BEING REWRITTEN.
𝚰𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝚰𝐂𝐇,
Nicolette 'Kill-Shot' LaRusso, a tough and resilient teenage girl from Newark, New Jersey, who moves to a run-down apartment complex in Florida with her mother and brother, Daniel.
Initially skeptical and out of pl...
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"DANIEL," I SPOKE, nudging my brother from the front seat. "Daniel, wake up."
He stirred, his eyes squinting in the morning sun. "Look off the starboard bow," Mom called out from the driver's seat, her own excitement palpable as she laughed. "Paradise at last!" Halting the car to a stop, she turned off the engine. "Oh, we made it."
My eyes scanned the run down apartment complex in front of us, the paint peeling and the palm trees leaning awkwardly in the stiff breeze. "Come on, this is it." Mom smiled, opening the car door. "This is the end of the line."
Daniel and I lingered in the car for a moment, both unimpressed. "This is paradise?" I mumbled, my voice thick with sarcasm.
"Right." Daniel deadpanned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Come on, all hands on deck!" Mom called out. We dragged ourselves out of the car, stretching our legs after the long drive from New Jersey. The air was thick with the scent of saltwater and palm trees. "We gotta get this thing unloaded before it sinks."
I groaned, unhooking my bike from the top of the car, as Daniel did the same with his. Our new home was definitely not what I had in mind when Mom talked about a fresh start. The complex was a sad imitation of the bright, clean houses we had seen in the movies, the kind where the cool kids lived. She pulled her head out of the trunk, stopping to a halt, "Look at those palm trees!" She exclaimed, "Damn! Do you guys know what that means?"
"Yeah, watch out for falling coconuts." Daniel quipped, his voice dry. I couldn't help but laugh, despite my own reservations about our new surroundings.
Mom slapped Daniels back, "Wise guy. No more Newark winters!" She exclaimed. Daniel and I exchanged irritated glances.
"We like winters, ma." I rolled my eyes, pulling my bike to the ground.
"Oh, you like sore throats? Do you like frozen toes?" She teased, walking back to the trunk.
"I don't like smog." I shot back, watching as she grabbed a box.
"Did I tell you two about the pool around here?" She asked, changing the subject hastily.
"About a hundred times, ma." Daniel replied, still struggling to unhook his bike. I made my way over to him, helping him get it down.
"Okay, so make it a hundred-and-one." She grinned as she inched closer to the gate. "Open your eyes my darling babes, This is the Garden of Eden!" She continued with a 360 spin. "Come on! Listen, we're in apartment twenty, okay? One flight up."
Daniel finally unhooked his bike with my help, pulling it to the ground. "Jesus, mom's lost it." I whispered under my breath, grabbing our suitcases from the backseat.
"You think?" He retorted, taking his suitcase from my hand. As if in sync, we both hoisted our suitcases to one handle bar, balancing it as we pushed our bikes to the gate.
