Always

1 - Aria

6 Years Earlier:

It was barely even 8am and even with the sun shining brightly through my light grey curtains I was already hating absolutely everything about today, I hated that my alarm had woken me from a shitty nights sleep, I hated that my parents had pulled me out of school to finish my final 2 years in a town where I knew absolutely no one, I hated the fact that they were making me start school on a Thursday - like who does that right - well my parents, that's who - I mean would it really be so bad to let me start on Monday - I don't think so.
I hated that my Dad was so good at his job that they offered him a promotion forcing our move to this place, I hated leaving behind my friends - the same group of friends I had since kindergarten - the ones that cried and hugged me when I told them I was leaving. I hated the feeling of nausea in my stomach at not knowing what today would bring and finally I hated that for the last 45 minutes I had tried on a thousand different outfits in search of the one - the right one - not that I knew what the right one would be to wear at a school I knew nothing about.
God I used to have it so together!! At my last school I was one of the popular girls - I was the one who wore an outfit to school and people would copy my style - here I had no idea what to expect or what style was even considered as acceptable, I didn't know if my clothes would be classed as outdated or skanky, would it look like I was trying to hard or if I had last years hair style.
I know what you're thinking, poor Aria and her real world problems huh!!
Well it might seem that way to you, BUT you try being 16 years older and a girl thrown into a new town with absolutely zero friends, you would be saying the same thing - Yes - it is absolutely a real world problem - a HUGE one!

10 more minutes and I finally decided to just play it it safe, a black singlet top, a short denim skirt and a pair of black sandals that strapped up my calf, I let my dark brown hair fall in its natural waves, added some foundation to my caramel skin, and used some black mascara to highlight my brown eyes, I looked in the mirror again, hoping I had made the right decision even if I wasn't sure I was pretty much out of time to change again anyway.

"Aria, come on darling you are going to be late"

"Coming Mum" I grabbed my bag and headed for the kitchen where my Mums voice was coming from,

"You look good darling, how are you feeling?"

"Thanks Mum, ok I guess, times like this I actually wish I had a brother or sister so I didn't have to do this alone"

"You will be fine, you are beautiful inside and out, it won't take long for the other kids to realise it" she placed a kiss on my forehead and sat a plate of poached eggs in front of me.

"Thanks Mum", smiling at me she went back to the kitchen bench, cleaning the mess.

My parents were one of those happily married couples, they had been together for over 20 years and I was their only child. My Dad was a Doctor - a really good one actually, a surgeon and he had worked really, really hard to get where he was, and now he had taken a job at the new hospital in this town as Chief of Surgery, they had offered him a great package including relocation costs and 2 years rent in a house of his choosing, see what I mean - that's how good he is!!
My Mother was a teacher, she taught mainly Kindergarten, she loved their little innocent minds and their ability to just speak whatever was going through their heads at the time.
I had a great relationship with me parents, based on honesty and trust - which worked both ways , the treated me like an adult meaning I pretty much had a free reign as long as they knew where I was and I kept my phone on me, they had instilled enough values and common sense into me that I wasn't wild or crazy - Sure, I loved having a good time as much as the next person but I had never been one of those wild bad girls you read about in stories. I had my head screwed on the right way, tried my best in school and was hoping to pursue a career in nursing once I graduated.