Unexpectedly, yours

1| arrival

Avery

I looked around my childhood room, empty for the first time. Mom had officially married Greg her longtime boyfriend meaning we were finally moving to his place, not to mention on a beach. She had first met him while he was on a business trip here, they hit it off and a couple years later here we are packing up our whole lives to join his. Greg had a son my age meaning i'd have a brother, sort of. It's be weird living with another kid since it had just been my mom and I for so long.

Closing up the last of the boxes, I messily wrote with sharpie what box was which and handed them to the movers to place inside the truck. Thankfully, one good thing out of this was that Greg was rich so we didn't have to worry about moving all of our stuff on our own. I sighed as I closed my door, having mixed emotions about this move. Sure I didn't have many friends here but yet it still felt like something was holding me back. All of my memories had laid in this town, leaving them behind left a sad pang in my heart.

"Hey sweetie, ready to go?" My mother asked as I had reached the bottom of the steps.

Taking one last glance around our now empty house, I nodded slinging my backpack of necessities for the plane ride over my shoulder and rolling my suitcase beside me.

The ride over to the airport had been quiet. I could tell my mom knew something was wrong yet chose not to push me on it which I was thankful for. The nerves of starting over in a new place, school, and home was creeping up on me. What if I made no friends here either? Or what if Greg and his son end up hating me-

My overthinking thoughts were suddenly cut short as the vehicle had stopped and I realized we were at the airport. I turned to my mom giving her a small smile of encouragement knowing she'd need it too as we walked in together. The large airport was filled with stressed looking people scrambling around.

After we had gotten through security and we're now waiting to board the flight, I pulled open my bag to grab my pill case holding my anxiety medication, hoping it would ease my nerves. I opened my water popping one of the pills into my mouth before taking a sip to wash it down. My knee bounced as I waited.

"I hope this isn't too much on you" My mom said running a soothing arm across my back.

"No of course not, this will be good for us. It's nice to see you happy" I smiled. It was true, ever since we had left my dad I hadn't seen her do anything other than work to try and provide for us. I'm glad she's using time for her happiness now.

She smiled back at me as we began to board the flight. This was going to be an interesting change.

***

By the time we had landed in SC, it was around 2am and we were exhausted. Greg had met us at the airport to pick us up and bring us "home" which was something I still needed to get use to. After my mom, I had greeted him giving him a hug trying to stay awake. The long flight and crappy airport food certainly didn't help my mood. I shrugged away the thoughts of watery mashed potatoes and mystery meat in hopes i'll get some good food in my system soon.

"Hey Avery, I can't believe you guys are really here! I can't wait to show you guys around" Greg said excitedly. I did not know how he had so much energy at this time.

"Hey Greg, nice to see you again. That sounds great but first I think we should sleep" I said in-between yawns making him laugh.

"Alright let's get you guys out of here" He said hauling our luggage into his luxury car.

I made a mental note to tell him how nice it was tomorrow since I'm sure it wouldn't have come out cohesive if I said it at my current state. Leaning my head against the window I let the movements of the car rock me to sleep on the long drive back to our new house.

I was woken up to soft tugging on my shoulders and a light voice calling my name. When I opened my eyes I saw my mom staring at me looking just as tired as I had felt.

"Let's go inside for some real sleep" She said holding her hand out to help me out the car.

Once I had turned around I saw a beautiful beachside house looking back at me. It was large and spanish styled with multiple lights and windows scattered around. The greenery in the front looked like someone had come everyday to keep in in tact. To say I was in awe was an understatement. I thought our old 1 story family home was nice, but this was on a whole different level.

"Wow, this is gorgeous" I said through sleepy eyes.

"I know right, wait until you see your room" She winked. My face instantly lit up.

We walked through the house and she led me through a corridor to where my room would be.

"How do you know where everything is already?" I asked, she had never visited him before he had always come to us.

"I helped design it" She beamed. It had always been a dream of hers to have a house that she completely loved, every inch approved by her. And I'm guessing Greg did just that for her, making my heart swell. I was happy she found someone she deserves.

She opened the door revealing a beautiful room. The walls lined in a cream color with high ceilings and beach decor from top to bottom. There were hints of pink as she knew that was my favorite color, and a large window with the perfect view of the beach. It was everything I could've wanted, I even had my own bathroom and walk in closet!

"Thank you!" I hugged her. We hadn't been fortunate enough to afford nice things like this before and I knew how accomplishing this was for her.

"I'm glad you like it. Sleep well hun." She smiled before closing my door. I instantly flopped down on my bed filling with excitement. I soaked in the soft comforter underneath me as my body sank into the memory foam mattress, now this was heaven.

So far i've loved it here, I rolled around my huge queen size bed which was definitely an upgrade from my twin and soaked up my new life. It was crazy how much had changed in so little time.