Luna Rising

Chapter 1

"Only 15 minutes till close Luna." The elderly lady called from the opposite side of the small-town shopping plaza.
Time was ticking away until I could close the doors to the bakery and once again, I was ahead of time. I stood watching as the public flowed past, families buying their food for the week and teenagers buying their soda in bulk. It was my last day in my dead-end job and the last day until a better life.
Up until my 18th birthday life had been a crap-hole, moving from place to place and changing states ever since my father passed away just before my sixth birthday.
My Mum had taken to dating for a while but all the men were total ass-hats and treated us both like dirt. So, we were happy with just us for a while but I could see that she was still missing something and I wanted her to be as happy as possible. That's why I was sort of pleased when she met Tristan. He was kind, handsome and apparently, he was some big shot business man in Atlanta. That's right as in America! And now we were dropping everything and running off to the land of opportunity. Not that I wasn't upset about leaving our small town on the coast of Australia but I was ready for a more permeant change.
I flicked off the lights and gave myself a moment to reminisce on my last two years that I had worked at Breakfall Bakery. Oh, the grand memories of being covered in flour and cleaning the sludge of the deep fryer, not to mention the time when Sam had accidently sprayed me in the eye with Windex.
I laughed at the memory, I was going to miss my purple headed best friend. Thinking about all the memories I had in Breakfall as I walked home really made it harder to leave but as I got further down the street, I felt the weight of responsibility lift from my shoulders. It was a bit too far to walk home but I had already sold my car so I didn't exactly have another option.
The removal truck had left five days ago, so when I finally opened the front door all I had to greet me was the stacks of furniture we were leaving behind piled up in the corner of the living room. A double mattress sat in the center of the tiny room, Mum and I had been sharing it for the past couple of days while Tristan "prepared" his home for our arrival.
I wasn't too nervous about living with him, he was nice enough and treated Mum like a queen and that was all I could possibly ask for in a step Dad. I was a bit confused about what exactly he did for work but as I understood it, he was some kind of legal aid for some commune out in the bush, a very private commune as he had once explained.
My Mum swept into the room wearing a flowing pink nightgown. Her slender form was rather gorgeous for someone her age. Of course, she never believed me when I told her though. "Are you all ready for tomorrow darling?" She smiled at me and her pale skin shimmered under the dim lighting, she looked so happy and I couldn't wait till the day I found someone that made me smile like she had been lately.
Speaking of which, I had dated a few guys over the past couple of years, my most recent boyfriend being the most serious but unfortunately, he wasn't serious enough.
I guess that's the problem with most guys my age, they are just scared of commitment. I was different, I wanted love and I certainly wanted commitment. Somehow, I couldn't see myself dating a different guy every week like some of the girls I had gone to school with did.
I smiled at my Mum and nodded, my golden blonde curls bouncing along with the motion of my head. I wondered into the bathroom to get ready for bed. On nights I worked late I usually ate at work so I could just collapse into the mattress when I arrived home. Today was no exception, I had packed everything into my suitcase except my clothes for tomorrow so that once I finished work, I could just sleep. I splashed warm water onto my face and sighed as the liquid hit my skin. I dried myself off and inspected my reflection in the mirror.
I had a few little marks on my cheeks from my horrible puberty years, thank god that horror story was over but overall I was okay with how I looked. My blue eyes stood out in a crowed and My small nose and lips made them look rather big and expressive. My cheeks were full and slightly rosy, old people had always loved to play with them.
My eyebrows were the main thing that bothered me as they tended to get a little patchy, not from some cheap wax job but from a condition called Trichotillomania. Also, known as the 'hair pulling disorder, it's something I tend to do when I under a lot of stress, which happens to be often. The doctors had diagnosed me when I was twelve. Mum had only said the doctor was a quack and that nobody could understand our family. She was just trying to make me feel better but little did she know, it really didn't help.
I slept for hours that night, dreamily only of the new life that awaited me on the other side of the world.