Everything Has Changed | Johnny Lawrence

001- A New Beginning

Starting something new, it marks the beginning to a positive change. Or as I see it, a negative change. Driving down this bare road to sunny California wouldn't necessarily be deemed bad to most. But for me I was losing all my friends and everything I worked hard for back in New Jersey. I was squished in the back along with all our stuff, making it very uncomfortable the whole ride. Our mom had started singing which made it even worse and I groaned.

"What's wrong? Don't you like my singing"

"More like, I don't like the song you're singing" I replied causing my brother Daniel to snicker.

"You both are going to love California, getting up in the morning, rolling out of bed and plop, you're in the pool" she said with a goofy smile on her face.

"Yeah, sure" Daniel said rolling his eyes before looking out the window.

"You'll both see. This isn't exactly a dump we're moving to".

We stopped at a motel before continuing on our journey to our new home. The car stalled so we all had to push it in order for it to get going again. The car was a piece of junk, I was surprised it was still running. After another long car ride we entered the sunny state of California. It had been a pretty quiet car ride with Daniel asleep in the front and my walkman blasting through my ears. We came upon a building with blue letters on it spelling: South Seas.

"Daniel wake up! Look off the bow, paradise at last! We have made it, come on this is the end of the line." our mother excitedly exclaimed.

"You're telling me" my brother said still half asleep as mom exited the vehicle to start the unloading process. I grabbed a few bags and hauled them out of the car. I looked around and up at the clear blue sky.

"Look at those palm trees!" Mom called from behind me "Do you know what that means sweetie?"

"Yeah, keep an eye out for falling coconuts" I replied while heading back to the trunk for more bags. Daniel was trying to get the bike off the roof.

"Oh come on Tiffany, it means no more winters"

"I like winters" Daniel said still trying to figure out the bike.

"So do I Ma" I took out the last of the bags and helped Daniel with the bike.

"So you both like sore throats and frozen toes?" Mom shot back at us.

"It's the smog Ma" my brother said wheeling the bike towards the front gate. Our mom just sighed.

"Did I tell you  there's a pool here?" She really wasn't letting go of this, was she.

"mhm, like 100 times, Ma" Daniel told her clearly annoyed as well.

"Okay, so make it 101." she smiled and opened the front gate.

"After you bike boy" I told my brother smiling, gesturing for him to go ahead. He nodded and went through the entrance like he was about to karate kick it. All I heard from in front of me was a commotion just inside the gate. I ran over to the noise and saw Daniel talking to a boy probably about our age.

"You must be the new people in 20, right?" he asked, then our eyes met "She your sister?"

"Huh?" Daniel turned around and saw me standing there "Oh, yeah, yes my sister"

I stepped forward and introduced myself "Hi, I'm Tiffany LaRusso"

"Freddy Fernandez,  17. How you doing? Let me help you with those bags" he said gesturing to the bags I was carrying.

"No, no I'm alright but thanks though" he nodded and we started walking towards our apartment.

He began asking us questions. The typical where are you from? Newark. What brings you here? Mom got a job with a computer company. Got anything cool to share? I can dance and I had a great studio until we moved here to this dump. I didn't say that last part out loud though. But we did figure out that the pool wasn't in the best shape. Like at all. I walked ahead of the two boys, up the stairs and as I was about to enter the apartment Freddy called out to me.

"We're having a party tomorrow, wanna come?"

"Yeah, sure" I replied.

"Alright" he said slapping Daniel on the back "I'll come get you guys in the morning" He left the bike leaning against the wall and walked away. We both stepped into the apartment and our mom was starting to unpack.

"Don't say a thing about the pool, I'm calling first thing tomorrow" I gathered some of my boxes and brought them to what I assumed was my new room. It's walls were a ugly beige colour and the closet was small but the window wasn't to bad. The view wasn't great but it still let in a nice amount of light. After unpacking a bit of my stuff I went back out into the living area.

"Where's Daniel?" I asked grabbing a cup and walking over to the sink.

"Oh he's just asking-" I had turned the the sink on and got a face full of water causing me too internally scream. "...the maintenance guy to fix the sink" she finished trying to hold in a laugh.

"Gee thanks Ma" I say sarcastically while I grab a towel.

"So, you going to this party with Daniel?" Mom asks placing a box down on the counter.

"Yeah probably, I'm gonna have to make friends if I'm ever going to survive here" I reply purposely being dramatic.

"Yes we wouldn't want you to die on us out here just because you had no friends" she continued on with the dramatics. We both laughed and for the first time I wasn't thinking about what I was missing back home.