“Dakota, please talk to me”
“Theres nothing to talk about, Dad” She replied bitterly.
“Kota, c’mon. This will be good for you! We both need a fresh start. California will be fun!”
“No, it won’t! We don’t need a ‘fresh start’, Dad. I didn’t want to leave Chicago. I didn’t want to leave mom...”
“Dakota, hunny... I know this might be hard for you to understand, but I needed to leave that house. It held too many memories of your mother. Please, don’t fight it anymore. Who knows, Huntington could possibly be the best thing thats ever happened to us!” Her father said, while squeezing her knee from beside her in the drivers seat.
Dakota just shook her head and pressed it against the window, hoping to catch some sleep before arriving at their new home, in Huntington Beach, California.

xxx

Dakota couldn’t believe the size of the house they were standing in front of. It was fucking massive, and it was right on the beach!
Her father chuckled at the shocked look on his daughters face before leading her into the house, with an arm wrapped around her tiny shoulders.
“Welcome home, Kota.”
“Dad, this is fucking giant! How in the hell did you snag this place?” She asked incredulously while spinning around, looking all around her at the gigantic foyer they were standing in.
“I have my ways, darlin’. The movers will be here shortly to unload everything, then you can start unpacking, all right?”
“Okay, I’m just gonna roam around, get a feel of this fucking house.” Dakota replied, walking through the front entrance into the kitchen.
“Wow” She whispered to herself. This place was gorgeous! Maybe moving wouldn’t be as bad as she had thought.

Soon enough, the movers arrived and began unloading all the boxes and new furniture into the house. All the furniture was placed in their designated areas while Dakota sat on the ground and watched, eating gummy worms that they had bought on their long drive from Chicago to California.

Once the movers were done, Dakota and her father started unpacking boxes of clothes and pictures, putting everything away. After a couple hours of unpacking, the house was finally ready to be lived in.
It wasn’t until 3 am that Dakota finally got to sleep. With school starting in the morning, she was a nervous wreck. What if the kids didn’t like her? What if they thought she was a freak? She shook the thoughts from her head and grabbed the picture frame on her bedside table. She let a tear slip from her eye, silently questioning why things had to be so hard.
“Why did you have to leave? I needed you, and you weren’t there! You promised!” She whispered to herself, clutching the picture frame to her chest.
The picture showed herself and an older woman, both smiling and happy in their bathing suits beside a pool. Everything was fine back then. There was no reason for Dakota to cry, but now she was a mess. Her rock was gone, and she knew without it, she would crumble.
She needed someone there to help her, and to protect her. She wasn’t as tough as she made herself out to be. She needed the one person she loved the most.
“I miss you, Mommy. I miss you so much.”

xxx

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
“Fucking alarm” I grumble. My hand shoots out and hits the snooze button, causing the clock to drop off of my side table and onto the floor.
I shake my head grumpily then roll out of bed, literally, and end up on the floor, beside my alarm clock, with an ‘oomph’.
“Could this morning get any worse?” I say to no one in particular, but then I realize that it can. I have my first day of school in 2 hours and its right in the middle of the year. Fan-fucking-tastic.
I jump up and grab my outfit from my drawers then head to the washroom to shower.
I set everything down beside the sink and turn the water on in the shower, setting it to my desired temperature before stripping down from the clothes I wore yesterday and stepping into the steaming shower, letting the heat soothe my muscles.
After washing everything twice and shaving, I step out of the shower and wrap a fluffy, white towel around my body.
I get dressed then blow dry and straighten my half black, half brown hair before doing my makeup. I check the clock and see I have half an hour before I have to leave, so I grab my phone, my hat and my sunglasses before checking over my outfit and heading downstairs.

“Morning Dad”
“Morning, Kota” He says and kisses the top of my head while I grab an apple and take a bite.
“You excited?”
“A little, more nervous then anything.”
“Hunny, you’ll be fine! You can bring friends over whenever you like to hangout. The theatre is all set up downstairs now.”
“Really? Awesome! Thanks dad, well I better get going. Is my-”
“Yes, your baby has arrived. He’s in the drive way”
“Thanks Dad! See you after school.” I kiss his cheek and grab my keys from the counter, making my way out the front door.
“Oh how I’ve missed you” I said, while walking towards my 1969 Camaro.
I unlock and open the door to my baby, the car my grandfather gave to me on my 16th birthday, and got in, putting the key in the ignition and starting the car. I instantly blast Guns n Roses and back out of the drive way, making my way to hell, otherwise known as Huntington High.

Notes

First story on here. Tell me what you think!