A story of new beginnings

Today is Friday the thirteenth, the day I've been dreading for the past two weeks. Usually thirteen is my lucky number, but I guess it decided to turn against me. I was being sent to live with my Aunt Shannon and her husband, Bill. I had finished packing my bags and was sitting on my windowsill, looking out at my back yard.

"Addison! We need to get going, we have a long drive ahead of us," my mom was yelling up the stairs.

Why did she think I cared about having to drive three hours to get to my 'wild child' turned 'step ford wife' of an aunt's house. I didn't even want to go in the first place.

I grabbed the last of my bags and stomped down the stairs past my parents and my little brother, heading straight to the car. My little brother, Toby, stopped me.

"I'll miss you sis," he said putting his arms around my waist.

"I'll miss you too, kid." He was probably the only person I would miss while I was gone. Well not the only person.

My mom climbed into the driver's seat as I threw my bag over my seat before getting in the front. I immediately put in my headphones as my mom pulled out of the driveway. There was no way I was going to listen to my mother rant and lecture all the way to Baltimore.

I must have fallen asleep. The last thing I remember, we were just crossing the border into Maryland. Now we were pulling into a residential neighborhood. My mom gently shook my shoulder. "Honey, were almost there."

"Ugh." I so wasn't looking forward to this.

You see my parents sent me here because they didn't know how to handle me. Apparently I was difficult, and my Aunt Shannon was the queen of difficult. I had heard stories from when she and my mom were kids. She got into trouble all the time, but straightened herself out when she met Bill. Bill is my uncle. He's an attorney. He is straitlaced and uptight. He turned my wild child of an aunt into the saintly stay at home mom, who could do no wrong.

I could tell when we reached the right house. Not only because I had been here a few times growing up, but also because my aunt and uncle were standing on the lawn waving at us.

My mom parked the car on the side of the road and ran out to greet her sister and brother in-law. I stayed in the car. As I mentioned before I wasn't really anxious for this moment. I stared up at what would be my new home for the next, God knows how long, and cringed internally.

Eventually, my mom noticed that I was still in the car, so she opened my door, all but dragging me out.

"Honey, come say hi to your aunt and uncle. They are anxious to see you."

I dragged my feet, keeping my eyes glued to the concrete walkway. Before I knew it I was at the bottom of the stairs leading to the porch in front of Aunt Shannon.

"Hey Addie-bear. Wow, you've grownup so much. Last time I saw you, you were what, twelve?" Yup. That would be correct. We didn't take many family trips, and I guess they didn't either. We only saw each other at family get-togethers, which didn't occur too often.

I just gave a nod and a small smile. I wasn't about to jump for joy like she obviously was.

I think my uncle sensed my mood and motioned to the car. "I'll go grab your things. Honey, why don't you show her up to her room?" he asked, turning to my aunt.

"Right. Come on Addie, I'll show you around."

"Umm. It's Addison. Nobody calls me Addie anymore," I said without looking at anyone.

Shannon showed me the downstairs before leading me to the second floor. The living room was of to the right, while the dining room was to the left. The stairs were straight ahead, as was the kitchen and a small study. As we went up stairs she pointed out the bathroom and which rooms belonged to whom. Finally, at the end of the hall she motioned to the room I'd be staying in. At least I would have my own room. I could have some solitude in this hopefully temporary prison.

"I think that's all of it," Bill said as he placed my bags in a corner. I just nodded and sat down on the bed.

"Well, I think we will let you be for a little while. You must be tired from your trip. We will call you down when dinner is ready. We're going to be having some guests over tonight, so you might want to wash up before dinner." I guess the drilling began now. My boot camp had started. Well, wasn't I just filled with joy?

I decided to lie down and turn on my iPod to try and drown out the sound of my mother and new prison guards talking downstairs. I had been staring at the ceiling when I heard a knock on the door. It wasn't closed all the way, so it swung open slightly. I lifted my head to see who it was.

"Hey. Mom said I should come say hi." It was my cousin, Rian. Rian was my age, and we got along fine whenever we were together. He looked different now. He had longer hair that was in sort of like a bull cut. He smiled shyly at me with white, straight teeth.

I sat up and waved him in. Might as well try to make one alliance in this prison. "Hey," I said as I turned down my iPod and took out one earpiece.

"So. You ready to start a new school on Monday?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" I asked kind of sarcastically. I mean I'm starting my senior year, not just in a new school, but also in a new school in a different state. Why wouldn't I be ready?

"Look I know this whole thing kind of sucks, but I promise it wont be that bad." I just nodded slightly. "Well, you should probably get ready, dinner should be ready soon." He left, shutting my door behind him.

I decided that I could use a visit to the bathroom. After a minute of trying to remember which door it was, I walked in and faced the mirror. I recognized the girl looking back at me, although I could never equate her with myself. I saw a girl with long, black, wavy hair, with a few thick streaks of purple in it, sad eyes and a smile, that I knew was fake. The only things I recognized were her eyes. They hadn't changed.

I turned on the faucet and splashed water on my face. It didn't help to erase the emotions swirling around inside.

I slowly made my way back to my prison cell. Grabbing my small makeup bag from one of my duffels, I made my way over to the mirror that sat atop a dresser. I touched up my black eyeliner, smudging it around the edges and put on some cherry lip-gloss.

Once I was satisfied with my face, or as satisfied as I could be, I scrounged in my bags for a change of clothes. I felt grungy from the drive. I found what I was looking for, a pair of black skinny jeans, a white camisole, and a gray, Glamour Kills tank. As I was changing I heard the doorbell. My aunt had said they were having company for dinner. I threw on the red sweater that I had worn earlier and opened my door, just as Rian had come out of his.

He smiled at me, motioning for me to go down ahead of him. I smiled back before taking the stairs slowly. When I got to the bottom I noticed a couple chatting with Shannon and Bill. There was also a boy leaning against the railing with his back to me. He looked about my age, with light brown hair that stuck up everywhere.

Rian walked around me, clapping a hand on the boys back. "Hey man, what's up?"

The boy turned and smiled at Rian, "Nothing. Tell me why we're having another family dinner tonight? Didn't we already have one this week?"

Rian nodded his head in my direction. The boy, whose name I didn't know yet, turned, noticing me for the first time. "I told you my cousin was coming to stay with us," Rian was saying, but I wasn't paying attention.

When the boy turned, his chocolate brown eyes trapped me. I could get lost in those eyes, wait I already was.

Rian cleared his throat. I looked at him before turning back to the boy in front of me.

"Hi." That was about all I could get out.

"Alex, this is my cousin, Addison. Addie, this is my friend Alex, he lives next door," Rian introduced us.

"So, Addie. I've heard a lot about you," The boy, whose name I now knew was Alex, said with a lopsided grin spreading across his face, revealing a dimple.

"Umm. It's Addison. No one's called me Addie since I was a kid. Besides, you shouldn't believe everything you hear," I said walking past them into the dining room.

Both of the boys followed slowly, and I could hear Alex whisper to Rian, "Dude, you didn't tell me she was hot!"

"Hey, she's my cousin, besides I haven't seen her in like four or five years."

I just smiled to myself. Back home, no one said I was hot anymore. Not since everything happened. They had developed a new vocabulary of words to describe me with.

Dinner was fairly uneventful. Bill sat at the head with Shannon on his right and Rian on his left. I got the impression that those were their assigned seats. I sat next to Rian, with Alex on my left, and his parents sat across from us.

My aunt had made lasagna with salad and garlic bread. I ate the salad and picked at a piece of garlic bread. I wasn't that hungry. As I pushed the lasagna around on my plate around with my fork, my aunt decided to make conversation.

"Addison, your mother told me that you can play guitar, is that true?"

"Umm. Yeah." I hated making conversation, just for the sake of making conversation.

"Really?" Alex asked from beside me. I turned and nodded. "Dude, you didn't tell me anything, did you?" he said over my head to Rian.

"I didn't know," was all Rian contributed.

"Well, it seems you two have something in common," Alex's mom was saying. "The boys have a band. Alex also plays guitar, and Rian plays drums."

I just nodded, not sure what that was supposed to mean to me.

After desert, Bill asked if the boys would show me the basement. I had no idea why, I mean, why would I want to see their basement?

I followed anyway, just to appease him. I had come up with a game plan earlier when I was alone in my new room. Why not just be the good girl everyone wanted me to be, on the surface, so I could go home sooner. I figured it should only take a week or so for my aunt and uncle to realize I wasn't really a 'problem child,' as my mom liked to say.

Rian opened a door in the hallway that looked like it held a closet. He led me down a small staircase as Alex followed behind me.

It was a fairly large basement. To the right were a drum kit and a bunch of music equipment and wires. To the left were a couch, a TV, and a pool table. I definitely wasn't expecting this. The rest of the house was spotless and elegant, while basement was messy. Soda cans were thrown everywhere, couch cushions were strewn across the room, and the walls, which looked like bare concrete, were covered with posters and hand-writing. This looked like many of the basements back home that parties were usually held in. Maybe this wasn't going to be as terrible as I thought.

I woke up the next morning to sunlight stringing in through my window. I had forgotten to close the curtains. I reached for my phone that was on the nightstand by the bed and groaned. It was 11:00 AM on a Saturday. I was never up before noon on the weekends, I pulled a pillow over my head, but I was already awake, I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. I got out of bed and gathered my travel bag on my way to the bathroom.

I stood in the shower thinking about home. I didn't miss the yelling and fighting that had become a daily occurrence in my house, but there were a few things I missed. I missed Toby. Toby is twelve, and the golden boy. I don't hate him for receiving all of the positive attention; he deserves it. He was probably my one ally in the house. Whenever I got in trouble he would sneak snacks up to my room and sit on my bed with me while we watched I Love Lucy reruns.

The only other thing I missed about home would have to be him. I let a few tears fall before washing them away by standing under the flow from the showerhead.

When I was done I dried myself off before wrapping the towel around my body and grabbing my travel bag. I opened the bathroom door to walk back to my room, but I ran into someone in the hallway, dropping my bag and almost causing me to lose my grip on my towel.

"Oh, sorry." I heard the person say.

I grabbed my bag before looking up to see the boy from last night, Alex. He smiled brightly at me, and I blushed. "It's okay, I wasn't watching where I was going," I said as I turned to enter my room across the hall.

"Hey, were having band practice in a few, your welcome to come watch," Alex offered.

I just smiled slightly, turning to nod before shutting my door. This boy was really cute, and apparently he was interested in me. Or at least I thought so; I tended to be wrong about these kinds of things, so I pushed it out of my mind.

I got dressed in a pair of cut off shorts and a pink, oversized v-neck. I slipped on my old black chucks and made my way downstairs.

I found my aunt in the kitchen. "Oh, your up. Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat," she offered.

"Umm, not really. I could use a glass of juice though."

She showed me where the glasses were kept and gestured for me to help myself.

"The boys are downstairs practicing. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you joined them."

"Okay." I didn't mention that Alex already offered for me to watch.

After finishing my juice and setting the cup in the sink I opened the door to the basement. I was greeted my loud, loud music. I was surprised you couldn't hear it all through the house.

When I got downstairs I made my way over to the couch. To my surprise the guys stopped playing.

"Hey, you made it," Alex said as he walked over to sit next to me on the couch.

"Yeah," I mumbled.

"Whose this?" a boy with black hair that had a white streak in the front asked. He was lanky and tall, my kind of guy.

"Rian's cousin," Alex was saying.

"I'm Addison."

"Who doesn't like to be called Addie," Alex added. I'm surprised he remembered. I smiled to myself.

"So Addison, what brings you to our lovely practice space?" the fourth guy, who was very muscular, asked as he put down the bass he had been playing.

"Umm. It's a long story." I looked at Rian before looking down at my hands. "So you guys are the band?" I asked, even though it seemed pretty obvious.

"Yeah, I'm Jack," the lanky boy started, pointing at himself. He then pointed to the other boy I didn't know, the one who played bass, "that's Zack, and the creeper next to you is Alex."

"Him I know," I said glancing at Alex before smiling at the other two.

"What? How did you meet her first?" Jack asked Alex.

"My family came over for dinner last night."

"Fuck. Why am I never invited to these dinners?" he asked with a pout.

"Because I'm special, and your not, right Rian?" Alex asked.

"Your special alright," Rian responded. I laughed.

"Oh, you think that's funny?" Alex asked incredulous. I just smiled wider at him. These guys seemed like fun. I could get along with them really well.

After spending hours in the basement watching the guys practice and then try to beat each other at video games, Zack and Jack got up to leave.

"Addison, are you coming to the party tonight?" Jack asked before going upstairs.

"Umm. I don't know. I wasn't invited."

"I'm inviting you. So your coming, right?" he clarified.

"I guess," I said looking at Rian who shrugged his shoulders.

A/N: I combined my first two chapters because i knew they weren't really that good by themselves. Don't worry the next chapters will be better. I won't post until I get a review, so please...

I really like where I'm going with this story, and I think you will too. :)