Start over. (Luke Brooks)

Prologue

It's that time in your life, where you decide what you're going to do for the rest of your life. That time where you have to make a decision and stick with it. 18 years old and they want us to make this huge decision? What if I wanna be a lawyer, a teacher, a Doctor or even a physiotherapist? We're 18 years old. We are way to young to decide what we want to do with our future. They shouldn't let 18 years old decide their future, some of us are still so young and immature. We still live with our parents, we still party every weekend, we're still young and reckless. How the hell are we suppose to make a decision this big, the decision that will decide our destiny, a decision that will decide what were going to do with our life till we're old enough to leave work and finally live our life?

My name is Faith Martins and today, we have to make our application for college or University. The thing is, I have no idea what I wanna do with my life. I'm a straight A student, shy, reserved, no very popular and I'd rather stay home and watch Netflix on Saturday night than go out and party. My best friend Ivy Johnson is the complete opposite. She's well known at school and goes out almost every Friday and Saturday night, but that's why we're best friend, because we complete each other. She knows exactly what she's going to do with her life. She wants to be a high school teacher, wants to travel, get married and have 2 kids. Me? Not so sure, I'm thinking about lawyer, but I'd also love to be a teacher. I don't know if I want to get married and have kids, but one thing is sure, I want to get the hell out of here. Sydney is a beautiful place, beautiful weather, and beautiful beaches everywhere, but when you have spent eighteen years of your pathetic life here, it's getting old. I've been thinking about applying to Uni in the USA, more specifically, UCLA. I know I have the grades to get accepted. That's not the problem, the problem is, as much as I want to get away from Sydney, I don't want to leave alone. I don't want to leave everything behind, only some things. The money isn't a problem either, both my parents are Doctor, they are willing to pay for my tuition and are willing to pay for my apartment in LA, it's their way to show their love. Paying for everything since they aren't home often and always at work they buy everything I want. It doesn't replace the fact that I wish my parents would spend more time with me.

"Yo Iv'z would you like to move to LA with me, if I was to go?" I asked my best friend over the phone, since we've been asked to apply for Uni before the end of the week and that both of us had no idea where we wanted to go, we decided to call each other and check online for our different options. "What? Are you serious Destiny," she calls me Destiny because, Faith- Destiny? Get it? Yea she came up with that name the day we met, in grade 7, the first day of "high school" and she keeps calling me that ever since. I don't mind, our friendship started that day and haven't stopped growing ever since. "OF COURSE I WOULD MOVE TO LA, OH MY GOD FAITH WE COULD APPLY TO UCLA! WE BOTH HAVE THE GRADES AND THE MONEY! OH MY GOD, WHY HAVEN'T WE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT BEFORE!" Her parents are also very filthy so they would also pay for her tuition and help pay the apartment. "I've been thinking about it for the past month and I really wanna get out of here. If you're willing to move with me, we could definitely pull off the "LA" look and move out there." I tell her. "Faith, this is it. We are applying to UCLA and we are moving to Los Angeles. I'm willing to move out. Let's get out of the shit hole and start a new life. Let's start over new." She's right. It's time we get out of here and start over new. "Alright, let's check for apartments and apply. I can't believe we are actually doing this!" I tell her. We spent the night checking for an apartment and when we finally found one, we decided to apply to UCLA. It says that we will get our response in about a week and we MUST accept in the next 24 hours or else our places will be given to someone else. The apartment, we found, is right next to the beach and it is not even 10 minutes drive away from UCLA. It's a two bedrooms, two bathroom house. It's kind of like a beach house, just a bit more casual. It's pretty and affordable. We checked for our plane tickets and it's about 1000$ each, which isn't that bad. Now that we have everything planned out, we're only waiting for our acceptance letters and we're leaving. I can't believe this is really happening!

***

It's been almost two weeks since both Ivy and I applied for UCLA and we haven't gotten our letters yet. I still hope that we'll both be accepted because the more I think about it the more excited I am to leave this shithole I call my home. Today was our last day of school before Christmas break, which is our Summer break here so we're finally done with school. We said our goodbye to Whitney Pier Memorial Junior High and we've finally graduated. Ivy is coming over tonight and we decide to watch movies all night and just chill. "See you tonight Destiny!" she yells from her car and leaves.

When I get home, the first thing, I do, is check the mail to see if UCLA sent something and I was about to give up until a letter with my name on it from UCLA fell on the ground, I picked it up and was about to open it, when my phone rang. I checked the caller ID and it was Ivy. "FAITH, DID YOU GOT THE LETTER FROM UCLA? OH MY GOD, I'M SCARED I DON'T WANT TO OPEN IT ALONE. I'M COMING OVER. DON'T OPEN YOURS UNTIL I GET THERE!" and she hung up. Wow okay, I guess I'll wait for her.

Maybe 5 minutes later, Ivy burst through the door and sat on the couch next to me. "So, you ready?" I asked her and she nodded. We both took a deep breath and both opened the letter at the same time. We read what the letter said and at the same time we screamed "OH MY GOD I GOT IN, I GOT IN. I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT IN. OH MY GOD YOU TOO? CONGRATS BABE OH MY GOD" and we both gave each other a hug. This is it, we're moving for real, and we got accepted in UCLA. This is my chance to be someone new, someone I always wanted to be. This is amazing. We spent the whole night watching Netflix, eating pizza, ice cream and candies and eventually we both fell asleep, thinking about our future plans and about us, living together in Los Angeles. This is going to be the start of something new. Something great.

***

"Be careful girls. Make sure to call us every night. Don't do anything stupid and please stay focused on school. We love you and we will visit you girls when we get the chance. Stay safe my darlings." Both our moms and dads were at the airport with us and were saying their goodbye before we leave for Los Angeles and surprisingly, when we told our parents about our plans, they were super enthusiast about it and accepted without any problems. They paid for everything, which I'm thankful because neither one of us had the money to leave. Today is the day, two months after our acceptance letters to UCLA, Ivy and I are finally moving to Los Angeles. School only starts in a month but we still decided to leave early so we could do some sightseeing and we could also get used to the place and the change of scenery.

"Flight 222 to Los Angeles will leave in 5 minutes, may all the passenger for this flight present their ticket and their passport to the gate immediately. Thank you." We said our last goodbyes to our parents and we were ready to leave. "We will mom. Thank you for everything. We'll come back for Christmas. We love you too!"

This is it, in 24 hours we will be in Los Angeles, starting a new life. I can't believe this is actually happening. This isn't a dream. This is real and I can't believe I'm finally leaving Sydney, with my best friend. My life officially begins now.