Lavender Gray

Chapter 1

We were about 14 hours into the trip and aside from sitting in the car for hours at a time, it was actually quite fun. My father spent most of the time cracking jokes, some of them so lame that they were actually funny, while my mother talked about the people she was in a book club with back in Jersey. Apparently, one of the women, Melissa I think her name was, cheated on her husband with his best friend's son who had just turned 20. She was such a cougar-slut, according to my mother. During the times that the car fell into a comfortable silence, I listened to music and watched the trees and buildings whiz by or drew whatever came to mind. I had to keep myself occupied somehow or else I wouldn't stop thinking about my new school.

School had officially started two weeks ago in Texas but I was starting two days from now since I was that bitch. Just kidding. Or am I.

In all honesty, the anticipation was killing me. I'm scared that I might not be able to make friends since I was so...unique. What if people didn't like me? Will it be like New Jersey all over again? Oh my god, what if I make a fool of myself on the first day like going to school in my underwear or something?! Ugh, I can't think about this anymore or else I'll have an aneurism. I turned my music up full blast so as to drown the thoughts that seemed to be taking over my mind.

The next couple of hours mainly consisted of me either falling in and out of sleep or munching on whatever snacks we had in the backseat.

Welcome To Brightwick, Texas was engraved in bold black letters on a monument sign that sat on the right side of the road.

It took about 20 more minutes to reach our house. The town itself was actually really nice. It was different from what you would think whenever you heard Texas. There weren't farms, or cows walking along a dirt road. There weren't people riding horses in the street. I know it sounds prejudice but New Jersey was all I've ever known so whenever I thought or heard Texas the first thing that came to mind were those old Midwest movies with the cowboys saying 'this 'ere town ain't big enough for the both of us.' Yeah, I know. Brigtwick was different in the sense that it was like one of those super nice suburban neighborhoods with the nice cleanly cut grass.

Our house was pretty nice too. It was a two-story suburban home but it wasn't even the biggest one on the block. The houses themselves were pretty affordable, and trust me when I say this because we are definitely not rich because houses like these would cost an arm and a leg in Jersey.

Since we had arrived earlier than the movers my parents and I decided to take a look around. The inside of the house was bare with white walls and had a nice modern feel to it. Past the kitchen area, there was a glass sliding door that led to the backyard- oh my Jesus Joseph and Mary, there was a freaking pool. This great discovery could not go unknown.

"Mom, Dad! Why the heck didn't you guys tell me we have a pool!" I yelled as I ran to my parents, who were descending the staircase that led upstairs.

My father chuckled and patted my head, "Well, we wanted to surprise you since you never really got the chance to swim in Jersey." Now, I know people are probably thinking 'It's just a pool. Why's he freaking out?' Well, if you simply must know, voices in my head, I have loved swimming ever since I was literally a fetus. It made me feel free like I was one with the water. Weird, I know. But because I loved swimming so much, I joined the swim team in high school. As you could guess, the only good part was that I was able to swim. Everything and everyone sucked ass and were absolute jerks who bullied me into a spiral of depression. Well, not everyone...

Ding-dong!

Before I could get too engrossed into my thoughts and start reminiscing about my past, the doorbell rang.

"I got it!" I called out to whoever was in earshot, happily welcoming the distraction. The movers had arrived with our furniture and it was finally time to start getting settled in.