Finding Love Again (Smosh FanFic)

[Chapter 4] Welcome to California

We got on the next flight to Sacramento, California, which was at two in the morning. Right after the whole kitchen thing, my mom told us to pack up immediately. I ran to my room, got out my luggage case from my closet, and opened all of my drawers. I picked up the clothes in handfuls and dropped them into my opened luggage on my bed.

Liam popped his head into my room, "Are you okay, Brooklyn?" He never calls me Brooklyn. He usually calls me Brooke, like everyone does. He chuckled nervously, "I mean, a lot has happened in the last few hours."

"I'm fine, Liam," I replied without looking at him and continuing to pack my bags.

He walked in and slipped his hands into his pockets, "You know, I'm always going to be there for you, Brooklyn. Right?"

"Of course," I retorted sharply.

He just stood there for a while before leaving, realizing I wasn't willing to continue to this conversation anymore.

We shoved our stuff into the back of our minivan and drove to the airport. We got our tickets and boarded the plane. We got first class seats because my mother could not stand that annoying kid who kicks your seat...though I've never seen her have that happen to her. Mom and dad sat next to each other and Liam and I sat across from them.

Once we landed, I walked out of the plane and was blasted with a sudden environmental change from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It was comfortably warm, and there wasn't a single cloud in the clear blue sky. A light breeze picked my hair off of my shoulders and suspended it in the air. The sun was shining brightly, almost blinding me. I held my hand up to my forehead as a visor so I wouldn't trip while descending the stairs that were set up against the plane.

My family crammed into the backseat of one of the airport's taxis and drove to our new home, which Dad had purchased right before we left the house. We drove for about twenty minutes in the overheated, small, and sweat-filled taxicab. We finally pulled up to a nice, modernized, ranch-styled house. In all honesty, it looked like every other house I had seen on the street.

There was white, plastic siding covering the structural supports of the house. A small tree stood in the middle of the front lawn and was surrounded by a small circle of mulch that had been divided from the grass with a variety of medium-sized rocks that were evenly spaced out. The grass was neatly cut and glowed a beautiful shade of green. We had a very small deck made out of a cement slab that led to our front door.

My dad unlocked the door and we walked in, dropping our bags on the living room floor. This house was dull and plain; all of the walls were a bright white color, and the wall-to-wall carpet was also white, but very dirty. There was no furniture and no décor in the house, except for the standard kitchen appliances (oven, sink, refrigerator, dishwasher, and a matching washer and dryer in a hall extending off of the kitchen) and in the bathroom, a toilet, shower, sink, and vanity mirror. Again, everything was white.

"How do you like the new place, Brooke?" My dad inquired.

I shrugged my shoulders, "It's okay..."

My mom scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You know what? I'm sick of your negativity, Brooklyn! Go outside and clear your mind of Cape Cod! We are in California now. Leave your fucking past behind you and in Massachusetts."

I was shocked by my mother's irate reaction. First of all, this wasn't my decision to move all the way across the country. And secondly, why should I forget about Cape Cod? Just because of Seth's death? I sighed and walked past my parents and out the back door.

I sat down on the steps outside and put my head in my hands. I realized that I was still wearing the clothes from that night. And there were still blood stains on my skirt and shirt. Luckily, I had washed up a little on the plane, so there wasn't any dried blood on my hands or legs.

After I calmed down and refocused, I heard the familiar sounds of a lawnmower. My neighbor in Cape Cod used to mow his lawn all of the time, whether it was broad daylight or midnight.

I straightened my back and looked to my right. I saw this tall guy with short dark brown hair and bangs that looked emo-like. It suited him quite well, though. His skin was slightly tanned and he had brown eyes. He looked about in his late teens or early twenties. I was unsure; I was terrible at guessing ages and names and stuff like that. He wore a lime green t-shirt and jeans. He was pushing the lawn mower in vertical lines up and down his backyard. I couldn't help but think of how  sexy he looked.

He stopped the lawn mower right in the center of his lawn, facing away from me, and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. When he turned around, probably to get a drink of water from his house, he made eye contact with me. I froze. All I could think was: What if he comes to talk to me? What would I say back? OR what if he totally ignores me? I mean, that was the logical thing to do...I was the newbie here and not everyone was friendly like Sadie. I became sad, remembering Sadie, and then Seth, and then Cape Cod.

To my surprise, he walked over to me.

"Hey, are you our new neighbor?" He greeted in a friendly manner.

"Yeah..." I stood up and patted the back of my skirt to wipe off any specks of rock or dirt that might've collected on it when I sat down. I extended my hand to him, "I'm Brooklyn Hess."

"Anthony Padilla," He returned the gesture with a large smile, "So, what brings you to California?"

I gulped. I didn't want to tell him that my boyfriend was shot and killed and my family moved from where my entire life was to start a new life here. So I smiled and giggled nervously. I pointed behind me and told him, "I think my mom is calling me. I better get going. I'll see you later..." I waved goodbye quickly, opened the door, and slammed it shut behind me.

After a few minutes or so passed by, I looked out the door's window and saw that Anthony was back in his yard. He was talking to another guy. I'm assuming it was his friend and or roommate. He had light brown hair that was in a the shape of a bowl. His eyes were blue and he had pale skin. He wore the same outfit as Anthony, but his shirt was a bright blue color. It seemed as though they were arguing. I couldn't hear the exchanges though.

Anthony threw his hands in the air and went back to mowing the lawn. His friend cupped his hands around his mouth and leaned forward. I concluded that he was shouting at him. Anthony put his hand up to his ear, continuing to mow the lawn. His friend placed his hands on his hips for a short second and then did the same thing again. Anthony just shrugged his shoulders as a sign he didn't care for what his friend was saying. His friend stomped his foot and stormed into their house. As Anthony mowed toward the house, he saw me and smirked.

I sat down immediately and my heart began to beat faster. I didn't know why...but I found something different about this guy...a good kind of different.

I turned my head to the side and saw my mother in the kitchen. She was standing over the counter, talking to someone on her cell phone. I decided to eavesdrop on the conversation, though it was heavily one sided.

"Yeah, it's such a shame what happened to him...Brooklyn's probably traumatized...Yes, but we don't want to deal with all of the crap that comes with knowing the poor boy. You know what I mean?...I don't know how I'm going to visit my family, I mean, I absolutely hate Jim's family..." She giggled at her own joke. I didn't know why, I didn't find it funny at all. But she continued to chat with her friend, "Yeah, we have literally nothing, We literally dropped everything and fled. I don't know how we're going to afford it all..."

Luckily, my dad came in and cut my mom's gabfest short. He grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the house. I got up and followed them to the front door. Before leaving, he shouted to Liam and me, "Your mother and I will be out looking and buying some furniture. Behave yourselves. Don't talk to strangers or let anybody in our house!" And with that note, he slammed the door shut.

I glanced back at Liam, who had just walked out of the bathroom and was zipping his pants back up. He looked at me and smirked, "What?"

I rolled my eyes and sat down against the wall.