"I think that's the last one" mom said as she put the box down.
She stretched her back and look around the small apartment. It had 2 not to big bed rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen and living room in one. There was barely enough space for a couch, a chair and a TV.
I hated the idea that we were going to live here. it's in a totally different country, in a different continent, the people here don't even speak the same language as her and I really missed my friends. And all that just because my mom had found another new boyfriend, which probably wouldn't even last a year. We had moved 6 times in the last 10 years.
Ever since my dad had passed we had been moving around the country, this was the first time we moved to another country.
A few months ago mom met Gavin a 25-year-old DJ from New Orleans. They met at the club and they immediately started dating. Gavin lived with them for 2 month until he had to go back to New Orleans. In those 2 months I had only spoken English at home. So she kind of controlled the language already.
Shortly after Gavin was gone, my mom decided she wanted to go live in New Orleans. She said she couldn't bare not being with him and she wanted to share the rest of her live with him. But then again that was what she said every time she had a new boyfriend.
So now 5 months after mom met Gavin, they moved to New Orleans.
I sighed as I picked up a box with my stuff and brought it to my new room. It was a small room with just enough space to fit a king bed, a closet, a dressing table and a desk. Which was enough since I didn't had much personal belongings, because I got used to move around and the less stuff you have the easier it is. All I owned was some clothes, a laptop, a cellphone, a picture of me with her parents, my pencils and my binder. I didn't need much more.
I had been drawing ever since I was little. At first I only drew princesses and unicorns. But as I got older, I developed my drawing skills and started to draw portraits and I became pretty good at it.
I collected all my drawings in my binder and it had become pretty much the most important thing in my live. I could really express my feeling in my drawings and it kind of was my emotional outlet. I always carried my binder with me, but no one has ever really seen my drawings. Not that I had much people to show it to, my mom didn't care much and I never really had any friends. And when I did it wasn't for long because we would move again.
I picked up the picture of me and my parents, remembering the day the photo was taken. It was on my 6th birthday when my parents took me to the park where we had a picnic. It had been one of the happiest days of my life. we played together, ate together, laughed together and for once my mom and dad were happy and so was she. There were no fights, no arguments. There was just love and happiness. That's why I always kept that photo on my night stand, to remember that happy moment.
I slipped in a simple, cute, little, black dress. We were going to go dining at a restaurant Gavin had picked out. It was actually the first time in a long time that I had to go to a nice restaurant instead of eating flavorless microwave meals.
I got in the bathroom to put up a little makeup, not much, just a little, to cover up the dark circles under my eyes. I hadn't slept a full night in days. I was too scared about moving to another country. I put up some concealer under my eyes and whipped it out a little.
I took a step back to look at it from a little distance. I was pleased with the result and I headed to the living room where my mom and Gavin were already waiting on my.
"what took you so long?" mom asked impatiently as she grabbed the door knot and headed outside. I sighed at my mom's impatience, but didn't react. I walked out and closed the door behind me.
~
"On what name did you make a reservation?" a waiter asked when we walked in.
"Gavin Baker."
The waiter looked it up and gave us a table at the window, giving us a beautiful view on the lake placed behind the restaurant. The sunlight glistened in the water as the sun went down. We sat down at the table and ordered something to drink.
I grabbed my phone out of my bag and blocked my thoughts from the rest of the world. I tapped away on my phone as my mom and Gavin were giving grossly sweet compliments to each other. It wasn't that I didn't wanted my mom to be happy, it was just that I didn't like Gavin. In fact I didn't like any of the men she had dated after my dad.
Mom had a horrible tasted in men, she had always gone for the bad boys, the tough guys, or as I liked to call them the douches. Because of them mom started drinking and using. And because of them I lost the bond I had with her and I missed it.
I missed the things I used to do with her and the fact I could tell her everything. Now we barely even speak to each other.
~
When they got back home from the dinner, mom got ready to go out with Gavin and I crawled behind my desk, grabbed a blank piece of paper and started drawing.
I was lucky they moved her during spring break so I wouldn't have to worry about going to school, yet. So I had time to adjust to living here, in a different country, with a different language and different people. "I'm going out." mom called just before leaving.
