You Just Have To Want It
Chapter 1
Already Gone

Alex's POV

Jay and I sat with a map in front of us on the bed. We needed to find the perfect place to stay. Such a tedious process. I would point at a place on the map that had a cool name, he would come up with a reason not to.

"Uncle Frank lives in Mississippi, so nowhere near there."

"Too many stuck up people in New York."

"Texas is just too hot."

We're never going to get done if he keeps this up. After a few more towns and states getting knocked off the list, the phone on my bedside table started ringing its annoying tune. I rushed to pick it up before it woke Jess, who was taking a nap in his playpen at the end of the bed.

Jay's Pov

I watched Alex pick the phone up quickly. As she talked to the person on the other end, I half-heartedly listened to her side of the conversation.

"Yeah? How's that going? Really? You know Jay, Jess, and I are planning on moving, right? No, we have no idea where. Hopefully somewhere far away from here. Oh my God, Erica, you're brilliant! Okay, love, talk to you later!"

So it was Erica. Alex and she worked together at some department store for a while before Erica's rich uncle kicked the bucket, leaving her everything. Including his balling ass mansion somewhere in California. I couldn't for the life of me tell you what the place is called. Santa Carlos or something like that.

"Jay, you're not gonna believe this! I just found the perfect place for us to live, and it'll be completely free!" She said quite loudly.

"Stop shitting me sis. Really?" I couldn't bring myself to believe a word of what she was saying. Free? Nothing is free.

"I'm not shitting you! That was Erica, she said Santa Carla is amazing and she would love for us to come visit. I told her we were looking for a place to live and she said we could stay with her until we get on our feet!" I could practically feel her excitedness rolling off of her in waves. "Oh, Jay, its perfect! She was telling me that the house she's renting is huge and she would be more than happy to let us live there for free! Santa Carla has a huge boardwalk with rides and everything, plus, it's right beside the ocean! This is amazing!"

"Well..shall we pack?" I said with a huge smile. Finally, something was going right!

"We shall!" She giggled.

I ran off to my room to pack my stuff. I had my measly four suitcases ready to go within minutes. Who needs a bunch of junk when we're moving to Cali, anyways?

One Hour Later

We were done packing and had everything waiting by the front door. Alex is gone to get the UHaul. It isn't a very big one, it's the kind you can just attach to the back of your car or truck. But, it's big enough to fit some of Jesse's things. That's all we really need to take.

Erica was going to let us have the whole upstairs to ourselves. It comes with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and was fully furnished.

This was going to be a bit different. Our whole lives, Alex and I have had nothing. And we always assumed that's all we would ever have. We've always shared a room. When Jess was born, I forced mom to clean out the attic so I could have my own room. I love Jess to the Sun and back, but for the first six months of his life, he had colic really bad.

My sister is the strongest person I know. I would have never been able to handle that. She's always so sunny and bright. I know it's an act, but she makes it quite believable. If we weren't so close I would have believed it. I remember the nights mom would yell at her. I remember the nightmares we both had of our dad, even after he finally took one too many hits off that pipe.

My train of thought was cut off by Alex jumping on my back. Speak of the Devil and the Devil shall appear, right? "If you're coming to California with me, you better start helping, cowboy." She smiled.

"Wouldn't want you to leave me behind, now, would we?" We both laughed because that would never happen. I winked and threw my arm around her shoulder. "Come on, little sister."

We started loading things into the UHaul and truck. Our stuff took up more space than I thought it would. But we soon finished and mom was pulling in the driveway. Alex and I glanced at each other. It was understood that neither of us wanted to confront her. So we pulled off without a word.

"Where the hell are you guys going?" She yelled after us. But we were already gone.

I saw Alex lean out the window and flip her the bird. And that was that. With what little belongings we could fit, baby J napping in his car seat and dreams of the future, we were on our way to a better life.