Disclaimer- I don't own anyone in this story besides Dana or anyone else that I state. Not everything is accurate, so if you see something that should be changed feel free to let me know!

1973 Florida-

Today we're moving to Venice Beach, California. Dad just got a promotion that promised him a lot of money and a nice house to live in. I looked through my room one more time making sure that I wasn't forgetting anything.

I guess I should introduce myself my name is Dana, I'm fourteen years old. I have an older brother (only by one year) named Sid. You could say we were close; we like the same type of music and watch the same TV shows. He was more like my best friend than my brother. The only difference between us was that I liked to skateboard and he liked to surf.

"Come on Dana, dad said if we don't leave now he's going to leave us behind" Sid said popping his head into my room

"Ok I'm coming" I looked around my room one more time. I grew up in this room, now it was nothing more then an empty room with yellow wallpaper. I closed the door to my room and walked down the stairs to the van waiting outside. I sat down in the back seat with Sid "So you think that California will be the same as Florida?" I asked him as we both stared out the window.

"I don't know, I heard they have better beaches over there"

"So?"

"So? I could actually learn how to surf" he said with a huge smile planted on his face

"Oh come on Sid, you can barely stand on a skateboard!"

"I know, well I could always try" he shrugged

"Just wear ear plugs or something; I don't think it would help your inner ear problem"

Ever since Sid was four and I was three he had this problem with loud noises, to you and me it would be nothing but it really bothered him and it hurt his ear drums very bad. The doctors said that there was nothing they could really do about it.

We got to the airport about an hour later and boarded the plane. I handed the flight attendant my ticket that said 'One way ticket to California' she smiled at me and I went over to the seats that mom and dad had pre-ordered. Eight hours later we landed in Venice Beach California. Dad took the directions to the house out of his pocket as we drove down the quiet road, seeing as it was almost 11 there wasn't too much traffic.

"You were right about the beaches big bro" I said to Sid as we passed one of the three beaches we had seen on the way. He didn't answer me so I turned around to see him smiling. He always admired the surfers and one day dreamed to become a surfer.

"Looks like the movers already got here" dad said when he saw the outline of boxes and furniture in the dark. Luckily the electricity had been turned on; when dad flipped the switch I looked around at the house twice the size as the one back in Florida.

"I call the biggest room" I said and ran up the stairs Sid hot on my trail. I looked around upstairs; so far I counted two bed rooms, a bathroom and a huge walk in closet. The second to last bedroom, which made the total number of bedrooms come to five, was the room I was looking for. It had a huge picture window and the room was a decent size.

"Dana come and look at my room!" Sid called from down the hallway. I walked out of my bedroom and stepped into Sid's bedroom which was three doors down from mine. He had a window seat that was shaped like an octagon cut in half.

"Cool, do you wanna see my room?"

"Sure" we walked back down three doors

"I like your room too" he said

"Dana, Sid come on dad's going out to get pizza let's at least set up our beds!" mom called from down the stairs. She looked at the sticker on the first mattress "This one's Dana's" she lifted it up onto its side and we dragged it up the stairs. We did the same thing for Sid's bed and mom and dad's bed.

"Do we have to set up the bed frames mom?" I asked with a yawn

She put her hands on her hips and looked around the room "I guess it can wait until tomorrow"
"Come on guys I got pizza" dad said and Sid and I ran down the stairs. All we had on the plane were a few packets of peanuts we were starving! After we were all done eating, on the floor of course, I grabbed my things for the shower and headed upstairs. I turned on the light for the bathroom and looked at the very big tub next to a decent size shower stall. I didn't feel like taking a bath so I settled for the shower. I got out and changed into shorts and a t-shirt. Not even saying good night to my brother or anyone else I went straight to my bedroom and immediately fell asleep on the bed. I woke up the next day to my parent's alarm clock going off. It was probably only about eight because that was the time dad had to get up to go to his new job. I stretched out on my mattress and stood up; someone must have brought up some of my boxes. I walked over to one of the boxes marked 'Dana's Clothes' and pulled out another t-shirt and a pair of jeans. I took out my hair brush and tooth brush and went into the bathroom. I got changed and brush my shoulder length light brown hair.

"Come on Dana, I need to go!" Sid said pounding on the door

"Use the bathroom downstairs!" I called through the closed door

"Oh" back at our house in Florida we only had one bathroom so none of us were used to having two bathrooms. I brushed my teeth and walked downstairs to wish my dad good luck on his first day at work.

"You two are up early" dad said looking up from the newspaper he was reading

"I wanted to get some good waves" Sid said

"Big bro, sorry to break it to you but you don't even have a board"

"Well I heard of this place called Zephyr, they have surfboards and skateboards there" when he said skateboards I looked up at him

"We should go there later" I said and he nodded

"Come on you two eat some breakfast" mom said bringing over two plates of eggs and bacon.

Dad looked at his watch and took one more bite of his toast "I have to go if I want to make a good impression" he said

"Good luck dad" I said as he picked up his brief case

"Yea good luck" Sid said and took another forkful of eggs

"By mom" I said carrying my skateboard

"Where are you two off to?" mom asked standing in front of us

"We wanted to check out the board walk, see some shops" I said

"And the beaches" Sid added

"Ok, be careful I heard that place wasn't the safest. I want you both back here by dinner" she said

"Yea alright, later mom" I said

"Wait up Dana!" Sid said as I started skating down the hill near our house. I put my foot on the ground to stop. Sid caught up huffing and puffing "Thank…you" he said catching his breath.

"Why didn't you bring your bike?" I asked him the look on his face showed that he just remembered that he had a bike. I rolled my eyes and we walked back to the house, after he pulled out his bike we took off again. This time he managed to keep up with me. We got to the board walk a few minutes later seeing as it was only ten minutes from our house. I started doing some tricks as we rode down the board walk.

"Dana wait!" Sid said putting the breaks on his bike making me stop short and I fell off my board. I wiped the dirt off on my shirt and looked over to see a group of guys laughing.

"What was so important that you made me fall?" I asked Sid losing my patience

"Here's the shop" I looked up at a sign that read 'Zephyr surfboard shop' "Come on let's go in" he said chaining his bike up onto the bike rack.

Thanks for taking the time to read the first chapter. Hope you just liked it enough to review. Criticism doesn't bother me a bit, in fact it's encouraged!