Just Another Drifter {BOOK 1 in the 'Just Another' Series}

Chapter 1- Kitty Josephine Greyson

My name is Kitty Greyson, I am 21 years old and I am drifting. 

Let me explain to you what I am, a drifter. Defined by the wonders of Google, a drifter is; 

A person who is continually moving from place to place, without any fixed home or job.

I know it sounds cold and harsh. 

But it's true. 

That's me in a sentance. 

I have been drifting for as long as I can remember and I don't seem to be able to find a way to stop. 

No branches to hold onto, no rocks to slow me down. 

Sometimes, I get to a part of the river where the current is less powerful, things slow down a little. I get a chance to settle down a little. 

Maybe even catch my breathe. 

But all too soon I am hurled back under the water again and I begin my journey once more.

It's not like I try to be a drifter. 

And believe me, I know what people think of us drifters. 

"You need to get a job Kitty," my mother nags. "You need to get a house Kitty," is another favourite of hers. "You need to grow up and act your age!" Is the most commonly used. 

I would follow her instructions, but I don't seem to be able to. 

When I was 12 I thought I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. 

I wanted to be a teacher. 

I wanted to share my knowledge with the rest of the world, look after children and be kind for the rest of my days. 

But it turns out I don't have much knowlege, I don't really like snotty little children that much and I'm not all that kind. 

So teaching wasn't for me, I learnt that after spending a week at my old primary school as a teenager. 

We had to do it, it was for school. We had to get a placement and experience work life for a week. 

'Work Experience' they called it. 

But I didn't like the experience of work all that much so I put off my childish dreams of being a teacher at just 15. 

By 16, we were all expected of to know what we wanted to spend the rest of our lives doing. 

I guess I didn't really think things through when I decided what I wanted to do was become an air hostess. 

I skipped out on college and went straight to my cousin in Dublin, she was already an air hostess. She helped me get a job with a small travel company and soon I was making trips to and from Dublin on a weekly basis. 

That was perfectly fine for about three months, that's when I realised the jet lag and travel sickness was all too much.

I quit that job and decided I wanted to do something else, most of my friends had started their second year in college when I turned 17.

I thought this might be a good time to join them. 

I joined my local college and enjoyed all my lessons, I even began to meet deadlines and get good grades in my Finals. 

Until I met Lewis. 

Lewis was 19 when we met, I was still 17, he was 6'1 and in a rock band. 

His scruffy chestnut hair and dreamy blue eyes won me over in an instant. 

I began to spend all my time with Lewis and no time on work.

Once my mother found out Lewis was the reason my grades were slipping she forbid me from seeing him. 

And although by now I was almost 19, I couldn't do anything to stop that seeing as I hadn't yet moved out.

Lewis stopped coming round and texting and calling. He cut off all contact with me aftr that.

He then soon began to see my best friend Megan. 

I was so hurt that I cried myself to sleep every night for 3 weeks. 

My grades began to get better and I finally forgot about Lewis, until I started to see Megan around town again. 

She would make sleezy comments and gossip to her friends about me. As you can tell, we were no longer best friends. 

One day, her and her friends began to pick on me especially bad. 

I got so angry I couldn't control myself. 

Megan and her friends went home that day with black eyes and broken noses. 

I was expelled from College. 

So that left me at 19 years of age; un-able to attend college; a possible criminal record, if Megan and her friends decided to press charges; and un-employed. 

Things were not looking good for me. 

I decided that living with my parents was not helping anything, I decided to move out.

So I gathered all my savings and began to rent out a flat with a girl named Sandy.

Sure, Sandy was nice and we had a good time. But we never really bonded, she seemed to have all these walls put up and I could never break them down. 

It's hard to bond with someone when you don't know a single thing about them. 

Although saying that, Sandy and I are still friends now. 

I guess maybe we work. 

I hate gossip and she doesn't want to share any. 

Maybe that's why we get on. 

We don't talk about boys and troubles like normal friends, but we get along just fine without that. 

So, 2 years later Sandy and I are still living together. My current state is un-employed. And I have been through 4 jobs. 

In two years.

But now I've made up my mind, I want to be a model.

Right, I know it's far fetched, but why not? Don't you think it seems appealing? All the glitz and glamour, all eyes on you?

Well, if you think I'm stupid for thinking I can do this, I can tell you my mother certainly agrees with you. 

"Mum, I've decided what I want to be!" I exclaimed as I burst into the kitchen. She was stood over the stove cooking something.

"What? What is it!?" She grinned. 

"I want to be a model!" I cheered. 

"Kitty Josephine Greyson, don't be so ridiculous!" She cried. 

"Eh? What, no! I'm not being ridiculous..." I narrowed my eyes. 

"Good god, my daughter's a failure!" She began to sob. 

"What? Mum I-"

"You're going to be a bin woman!" She shrieked, hugging me tightly as she sobbed on my shoulder. 

I clentched my teeth to hide my anger, before holding her at arms length. 

"Thanks Mum." I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

Okay so, I know I have little experience but I've decided that's what I want to be and I'm sticking to it. 

Kitty Josephine Greyson. Remember that name. 

Except maybe the Josephine bit..

One day, you'll remember me.