Finding Branson Gallagher

1. Moving Day

Saturday.

The day has finally come in which I get to leave this place, and begin the next chapter of my life. I wish I could say I'm leaving with the best of memories of this place, but I aren't. It's been 2 months since it happened, and I'm still waiting for it to get better. But as I open my eyes, I feel relief. Every box is packed, my clothes for the day are prepared and my travel bag is ready.

Don't get me wrong, I'm going to miss my Mum and Ariana so much, but I know I have to do this. If I don't go now, I never will and that's terrifying. I could shit myself right here and now, that's how scared I am - but I'll get through this. I need to see the places that I want to see, I want to explore and to get out there and live. I want to live for him, for my family and without being selfish, to live for me too. It's not too long before I'm caught in my tracks and distracted from my thoughts as my door opens and my tiny best friend climbs into my bed.

"First Daddy leave, now you." Ariana says, springing tears to my eyes.

"Ari, I'm gonna come back to you, my angel. In fact I have a present for you." I tell her, as I pull a small box out of my bag.

"This is to remind you, that we are never far apart. I have the other half and I will always keep it close to me." Ari stares at me lovingly, as I place half of a heart shaped necklace around her neck.

"I love you." She says in her sweet little voice.

"But, I love you more."

As the sun begins to shine brighter, the clock nears 10AM and before I know it I'm waving goodbye to my family as tears roll down our faces. I know they'll be okay. My Mum has her job and Ariana. They've both got friends, and Mum agreed that this is the right thing for me to do. My family are my roots, but where is my foundation if they are my roots. I feel out of control, like I'm falling without a safety net. I know I don't look at myself and love myself properly. Not in the sense that I don't feel happy about my figure, because that's an area that I'm trying to feel more comfortable about. But I have allowed toxic friendships into my life, and have allowed people to treat me like crap. Not anymore. It's my goal to become a better me and to help bring positivity to others and to myself. I can't do that without leaving my roots and finding whatever it is that makes me, well me.

Where am I going, you ask? I am going to live with my childhood best friend named Kara,  who lives in Florida, for a year.  I haven't seen her in a couple of years, and I have been to Florida multiple times but never to live here, so everything is fairly new to me. I can legally drive here too, which will mean it will be much easier for me to baby-sit and do pick-ups.

After a fairly okay plane journey, we land safely and soon enough I find myself walking off of the plane and looking around for Kara in the terminal's waiting area. In the corner of my eyes, I spot a sign which reads : "Ava Doyle! For Kara Nedor" which causes me to smile widely. Immediately I notice how much warmer California is than England. I find myself feeling somewhat comfortable, slightly more free here. I can't explain this feeling.

"Ava!!" Kara squeals, running towards myself and embracing me in a comforting hug. 

"Kara! Oh my goodness, its so good to see you! I missed you so much." I respond as we begin walking to her car. As we make our way down the road, I find myself in awe of my surroundings. Everything is so surreal, I can't comprehend any of it. This whole move will be even newer to me, as Kara recently moved house, and moved back in with her Mum and Step-Dad.

My eyes are bursting with joy, and the joy expands as I realise how blessed I am to be having this experience. My heart leaps as Kara turns into a Double Gated driveway, to which I can not see where it leads. She says "we're home", but what I see before my eyes is not a home but a tremendously big house.  It's white walled, with three floors and from what I can make out, not many people live here.

"What? How did- I don't understand, what? wait,  I'm sorry but huh?" I try to begin.

Kara laughs at me and begins to explain that her step-Dad has quite a bit of money.

"I hope you don't mind, but I've picked your room out for you. Your bed is made up, and there are fresh towels in your en-suite. "

"I don't mind at all, you saved me a job. I can't tell you how grateful I am for letting me stay with you and your family." I say with a beaming smile.

"Oh honey, you're basically family to me, to us. It's absolutely no trouble. I'll go and get Jake to help out with the luggage. Most of your boxes that you shipped a while ago arrived last week so they're all in your room."

Oh and I know you're probably thinking, "who is Jake?", well he is Kara's twin brother. I say twin, they're non identical and the complete opposite of each other. Kara has a huge heart and is kind to anyone who is respectful to her. Whereas, Jake on the other hand is slightly less warm-hearted. He likes to pick fights, and he fights for what he wants. If he doesn't get what he wants, he puts up a fuss and doesn't go down easily without a fight.  

"Jake!" She yells, as we enter through a huge black front door, leading into a beautiful lounge area. This whole space is much bigger than my living room back home. As my eyes gaze in awe, a figure descends down the staircase. A young man with tussled wet hair, and the most beautiful hazel eyes that you could ever see catches my eye. Wherever did the tiny, cute lad go?

"Oh fudgesticks." I say, trying to stop myself from saying another word beginning with 'f'.

"It's been a while, hasn't it Doyle?" He smirks.

"Not long enough, aye Nedor?" I joke. 10 out of ten for top quality banter Ava, well done mate. (Note the sarcasm).

"Jake please be a nice guy and take Ava's luggage up to her room. Thanks bro." Kara pleads, causing a discrete moan to escape from Jake's lips.

All of a sudden I feel myself being pulled into somebody's chest.

"Ava!! Look at you! You've grown so much, it's amazing to have you here." Lindsay, Kara's Mother tells before introducing me to Roy, her husband.

"It's so nice to finally meet you Ava. It's such a privilege."

"Thank you all so much for letting me stay here, I'm ever so grateful." I announce to them in kindness.

After a few hours consisting of: unpacking boxes, chatting, staring out of the window and exploring, I finally find myself able to lie down on my bed.  Just as I lay down, I feel myself lying on top of something which is digging into my spine. Pulling it out from underneath me, I realise it is the photo in the frame of him - I couldn't bear to put it up, to look at it, knowing that he is no longer here to call me 'love' or to send me 'emojis' out of the blue. Plucking up some courage, I stand the frame inside the window sill, slightly covered by the grey curtains draping down. The majority of my room is painted grey, which is great as grey is my favourite colour; grey and yellow are my top two colours. Not like a sad grey, but a happy grey. Slowly, I remove my laptop from my blue laptop case and place in my location into my website for baby-sitting. Informing strangers that I am in California, that I drive (my parents helped me to pay it off months ago, before we came, so that my car would be ready) and that I am available for babysitting.

Around a meal and a half later, I head back up to my room to relax and check my messages. Immediately I take notice of a message request from an Abigail Gilmour, which reads:

Hi Ava,

My name is Abigail Gilmour and I am in desperate need of a babysitter starting from tomorrow for my 2 year old daughter 'Darci'. I would be eternally grateful if you could help me out. I pay $7 an hour and I can arrange other times if suitable also. 

I look forward to hearing your response.

Abigail Gilmour. 

Without hesitating, I respond as quickly as possible, informing her of my decision and texting her my number, so that she can text me her address and the timing. I don't start my 'emotional intelligence' course for another 2 weeks, and besides which, I can fit babysitting around that anyway. At least I can sleep a little easier tonight, knowing that I will be able to make some money. And that's exactly what I do: I fall asleep at 8:32 in the evening, dreading the inevitable nightmares to come.