As I pulled up the directions to my new apartment in La Playa, my heart tightened. The neighborhood was definitely rougher than I was used to. It was about the same as where USC was located, except that I was on campus for most of my time there.
“It’s not that bad,” I said to myself. My parents were overreacting, as usual. Millions of people live in neighborhoods just like this all across Los Angeles. It was no Verde Hills, but it was certainly safe enough to live in.
I didn’t even get to the end of the block when my phone dinged with a text. It was my mother.
Don’t think you’re going to come crawling back when you’re scared. You made your bed. Now lie in it.
Nice. Thanks, Mom. “No worries,” I said to myself as I pulled the huge truck on the freeway. “I wouldn’t move back home if it were the last place on earth.”
* * *
I toldmyself that it was normal that I couldn’t sleep. My body was sore from all of the moving and everything looked and sounded different. Banner Manor, near the traffic circle, had looked almost upscale during the day. The front steps were flanked with two huge red doors that swung open, revealing a long carpeted hallway. At the end of the hallway was a staircase that led to the second floor. My apartment was in between two others, to the left as you came up the stairs.
The movers had been talking in Spanish, and although I took it in high school, I really didn’t understand what they were saying because they were talking so fast. I did understand the word “dead” and the names of the Crips and Bloods, which were rival gangs in downtown LA. But this wasn’t downtown LA and I didn’t think they had gangs like that in La Playa.
But as I lay there in bed, eyes open, listening to the shouts coming from the two apartments on either side of me, the sirens going up and down the street and the police helicopter overhead, my heart was pounding in fear. What had I done? I’d burned the bridges at home with my parents and had gotten myself into a sketchy apartment in a bad neighborhood in La Playa.
Tears stung my eyes as I fought off a suffocating wave of homesickness. I wanted to be in my room next to Bailey, snuggled up next to Betty White, our Golden Retriever.
“I wonder what the pet policy is here?” I said aloud to calm myself. “Maybe I’ll get a little dog or something.”
I went into the kitchen and turned on the tap to pour myself a glass of water in the one cup I’d unpacked. Tomorrow would be a better day. I’d spend the day getting settled, and then on Monday I’d start my new job as a waitress at Tiny’s.
Tiny’s was a classic diner on a busy corner across from a biker bar, a fitness studio, and an apartment complex. I’d put in a bunch of resumes at various social justice nonprofit organizations and the waitressing job was just so I could have money to hold me over until I got a better job.
“You shouldn’t move to La Playa until you have a secure job, Paige,” my dad had said. But my parents’ disapproval of my life choices was so oppressive that I figured I’d rather be on my own any way I could. Besides, how would it look on a resume and interview to say that I was living at home with my parents in a three-million-dollar house in Verde Hills but I want a job helping the impoverished? I needed some street credibility.
Climbing back into my bed, I dug around in my bag for some earplugs. I was going to make this work. I knew I would.
* * *
“Well,you’re as ready as you’ll ever be.”
I was in my tiny bathroom staring at my reflection in a cloudy mirror. The room wasn’t steamy—the mirror was just so old that you could barely see anything. I imagined it was what a prison mirror looked like.
The reflection looking back at me already looked different than the girl I’d been in Verde Hills. I’d only been here two days, and to me, I looked more independent. My long blonde hair was tied back in a braid. I didn’t want to waste much makeup for work because I didn’t know when I’d be able to afford to buy more. So, I just lightly dusted my eyelids with some shadow and added some mascara so that my blue eyes didn’t fade into my face. One thing about being a natural blonde is that if you don’t have a tan, you can look washed out.
I didn’t imagine I’d have much time for tanning. I was lucky to get the waitressing job at Tiny’s, considering I have zero experience as a waitress. They must have been desperate to have hired me.
“You do have a college degree and work experience, Paige,” I said to the woman in the mirror. “Don’t let your parents’ disapproval become your thoughts.”
Grinning at my inner Tony Robbins, I flipped off the bathroom light, grabbed my purse, and headed out of my apartment for my first shift at Tiny’s.
Five
Ryder
“Lily. Come out. You’ve been in there for two days.” I was banging on her bedroom door, trying to get her attention over the loud music booming from the room.
I knew she was in there because her window had been nailed shut after she snuck out at fifteen. That was Moves’ idea. His parents did that when his little sister started sneaking out and she’s now a doctor at Cedars Sinai.
I banged on the door again. “I’ll buy you pie.” I knew it was wrong to bribe her, but I really needed to talk to her.
The music stopped. “What kind of pie?” she said, through the closed door.
I grinned, knowing I’d won. “Whatever kind you want. We can go to Tiny’s.”
The door opened a crack and I saw one brown eye and a pert little nose. “Can I get a burger and fries, too?”
