I was looking out the rain streaked window onto the parking lot full of people as I finally realized what was happening. I couldn't believe I was letting my 16 year old, torn and shattered life go on like this. I was going to live with my mom in New York, New York, since my dad remarried to this woman who could practically be my older sister. The young woman's name was Tamara, and she just started off on her modeling career. It wasn't like she was around a lot- except between the periods when she was waiting for another scout to see her and add her into another fashion show. She had straw-berry blond hair, a face that was inhumanly thin, and cheek bones that curved in at the sides of her white, just too perfect face. She had long, "sexy legs," ( I shuddered when I heard my dad say that for the first time) and I had no trouble wondering why my 48 year-old father fell in love with her. He would always say I was his little princess, and I would smile his most favorite smile in the whole world as my eyes sparkled like the stars in the night sky. Until now.

Tamara was my father's whole life, may I now say David's whole life. I would come home every night from school, and I would make him and his "sexy" wife dinner, and then lag up the stairs leading to my "dungeon" to do my homework. I would often fall asleep to the beating of my heart, and the wetness of tears on my face. The only way to get out of this deep, black hole was to move away from David and in with my mom, Lisa, who had divorced my dad when I was two. She got sick of his laziness and how he treated her when she was pregnant with me. So, every summer for one month I would spend my undivided time with Lisa, who hardly knew what grade I was in. And this was my life now. Running away from the person I loved most, just to find a mother who didn't remember on what day I was born.

I flashed out of this, and then paid attention to the road in front of me full of cars and pedestrians.

"I hate New York International Airport!" I murmured to myself. Don't land at this airport again. I decided to get a map of New York out of the glove department to see where I would be staying for basically the rest of my childhood years. I shuddered as a cool wind blew inside my window and past my face. In response I pulled the window up and zipped the grey pocket sweater I was wearing, and continued to look at the map, and then the directions Lisa gave me so I could find her house.

Lisa was working as a stock trader in the North Tower of the Twin Towers. She would sometimes email me and tell me of how tall and beautiful they were, and sometimes how they got struck with lighting. On, yah. I reminded myself. She also told me she was dating this dimp who was a professor at one of the universities near where she lived. Great, I thought to myself in a harsh manner. The fact that both of my parents are basically married, and have moved on with life, while I was still grasping onto the times when I still thought I had one, didn't bother me at all. Life was cruel. Harsh. When you thought it couldn't throw anything more at you, it throws you a curve ball.

Suddenly, I heard a loud, high pitched honk from the car behind me, a Porsche, and saw a trashy blond girl in the car yell at me. At that moment I wanted to honk right back and finger her, but I figured girls like her weren't worth it. Most blonds were what their stereotypes were like.

I quickly realized I was daydreaming, and there were no cars in head of me anymore. I quickly sped up, and was then on one busy street outside the airport. I checked the directions my mom gave me again, and discovered Lisa lived in the more forestry part of New York, New York. Well, I thought to myself, that'll be nice living in the woods. I got onto the 101-60, and sped up my car as fast as it could go. 45 miles pr hour. If my estimating was correct, it would take me about two hours and thirty minutes to get to Lisa's. That was a lot of time to look over my life and think of what the hell went wrong. When I was 2, my mom left me and my father alone. She had promised me she should contact me every day and sometimes visit. She did neither. So, I quickly forgot about my mom, and all the pain she was going to cause me when I was older, and focused on David. David and I became best friends, and he was the perfect dad every daughter deserves to have. Until two years ago, when I was fourteen, my dad decided to start dating again because he thought I needed a mother. I was happy about that thought, until I saw what he brought home. This blond 20 year-old woman walked into the door of our house, and my eyes popped open. Why the hell was she interested in a man like my father? This woman was half the age of the man standing at my side. Anyways, I plastered a smile on my face so I wouldn't make my dad unhappy, and I regretted it a year later when my dad tied the knot. And so, I couldn't live with Tamara or stand living in the house with of all of her chores and requests, so I decided to tell David I was going to live with my mom. And like I thought, David approved, and here I was, in the middle of a freeway, pretending my life was actually going to get better. I liked leaving Canada for New York, but what I missed most was my friends at Birmingham High. Or at least acquaintances. I never had any friends at Birmingham High, because I was the ordinary girl with the pale skin, and well body, which every boy looks at when I pass them at their lockers. Actually, I admit, I hated Birmingham High, I hated every school I went to ever since Middle School, since the only reason people hung out with me was for my body, and the money I had. They thought of me as an asset. Pretty to look at, valuable, but definitely disposable.

Suddenly, I heard a big whoosh, and then a shrieking noise in back of me. There, I saw a black Chevy turning in circles, as it came raging towards me. I realized it probably was going too fast by the way its wheels were positioned on the frozen ice. Two years of AP Physics really pays off. I closed my eyes as it spiraled across the frozen road. I didn't know what to do. I looked towards the car just 10 yards in back of me, and then time seemed to stop. Out of nowhere, I saw this beautiful, young man step in the back of my car, and stop the car as it came raging towards me in circles. He put his hand on the other car, and one on mine, and I then saw in disbelief the dent the beautiful man had made. He then gave me a glance and quickly disappeared, and just left me there with my jaw dropped open. I saw him gracefully disappear into the forest. Every one seemed to get of their car to see if I was alright, and to examine the damage the two cars had not made.

I then spoke to a person in a plaid shirt and a pair of black jeans, "Diddd.. You see the teenager right behind my car who stopped the Chevy from plowing into me?"

"No, he replied in a confused voice. "There was nobody who stopped it. The car just stopped in its tracks, and then we came out to help you." Oh my God, I thought. I wanted to disappear for pretending to see things, but the best thing right now was to open my closed mouth and say a thank you.

"Well, thank you, but I swore I saw someone who stopped it."

"Well, are you sure you're okay? It seemed like you hit your head pretty hard on the steering wheel, when "that guy as you say" stopped the Chevy."

"I'm fine", I reassured the person. Either way, I ended up in the hospital, and Lisa found me there and looked like she had much more important things to do than to be pretending to appease her shocked daughter. They checked my head, and there were no concussions of any sort, but I cut my head pretty badly and it required stitches.

"I'm sorry Lisa, I wasn't hoping this would be how we meet." She didn't say anything, but stared at me with confusing eyes before she said,

"Wow, Ella, you look better than I imagined you would have looked." I didn't know how to answer to that. I figured most mothers would have left out "the better than I imagined you would have looked" part.

"Umm…thanks," I replied, sheepishly. "You look pretty good too." Those were the last words we said at the hospital, and then Lisa drove us home. Wow, I thought as I stared at he car.

"What is this, a Lamborghini?"

"Yah, um… Richard, works with the airplanes for the government, and he bought me this for my birthday last year." Didn't know Richard was that loaded.

"Wow," I said. He's really that rich?"

"Yep," she replied annoyingly. I flinched in response.

"What does he do?" I asked with a voice that pretended to be interested in her boyfriend.

"He works with hijackings and terrorist stuff. He said he used to be a pilot, and this person from Iraq hijacked the plane, and the co-pilot was killed. So, he wanted to work with something that could stop hijacking and honor the co-pilot who lost his life that day." I didn't reply for I was too captivated with the beautiful scenery as we were driving on a wet road through the forest. Tall, green trees, raging waterfalls, and purple mountains.

"Um, Lisa. How early do you get up in the morning to go to work?"

She looked confused for a second wondering why I had asked her such a question, and then answered.

"Oh, I get up at three every morning, and I then leave for work at 4:00 to make it to the towers at 7:00." I took a mental note of that, and we were quiet the rest of the beautiful drive there, until I asked, as I was playing with the leather seats of her Lamborghini,

"Where am I going to school?"

As Lisa was looking out the rain streaked window she then said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you that in one of my emails. You're going to NYH, or New York High. It has a little more than 2,000 kids." My jaw dropped open at the thought of how big that school had to be to hold that many kids. I was used to 300 kids at Birmingham High!

Lisa saw the expression on my face, and then told me, "Look on the bright side, Ella, more chances of making friends!"

"Yippee, friends!" I said in a melancholy- sarcastic voice. The rest of the ride was in silence, and as we pulled up to my new home, I saw first how modern it was. It had glass windows for walls which reflected the moon on the water in the lake by the house, and everything there was state of the art. The maple colored door opened as Lisa said these weird sequences of numbers, and I then looked with her with pity. How could a person be so lazy that they wouldn't want to waste the time opening a door the regular way. But that wasn't it. Once I walked into the warm house, I saw the thinnest plasma screen TV on one of four boulders in front of the doorway, and the stock channel was on. I couldn't get use to that. I then realized Lisa was in the kitchen opening her stainless steel refrigerator, and got out a new gallon of milk, and then got two crystal glasses out of the maple cupboard. She poured the milk into the glasses and offered me some. She looked like a first time parent, who didn't know what to do with their new born baby. I shook my hand in a no fashioned manner, and sat down on one of the chairs by the bar and laid my purple purse on the grey granite countertop. I then looked around the kitchen, waiting for Lisa to speak, and finally gave up and I asked her a question I knew she thought was stupid but would answer in order to seem interested in me.

"Lisa." I said quickly as she turned around from the refrigerator where she was looking for some food to make for dinner, and replied, "Yes?" I then replied in a casual and tired voice,

" Where's my room?"

"Oh jeeze, sorry Ella, I forgot. Um, here. I'll show you." I got up and followed Lisa, and took a look at her body. From the few pictures and vague memories I had of her, I remembered a soft and naïve young woman. Now, she had maple brown hair that went down to the small of her back and highlighted curls that reached halfway down her waist. She had long graceful legs, and was wearing a pencil skirt with a purple frill top to extenuate them. As I was looking at her ears, she turned right towards a stair case with no railing. She then climbed the stairs with certainty that she wouldn't fall off of them, and saw me by the very edge of the staircase where the wall was. She chuckled, and threw a quick smile my way and continued up the stairs. She then came to a door that seemed to not have been touched for years, and opened it. There I saw a queen sized bed with a comforter folded on the edge of the bed. I then saw the big window and the balcony outside looking out into the lake, and gasped.

"This is beautiful, Lisa. I couldn't have asked for anything better." I was ecstatic of the thought of the reflection of the full moon on the lake.

"I'm glad you like it. I wasn't sure what you liked. Since I thought you'd probably like something I did, I decided to give the room I would have given to you if you were living with me instead of with David." She then went on and on, but I didn't pay any attention as I explored the room and found it was twice the size of the small house I used to live in with my dad. Before I knew it, I flashed out of my daydreaming and fantasying, and discovered Lisa had left me. I was glad. It would be better to explore the room without her hovering over me. I then lugged my luggage out of Lisa's car, and decided to unpack it. I wasn't a neat freak, but I decided to put my clothes in the huge walk in closet that was bigger than my old room, and then put my black and white floral comforter on the bed, and sit down by the desk and touch the Apple Mac that was assigned to me. I then decided to email David, for I still needed to acknowledge he meant something to me, even though that wasn't true. I told him about how much I pretended to miss him and Tamara, and how I was going to NYH, a school with 2,000 kids. I then quickly clicked send, and shut the computer off. I then got up, and decided to go downstairs, and get something to eat, for my stomach was grumbling. I went down the stairs cautiously, that was going to get something to get used to! There at the kitchen, I didn't see Lisa, but instead a note on the refrigerator that stated in handwriting,

Ella, Sorry to leave you alone like this so suddenly, but Richard asked me to go to one of these dinners for his work, and I couldn't refuse. You understand, right? Well, there really isn't any food in the fridge, so I left you some cash on the counter for you to go out and buy some dinner. And, for a welcome home present, Richard and I bought you a Mercedes. I hope you enjoy it!

Love, Lisa.

I read this letter over again six times before I understood what it said. A… Mercedes? Jesus, how much money does this Richard guy have anyway? I put the cash into my front jean pocket and quickly ran out to the garage where I saw five cars lined in a row, with tool cases and storage around them. I looked at all the cars like I was studying for a test, and discovered all of them had to be at least 75,000 dollars each. The first one in front of me was Lisa's Lamborghini, shining under the light that was on the garage ceiling, the next was a black Hummer, the newest of the era, and the car next to it was a shiny red Porsche, and it still looked like they just bought it. After that, I didn't really pay attention to the next car, for the car I saw next to it was the most beautiful of them all. It was black, sleek, and the car that was most perfect to me. I then saw the red ribbon on top of the car, and knew it was mine. I opened the door excitedly, and found that this car had leather seats, a GPS, a state of the art radio and TV, and so many other features I didn't recognize until I Googled it on the internet. I quickly got the keys that were sitting on the dashboard of the car, and started the ignition. With a smooth vibration, the car started, and I opened the garage door with the little black sensor thing that was also on the dashboard. I then started out on the road. I looked at the map that was in the glove department, and there I found another note from Lisa, and it said,

Ella, here is a list of restaurants and grocery stores in the area where you would enjoy shopping and eating. In the cash I gave you is some spending money for you to shop for some new clothes, since you present closet is all rainy stuff. It get's hot in New York!

Love Lisa

I went over the directions and names of places she gave to me, and the most eye catching and interesting was Newmen's Barbequen. And next to that was a shopping plaza were I would probably find some clothes. So, I followed the directions my mom gave me, and then ended up at this gas station 30 min away from the restaurant I had my eyes on. I decided to go inside and ask for directions, and was back on the road again. This time, I used my GPS, and arrived there 15 minutes later. As I was driving, I went over the accident that happened just this morning. I realized I couldn't have been hallucinating, for the guy saw me too. Anyways, I stopped thinking about that because I knew I would give myself a strain, and I pulled into the shopping plaza, and found Newmen's Barbequen. I sighed when I saw the amount of cars in the restaurant's parking lot. My father would tell you any day that I was not one for patience, and seeing the amount of people waiting to enter the restaurant, I knew that today wasn't my day. Instead, I started the car and drove to the plaza. There I mostly window-shopped. I wasn't one for shopping either. I found no joy in scoring a crappy deal on something I would probably never wear. I passed Hollister, Abercrombie, Old Navy, none seemed promising. Don't give me wrong, I've given each of these stores a try, but I almost choked to death on the perfume wafting out of Hollister, and fainted at the prices of a tank top at Abercrombie. Old Navy was a different story…..the mannequins weren't doing anything for me. So, instead, I trudged along and entered this cute little boutique, and smiled when I saw it was secluded from the rest of the mall.

"Perfect," I said to myself as I entered its doors. I could tell this was a family run business, for there was only one saleslady at the old counter in the middle of the store, and the rest of the associates were over sixty years old. I gave the plump woman at the desk at smile, and headed over to the sales section.

Having no money really didn't bother me. I found ways to live without, and now having a wad of cash in my back pocket made life more surreal than it actually was. I'd probably end up returning two thirds of it later tonight.

I picked up two basic camis in neutral colors, and then headed over to the top section. I frowned when I saw the sweaters and jackets I was passing. In Canada, that was all that I wore. There, I picked up a couple of shirts of different styles, completely clueless on what was "in." Fashion really never fascinated me. As long it kept me warm I would wear it, no matter how bulky it may be. But now, in a school of 2,000 people, God knows what others will have on their bodies. I probably would end up fading in the background regardless of how I dressed my athletic body.

I sighed and headed over to the jackets and sweaters, where I bumped into a young man, probably about my age.

"I'm sorry," I exclaimed in shock. I turned around to see my victim. He looked like everyone else- height-wise at least- except in how he presented himself. His pants weren't down to his feet, and his shirt wasn't practically falling off him. His hair was clean and done in a rather handsome way. His face was what puzzled me the most- it was too beautiful to describe. Too beautiful to not recognize.

He eyed me, and I gasped.