let the light in | jack hughes

Chapter 1

[October 30, 2022]

Beatrice

About 8 months ago my mom and aunts left our town to move to Greece, apparently, it's been their lifelong dream to live there since they were young girls. When they told me they were leaving I had no desire to stay. I never really liked this town anyway. It holds too many poor memories, but I had to wait until my lease ended. 

I have a degree in marketing and photography so I put my degree to good use and applied to a few sports teams, modeling agencies, and small businesses in New York and even New Jersey. I was secretly crossing my fingers for a job in my dad's hometown. But I haven't been too lucky in life for a while so what are the odds? 

I've been obsessively checking my emails, hoping I can get a job before my lease is up. I whisper, "Please, please, please," as I open up my work email and refresh the page to see if anyone reached out to me. I wait and wait until I see an email from the New Jersey Devils, a hockey team in guess where? My dad's hometown! 

Wow, luck is on my side today! Hopefully...

 "Dear Miss. Jae, thank you for submitting your portfolio, yada, yada, yada." I skim through the email to find an answer. "We would love to have you on our team as soon as possible," I scream as I read that they want me on their team and grab my phone to call my best friend, Dorothea. I click her contact and listen to the ring until she picks up. "Hey Bea!" she says over all the noise on the street. 

"Hi Thea, guess what?" I jump around my small studio apartment. "You got the job!" She yells, and even though we're not on FaceTime I can hear her smile. "Yup, in Newark! For a hockey team!" I tell her through a squeal. "Oh my god! Newark is so close to where I live!" She says excitedly. 

With Thea on the phone, I reply back to them and let them know I can be there soon, in time for their next home game this Saturday. Thea stays on the phone with me until she has to go back on set to film her next scene in her tv show, Pretty Little Liars. I sort out everything so that in a few days when my lease is up I can head straight to my new apartment in Newark. 

Thea said she knows of a good apartment complex in Newark, and said she'd put in a good word for me since she knows the owners of the building. She told me to call in an hour and name-drop her, before asking to lease an apartment. So that's exactly what I do. I pack my stuff up in the meantime and wait until an hour is up. 

Once I call they tell me they're just going to run a quick background check, and if everything is clear I can move in on Saturday. Which sounds perfect. I move out Thursday and will have to drive up there with my stuff. My neighbor Susannah told me she could ship a few of my things for me so I'm not driving with a fully packed car which is so kind of her. I already planned on making her farewell cookies. 

I hear a soft meow come from beneath my chair and reach down to pick up my kitten. "Hi Ringo baby, mama got a job upstate, are you excited to come with me?" I ask my little brown kitty with the cutest green eyes. He gives me a soft meow in response and I take it as a yes. I named my cat after Ringo Staar because as a kid my dad loved the Beatles and it was all he played around me. 

-

I get a call back from the apartment complex, saying I'm good to go and that they're excited to see me. I pack all my things into my car before handing in my key and giving Sus a big hug. "Darling, you didn't have to make me cookies, I just wanted to make this journey easy on you." She says with her sweet southern accent. "And I wanted to thank you," I laugh, rubbing her back before getting into my car. 

I take a deep breath, looking at my apartment one more time before driving off. I watch it disappear off into the distance and turn up my favorite playlist to avoid thinking about how scary change can be. Snap out of it Bea! You couldn't stay here, it was time to plant roots somewhere else. A change of scenery is exactly what I needed.