The Crew: A New Beginning

Chapter 6

That Friday morning I got up and stretched, the sun streaming through my curtains. Today was moving day! After I had checked out my new apartment last night, I came home and told my parents I could move in straight away if I had help. So this morning my father was going to help load my stuff onto the trailer of his Ute and take it to the new place. Although I was happy, I wasn't as excited as I was the first time. Well mainly because I had Cass staying with me. Now it would just be me in that big rooftop apartment. Mum had mentioned we could do girlie sleepovers, which scored an eye roll from me, but my father had mentioned a monthly dinner at the apartment would be good enough as a repayment so that was settled at that. I did have in my mind though to look for a flatmate, especially when I start to pickup more shifts at the swim school, I was just hoping they wouldn't be messy and would be self efficient.

So the morning gradually slipped away as we carted stuff to and fro. Finally it was lunch time as I hurled the last of my boxes of stuff into my new apartment. Mum, who had helped me with the last load, wiped her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand and leaned against the granite  countertop in the kitchen. "Well at least it wasn't that much since you still had most of your stuff still packed in boxes when you moved back from the other place," mum said, taking a swig of her bottled water. I nodded in agreement. I now looked around and marvelled how empty this place once was, now looked liveable. Most of the big furniture we managed to set up already, like the futon couch I had from the old apartment, a small cabinet on which my Flat screen TV sat on, the small IKEA round dining table with 3 chairs and my big queen sized bed. That one we had to get one of the security guards from the lobby to help us with. The spare room had my  surfboard and photography gear in it, but I had told mum that later on I'd buy a desk and small bed to put in there.

We were just about to head to the elevator again when I heard a voice calling my name. "Ella! It is you!" I turned to see the tall, handsome, mysterious guy that I had met on the beach yesterday, standing outside the door to the other apartment. My eyes widened. We were neighbours? I snapped out of my trance and smiled. "Oh hey! It's Jake, right? Yeah I just moved in," I replied, I turned towards mum. "This was the guy I met on the beach yesterday, his name's Jake." I could see my mum give this guy the once-over look, but in a curious way. Ever since the whole Josh and Billy situations my mother had been very skeptical of me meeting new guys. However in the past 2 years, I just couldn't seem to make any move on. After introductions were made, mum decided to head back home, whilst I got acquainted with my new home, and neighbour. "So, neighbours, huh? Who would've thought?" Jake said with a grin. I laughed and nodded towards my doorway. "You want to come in? I still have a lot of unpacking to do but the heavy stuff is all done now." Jake accepted the invite and I gave him a tour of my new home.

Later that afternoon as we sat eating hot fish and chips on the balcony of my unit, I was curious to know where exactly did this guy come from as I had never seen him in town before. "So, are you new around here? I mean, I know I've lived up in Brisbane before I moved down here 3 years ago, and I haven't seen you around so......." I trailed off as I sipped my iced tea. Jake chuckled. "I moved here from interstate. Was living in Melbourne for awhile but moved here by myself. I've got my parents and sister living back there, but you know, kind of want to do my own thing," he replied with a shrug. "I started working at a local swim school here, I think that's where I recognised you from, after I bumped into you at the beach. You teach as well, right?"
I nodded, pulling a face. "Oh so that's where you're from! And, it's not exactly what I want to do, but it at least helps pay bills," I said, realising now that Jake was a swim school teacher. He must've been working on alternate days. Jake raised an eyebrow. "Really? What DO you want to do?" He asked, curiously. I blushed and looked towards the ocean. "I uhhh, used to work in a photography studio. Thought one day that would be the dream, to sell and display my photos.............unfortunately that, is not really a dream anymore. It's more or less locked away, with the car scene," I replied softly. Jake tried to read the expression on his new friend's face. She looked distant for a moment and he kind of understood. Whatever happened in her past was like a different life compared to now. "Ahh, I get it. The urge to create your own new story, after past experiences, right?" He said, still looking at me. I looked back at him with a pained smile. "Kind of. Speaking of which, have you ever been to a car meet?" I cocked my head to one side, pretending to study him. Jake laughed and shook his head. "Sadly I'm not into meets, I like the car scene, but I try to avoid where trouble lurks. I actually know a guy, used to go to the same school as him and his mate. They were all into that stuff. I made fun of his mate's car one time and he tried to go all Karate Kid on me. Luckily I've got a black belt in that," he said with a chuckle. I smiled and sighed with relief. At least this one wasn't involved in all that was the car scene. I had a feeling that this was going to be the beginning of a new relationship.