Bully // l.h. // Book 1 of Bully Series

1. Departure and Arrival

"I can't believe you're leaving us here all alone!" My friend, Kendra, complained for around the fifth time. I rolled my eyes as my blond haired friend slumped against the doorframe carrying one of the last boxes from my room to place in her car.

"I don't really have a choice, Kendra." I groaned, pulling the box from her arms and heading over to her small burgundy ford contour.

I was moving. And it wasn't just some tiny, moving-to-the-next-town move, either. It was a real move. Across the world. Into another country. To be completely honest, I wasn't super thrilled with the move. I had lived in this one town my whole life. I knew this place really well. And now, at seventeen, I was about to pick up all of my belongings and move. Well, we weren't even doing that. With the exception of our clothes and some small things, my family wasn't bringing anything else. Which is why Kendra was here. I'd offered to give her some of my bigger books and things I wasn't able to bring to the new house.

"Is Kendy complaining again?" I heard a voice ask seconds before arms reached around me and plucked the box from my grasp.

"I'm only voicing my thoughts, Wyatt!" Kendra called from her spot in the doorway as my other best friend stacked the box in her trunk and pulled it closed. He gave a quick shake of his sandy brown hair and looked at me, his eyes asking the question he wouldn't speak out loud. 'Are you okay?' I nodded curtly.

But, the truth is, I wasn't okay. I didn't want to leave in a few hours. I had absolutely no desire to board that plane and fly off to an unknown place where everything would be different. I wouldn't have my best friends. And my parents weren't exactly the comforting type. They had their own marital problems to worry about.

"Liar." Wyatt whispered quietly. I felt tears well up in my eyes and tried desperately to blink them away before they spilled out. Too late. I let out a quiet hiccup as the first tears made their paths down my cheeks. Wyatt stepped forward instantly and pulled me into a tight hug, resting his chin on top of my head. I heard the sound of flip flops smacking the pavement, and soon a second pair of arms was wrapped around us.

"Dae-bird, you can't cry!" Kendra demanded weakly, her voice wavering slightly. "Because if you cry, I'm gonna cry." She finished, burying her face in my dark brown hair. After a few more moments of hugging, I pulled away from the two of them.

"Can we go get ice cream?" I asked, my voice coming out a lot weaker than I had expected it to. Wyatt and Kendra nodded instantly, and the three of us bundled into the small car and sped off.

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Australian accents. Australian accents everywhere. I cringed at the sound as my mom, dad, and I rolled our luggage through the airport. I sighed loudly for about the thousandth time, and my mom spun around to face me, her face set in an annoyed frown.

"Daeyna Jane Larksen, you stop with that attitude this instant." My mother's shrill voice was loud enough to attract the attention of multiple people around us, and I sent a glower her way. The act doesn't fool anyone, mom. Everyone knows you don't want to be here any more than me. Of course, I wouldn't actually say that out loud. Unless, that is, if I had a desire to be slapped across the face in public. Which I didn't.

None the less, it is true that my mom didn't want to move any more than I did. However, my dad got a good job offer from a small accounting firm in Sydney, so here we were. That, paired with the fact that my parents hoped the move would help the marital problems they were having, and you have three plane tickets and a new house. Never mind the fact that I had friends back home or a dream job at the local photography shop. Who cares about a teenager's dreams and such when you had a failing marriage to save? Note the sarcasm.