Lost | A Connor McDonough Fan Fiction

Preface

Orlando, Florida. What a cheesy place to move to.

It's one thing to move to Florida. I'm sure it's a lovely place to live. But Orlando? One of the busiest and most annoying tourist attractions?

That's what I see Orlando as- a tourist attraction. It is filled with families vacationing for unneseccary reasons and seeing no issues with the world, or more so vacationing to escape the problems at home.

I was in Orlando a few times when I was younger with my family, to go to Disney World, of course. Those were the days when I had no questions and a free spirit. Innocence.

That didn't last very long.

A few years after my happy-go-lucky childhood, reality happened. My dad went bankrupt and his business was ruined. I didn't even know what he did for a living. Whenever anybody asked, I just said a businessman. Because that's what he did. Business.

Alas, he had to find multiple jobs after his decline to keep up with the payments but he wasn't quick enough and the economy obviously became worse as the days dragged on into months, which then lead to years, which eventually lead to my mother looking for work, me working my ass off in school to be able to recieve amazing scholarships, and now where I am today. Which if you couldn't guess already, is Florida.

To escape the high unreasonable taxes in my town, a suburb of New York City, my family moved down to Florida, where the taxes are plenty lower. This is "a fresh start for our family" (a quote from my mom). As much as I would like to believe that, I could tell there was some doubt in her voice. Especially since I doubted what she said too.

My family, in case you were wondering, consists of my mom, my dad, myself, and my dog, Charles. I don't know why I chose that name. I thought it fit his personality, I guess. It still kinda does. He's a Great Dane. I love Charles. He was the only thing in my life that I could ever rely on to remain the same over a course of time.

Oh, and my name? I'm Claire.

I was never that popular of a girl, but I wasn't very unpopular either. Somewhere in the middle is where I met, I suppose.

I used to have friends. Plenty of them too. But that was before my life came crashing beneath me, like a pit of quicksand, sucking me up, leaving me unable to get out, stuck there until I die. Or at least that's how I feel right now.

Even though they weren't real friends, they sure did act like it. My former group of friends liked me and we hung out almost everyday. They all knew my family was going through a tough time financially, but when I told them it was so bad that I had to move away, they were disgusted with me and my family. They looked at me as if I just admitted to being a murderer. I remember Diana's exact words; "Who would have thought you were too poor to survive? Moving? That's how your family thinks the world works? Running away from their problems? That's low. You're a disgrace."

I remember looking at my friends with disbelief. Did they all think that? I was trying to look at them to decode a message of joking or lack of seriousness, but they all looked at me, burning their eyes into my soul.

"Is this some kind of joke?" I asked to clarify.

"Is it?" Maggie countered. "You always said your family was fine. You portray yourself as this extravagent party-goer, who wears the best things, affords the best things. Now look at the cat that came out of the bag. The ratty, unkempt, poor little cat."

There was a silence between us until I walked out of the door that day. I realized these people weren't really my friends. They only liked me for what they thought I had. It goes to show that you really can't trust your beloved friends, because they probably are going to bite you in the ass one day. And another thing that I learned? Target really does make you look like you can afford nice things. Who knew.

Either way, Florida is my "fresh start", like my mother said.

My ratty, unkempt, poor cat of a fresh start.