But, its been a long time since you began to show interest, and now, this passion of yours has grown so much that, well, we just... we realize now that you're sure. You are sure, aren't you? That that is what you want?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Yes..."

It was Dad's turn to speak. "Well, although we, er, don't quite understand this passion, and quite frankly it took us some time to warm up to the fact that you were wanting to pursue such and unstable job as a career-"

"George..." My mother warned.

He cleared his throat. "Sorry. Anyway. The point is, we want what's best for you and your future, and what makes you happy. So... as you remember, your aunt Anastasia and cousin Alex live in Los Angeles, and a while back I told Ana about how much you wanted to live there, and one thing lead to another..."

"If you so desire, your Aunt would love for you to move in with her and her son until you graduate your senior year."

My mouth dropped open and I stood. "Woah, woah, woah! Back it up a second! You're serious right now?!"

"Although it may be hard to believe... of course we are. As I said, we want you to have an opportunity to pursue your passions."

I couldn't believe it. I felt like my head was going to explode. I couldn't help but grin. "No way! I'm... I'm moving to LA?"

My mom smiled. "If thats really what you want, then yes, we support it!"

For the rest of the day, I was elated. I couldn't believe it! I was finally getting out of small-town Rosenbaum Valley, Ohio, and leaving for LA! To say I was excited would have been the understatement of the century. But after about an hour of freaking out, I had so many questions!

"So, Dad, how did Mom ever convince you to allow the fact that I'll be living with your supposed 'crazy' little sister and nephew?"

My dad sighed, running a hand through his thick black hair. "It took quite a lot of convincing from your mother... but since we don't know any other relatives in the area, and we're only willing to trust family members for your care and safety, it was the only option. And I know, over the years, I've said that my sister can be a bit... liberal. And I don't totally agree with anything she says or does. And-"

"I've never even met her," I said, finishing his sentence. "Or Alex. Because of your 'disagreements.' "

My dad's lips formed a stern line. "I just think Ana can be a bit too irresponsible and free-willed sometimes, thats all. But, still, I... I'm going to make an exception and trust her with you." He looked me up and down. "Besides, you two will get along very well. You've always been much more similar to her than me. You even look more like her."

My eyebrows shot up. I still couldn't believe this. Ever since I was a little girl my dad had always told stories about how crazy my Aunt Anastasia was. My dad and his sister were raised by Greek immigrants, raised fully immersed in the Greek culture. Their parents were very successful doctors and also owned a Greek restaurant on the side. You ever seen the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Yeah, that movie basically described my dads life. My dad and my sister were both raised with two important rules to make their parents proud- make lots of money and marry someone Greek. My dad followed through with this, marrying my mom, who's Greek, and becoming a lawyer. My aunt... not so much. She's a single mom, still never been married, and she's an artist. My grandparents practically disowned her when she got pregnant at age 19 without being married first. And, of course, the father wasn't even Greek. Also, I think she might be bicurious. But I don't really know. Oh, what a scandal. Ugh. Stupid small town people.

But because of all of this, my dad doesn't keep in touch with my aunt or her son, who is now just around my age, almost 17. My dad calls her on Christmas day every year, but besides that... nothing. It feels like an important part of my family is just this big, empty mystery. I don't even know what either of them look like; I've never seen a picture.

But that was all about to change. Because now I was going to get to live with them. And I couldn't be more excited. I wasn't gonna lie; although my dad sees her as outrageously outspoken, too liberal, and crazy, from what I've heard she seems like one cool chick.

Onto my next question. "What about school? Where am I going to go to school?"

My mom grinned. "We wanted to keep this a surprise, but... we enrolled you into that nice arts school you mention all the time! We sent them an application and a video of you singing one of your original songs, and they loved you! They said they're so excited that you're going to attend their school!"

I shrieked, jumping. "NO WAY! You enrolled me into Hollywood Arts?! And I got in?" This was the best day of my whole life. Hands down.

"Yes! We're so proud of you, honey!"

My moms words echoed in my mind as I come back to the present moment, sitting in my bed in a cold sweat. That weird dream did a number on me... I'm still panting a bit. I lay back down, readjusting my long, dark hair and taking a deep, slow breath. I am leaving tomorrow. Just at the thought of this, my mind is reeling with so many thoughts and my core swells with so many emotions. I'm excited, nervous, confused, terrified... What if I didn't fit in at Hollywood Arts? After all, I've only ever seen pictures on their website and read about their classes. What if I'm not cut out for this?

I shake my head of the thoughts. Of course I am. This has been my dream since longer than I can remember. And from the second I stumbled upon Hollywood Arts, I knew I had to go there. It was like my calling or something. I knew that as long as I had my guitar and my songwriting notebook with me, I could go anywhere and feel unstoppable. I was so ready to live in Los Angeles with my artsy aunt and her son, and go to an awesome school. With people there who will be just like me. I've never had that before.

As I'm about to flick off my lights, I look over at my guitar and smile. "Looks like you and me will be starting our journey to takin' on LA tomorrow. And nothing's gonna stop us from rocking that place. We've been ready for this for years."