Rock Bottom

Chapter Five: Beggars Can't be Choosers

Three months later

You never appreciate what you have until you've lost it. I've heard many people say this before. To be honest, I thought it was a load of crap. You can appreciate what you have while you have it. That's why when you lose it, you're devastated.

I was wrong.

You don't ever truly realize how much you love someone until they've been torn from your life. You take what you have for granted until you've felt the heart wrenching pain of losing someone and have felt what it's like to not have them by your side. You don't know how much you need them until they are gone.

I get it now.

"Kayla?" there is a knock at the bedroom door.

"Come in," I sit on the edge of the bed.

"Hey sweetheart," Miranda Wilson, my next door neighbour, walks into the room sitting on the edge of my bed. "How are you doing this morning?"

Since the accident I've been staying with Miranda and her husband Bill. They've been my neighbours for my entire life and offered to let me stay with them until social services sorted things out. I don't have a relationship with any other family members so the Wilson's eagerly offered to let me stay with them for a while. There is also the fact that I barely have any family left leaving me with few options.

"I'm alright," I offer her a forced smile.

"I've got some news. Your Aunt Kate has agreed to take you in. She'll be coming to pick you up tomorrow morning. She doesn't live far away. It's the opposite side of town. You would still be able to go to Parkview High School. It's only a twenty minute bus drive away," she surveys my reaction. I'm careful to keep a blank face so she doesn't realize my distress.

"I don't really know her," I inform. I've only heard about my aunt a handful of times from my dad. Her name mostly popped up in stories about my mom.

"I know, the last time you've seen her would have been when you were two".

"When my mom died?"

"Uh yes, I'm guessing losing her sister would have been really difficult and being around you was hard for her because it reminded her of the loss. I'm not defending her actions. I'm just trying to give you a new perspective," Mandy explains awkwardly. "I know this is going to be a big adjustment for you. It is alright to be scared," she wraps her arm around my shoulders giving me a squeeze of reassurance.

"I'm basically going to live with a stranger," I fiddle with a loose thread on the sleeve of my sweater. "Why can't I stay here with you?"

"Her and John are your family, even if it doesn't feel that way quite yet. This is better for you in the long run," she tucks a piece of stray hair behind my ear. "You're strong so I know you'll be alright."

I don't want to leave. I want to stay here near my house. Not move across town to live with my aunt and uncle who abandoned me when my mother died. If I do something wrong are they going to just abandon me again?

"I better pack up then."

I had brought two suitcases full of my belongings to Mandy's house. I didn't want anything else in the house nor do I need it. I brought most of the belongings from my room and a ratty old shirt of my dad's which he used to wear all the time. It was his all time favourite shirt even those it was stained and had a couple holes in it. My mom had given it to him on his birthday before she passed away.

Mandy stares at me with her emerald green eyes. I sense there is something she wants to say.

"Hun, I think you should call Olivia," she suggests hesitantly. I haven't talked to any of my friends since that night. I have several voicemails and missed calls. I feel bad for leaving all my friends in the dark. I just haven't been ready to deal with the questions. I haven't even gone back to school yet. I've been trying to prepare myself for the stares and whispers. I'm beginning to come to the realization that I don't think I'll ever be ready. "It might be nice to see her. You could get out of the house and grab a coffee. Just think about it. You don't want to lose your friends too," she leaves me with that before heading back downstairs.