New Life

Bianca's POV

It was yet another first day at a new school in a new town. Ever since I was a baby I had never settled down in one place. It was on with the next every time I just started to get used to my life. It makes me feel sad for my little brother, Nico, who just wants to make some friends and actually start his life.

I really want to start my life too. I am a sophomore and I still haven't started my life. In every single town, everyone is always like, "Oh, Bianca! You are ever so lucky! You get to see the world and visit new place every six to eight months!" But I can tell you, it's not all it's cracked up to be.

You have to make a new reputation, you can never have friends, you can't fall in love because you'll have to leave them, and you always get questions about your past life. All the people I've met wanted to know where I've been, where I'm going, what is it like? Well, it sucks. And now here I am, on the edge of California.

Some places I was happy to leave. Bad things had happened in some places, things I'm not proud of. I'm not going into details, of course. But, the bottom line is, sometimes even I need a fresh start, and it seems like the places I hated the most we stayed in longer.

Bang, bang, bang. Someone was knocking on my door. I finished folding a maroon tank top and left my red suitcase to answer the door. I grabbed the rusty handle and twisted it. An ear piercing shriek from the rusty metal burned a hole through my head. It needed some serious oil.

I swung the door open and Nico stood in the doorway. "When's lunch?" he immediately asked. I sighed, Nico was constantly asking for food and when the next meal was going to be. He stared up at me with round brown eyes.

Nico is a very complicated boy. He acts all happy and giddy when he is with me and when he's alone, but with strangers and other people, he acts Goth and wears black and chains. I usually remove the chains before he goes out, though.

"Nico," I sighed, "We haven't been here for a half hour can't you just wait another half hour until dinner?" He looked up at the ceiling and dramatically sighed. "But Bianca," he moaned, looking back at me, "I'm starving!" I rolled my eyes and figured I'd better give up now and whip him up a sandwich.

"Fine." I muttered in surrender. He beamed and shouted, "Yeah, food time!" I actually don't know why he can't make himself a sandwich. Just as I was considering that maybe he didn't know where the food was packed I remembered. When Nico was no older than nine he decided to make himself a snack.

He grabbed all of the ingredients for a sandwich; cheese, turkey, ham, mustard, bologna, salami, et cetera, and placed them carelessly on two slices of wheat bread. At the time, Nico was in a phase where he refused to eat anything cold. So he jammed the sandwich in the microwave and splat. Right before my eyes, sandwich everywhere and a small fire burning freely in the microwave. Don't ask me how it caught fire, maybe it was already overheated or he put the sandwich in for too long, I guess we'll never know.

I snapped back to reality and quickly fixed Nico up a sandwich. I smacked it on a paper plate and slid it across the table so it landed in front of him. "Mmmm," he purred, "Thanks, sis!" Then he furiously inhaled his sandwich. I rolled m eyes and carefully went back to my room, trying not to trip over any boxes.

My new room was a blank canvas. No carpeting and no paint, a few strips of peeled wallpaper clinging to the right wall, it defiantly needed some work. I wanted to paint it red, which was my new favorite color but I knew what my mom and dad would say, "Bianca, we've been over this before. We aren't staying for too long and we don't want to waste money on a dumb can of paint." Well, maybe they didn't say dumb, but you get the point.

I continued to unpack, folding all articles of clothes in a specific way so they wouldn't get wrinkled and carefully placing them in neat piles in the given dresser. With my left hand holding a stack of jeans, I opened the white dresser. Cobwebs stuck in the corners and dust was littered on the bottom. Splinters of wood were sticking out and it smelled like moth balls and old people.

I walked into the hallway, setting the jeans back on my bare bed. I pried a plastic blue tub opened that was labeled clearly in green sharpie; SHEETS. I rummaged around the bin until I found a small white sheet with a lacy border. No one in my family used it, or planned to, anytime soon, so I snatched it out of the bin.

Back in my bedroom, I folded the sheet twice and set it in my dresser. I smoothed out the bumps and stood back, admiring my hard work and creativity. It created a very nice liner, if I do say so myself. Once all of my drawers were lined with different sheets I neatly piled my clothing in.

The top left drawer contained all of my underwear, bras, tights, and tank tops. The top right held both my pajama tops and bottoms. The big drawer under the top ones had tee-shirts on the left, pants in the middle, and leggings on the right. Finally, I placed my socks and scarves in the bottom drawer and then hung up selected items in my closet.

Everything is always so neat and tidy in my room. Clothes are always folded in their designated place, the dirty ones in my hamper by the door. Pictures of paintings, old friends and family in cute frames spread across my desk, and my alarm clock and a box of tissues on my nightstand. Oh, and how could I forget my little goldfish who sits on top of my dresser.

I have insisted for over a year now that my fish has to travel with us. My dad is not so fond of this idea and I can prove it because I have caught him in the act of trying to rid of him several times.

It was October 12th and my mom decided that I should have a fit birthday present. I was thrilled to find a little fish, no bigger than my pinkie swimming freely in a glass tank on my dresser in Spain. A small note saying; Happy birthday, darling. I hope you like your present. Love, Mom and Nico. I had named him Two and he was my best friend since.

I know what you're thinking; her best friend is a fish? What a weirdo! Well, I really can't have friends. I always have to leave them in the end and it's way too sad. A couple trips ago I met a sweet girl named Valerie. We really kicked it off, and it was really depressing when I left.

I still have her number and e-mail but I never got the chance to use it, there was no wifi in Spain. I doubt she even remembers my name anymore.

Anyway, after I finished unpacking, I made my bed. I found my red and blue comforter in the bin next to the sheets and I spread it across my mattress. Once all of my pillows and favorite stuffed animals were neatly aligned, I slid into the kitchen to make dinner for myself.

I was defiantly not surprised to see Nico sitting on the couch with his Chuck-clad feet on the wooden coffee table. "Hey, Bianca." he acknowledged, "What's for dinner?" I sighed and asked him, "Nico, didn't I just make you a sandwich and hour ago?" He nodded, "Yeah," he noted, "But that was a long time ago and now I'm hungry again."

I rolled my eyes. "Do you know where mom and dad are?" I asked. Nico shook his head. "I haven't seen them since we got here." he stated, "They said they were going grocery shopping." That made a lot of sense; my parents aren't the best navigators, that's why we travel by plane. Even food shopping is a challenge for them.

"What do you want for dinner?" I asked Nico, "Is Mac and cheese okay?" He called out, "Sure!" over the noise of the soccer that was being played on the television. I fixed us both up two bowls of instant Mac and cheese. "C'mon!" I called to him, "Dinner's ready!"

He flung himself off the couch and into one of the hard chairs that were at the table. He picked up his neatly place fork and began to shovel the noodles into his mouth. I figured there was no point in stopping him so I ate my dinner in silence.

After dinner Nico and I sat down on the lumpy couch and watched several episodes of Regular Show reruns before heading off to bed. I jumped in the shower and took a quick, cool, shower, washing my long dark hair. After I was cleaned and my hair was brushed, I lied down in my bed and closed my eyes.

It was nine forty-five, a little early to bed for me. I could hear my wet hair crinkle against my blue pillow and Regular Show being played in the other room. Just as I was drifting off into sleep, the house door opened. I heard annoyed murmurs of my parents and the crinkle and crunch of paper and plastic bags.

A small rip sounded and a large crash followed. I jumped. "God dammit." I heard my dad's voice say as he scrambled to pick up, what I'm guessing was, the cans of soup that fell. I closed my eyes again. The crinkling of the bags was soothing and I fell asleep shortly after.

When I woke up, I felt well-rested like I always do. I sat up in bed and stretched my arms towards the ceiling. I yawned and clambered out of bed. Hmmm, I thought, my first day of school, what to wear, what to wear. I carefully picked around my perfectly folded clothes and plucked out a red pleated skirt and a white shirt with a blue bow by the collar out of the closet.

I tossed my pajamas into the hamper and got dressed. Next, I made my bed and brushed my straight long hair so it had no knots or unpleasant bumps. Since it was a special occasion, I squirted on a little bit of flowery perfume. I inhaled deeply. I smelled amazing.

My parents insisted that Nico and I walk to school. I was opposed to the idea. We lived a good two miles from the school and the walk would be long and tiring. When I tried to explain this to my mom, all she said was that we'd just better get going soon. I quickly jammed a waffle down my throat and brushed my teeth. I jogged out the door to meet up with Nico, who had already began to walk.

Nico was munching on a chocolate chip granola bar. "Do you ever stop eating?" I asked him. "Nope." he replied, "Never have, never will." When we arrived at the school it looked big. And I mean like gigantic. A girl named Annabeth, who was chosen by the teachers, was supposed to escort me and help me to my classes.

When I walked in I saw a peppy-looking blonde girl looking at a sheet of paper. She was wearing a red and white striped tank top and a denim skirt that looked way too short. "Ahem?" I timidly said, "Are you Annabeth?" She looked up and smiled showing brilliant white teeth. "Yes, I am." Annabeth answered and I followed her down the hall.

While we walked she asked me about myself and what I liked to do. I gave her short answers, and tried to look like I blended in. She stopped at locker 835. "Here it is." she announced while banging on the locker two times. "Your combination is 12-02-30." She handed me a small slip of paper with the combo on it.

"Thanks." I said, taking the paper. We walked around together the whole day, her pointing out certain places in the school. She showed me my classes and warned me about mean and strict teachers. Just as I was about to go in my homeroom for study hall, Annabeth called me over.

"So," she started, "Are you doing anything tonight? I'm having a killer sleepover party at my house tonight with a few other people." I thought about it. Did I really want to be with a bunch of popular juniors all night? No. But instead I found myself saying, "Yeah, that sounds cool."

What are you doing? I mentally scolded myself. You can't make friends! Now, go tell her you can't go! But before I could say anything, Annabeth had said great and handed me a piece of paper with her cell phone number, address, and the time to be at her house. Moron, I scolded myself as I walked into study hall.

A/N: So tell me… how do you like the long chapter? How about the new spacing? And I'm sorry that this was kind of a boring chapter but I really need to introduce Bianca because she will be a HUGE part of the story! So rate, review, and follow! I love you! 3