Hard to Love (A Before You Exit fanfic)

Chapter 1: Fearless

"Skye! Hurry up! You're going to miss your flight!" My mom shouted from down the stairs.

I scanned my now empty room. It was rather bare with the exception of my bed, the dresser, and the old wooden desk in the corner. Everything was packed up and ready to go to Florida.

I ran down the stairs with my last bag hanging over my shoulder.

"Ready?" My mom asked in an upsetting tone. Today came faster than I ever imagined it would.

I nodded my head and hugged my mom tight. I squeezed my eyes shut and tighten my grasp.

"Andy is outside waiting for you. I told him he could take you to the airport. I know you want the time together. Call me as soon as you land. Make sure you have all your luggage and don't leave a thing behind."

She continued to ramble on of the do's and don'ts for travelling alone and going to a place that I don't know anyone. I would be lying if I said I wouldn't miss that from time to time. The only things I would miss about California were her and Andy. They are the only ones I'd ever trust. I've gone to school with people I couldn't stand for the last 13 years of my life. I couldn't wait to get away.

"Try to open up when you're in Florida. It's a new beginning for you. Don't let anything that has happened here to hold you back. Okay? Love you sweetie. Now go! You'll be late!" She kissed my forehead before I walked towards the door. I waved goodbye to her and made my way out to the car where Andy was waiting for me.

"You ready, babe?" He asked hesitantly.

"I guess so." I shrugged as I climbed into the passenger seat.

Reality was finally kicking in. I was leaving California, my mom, and Andy. I'm leaving the only life I have ever known. It has it's ups and it has it's downs. In that moment, it was more of a downer.

The car ride was rather quiet. We exchanged occasional glances to one another but we knew what was ahead of us.  Andy was the only one I would ever open up to with the exception of my mom. That's probably because Andy was my best friend for years before we began dating. He was there whenever I needed someone. He was the only male figure I had in my life. He was actually the only friend I had in my life. But that's a story for a different time.

The drive to the airport was probably the quickest drive of my life. It was over in an instant. Andy found the closest place to park, which was nowhere near the front of the airport. Gotta love summer traveling. By that I mean I absolutely hate it.

Andy helped drag my bags through the airport until we got to the gate. Once we got to the gate, almost everyone had boarded already, leaving a measly 2 minutes to say goodbye to Andy.

"It's crazy to think we've spent our whole lives together and now I'm going all the way to Florida for college." I whispered as he pulled me in close to him.

"I know. But you'll be okay. I promise you. We'll text, call, video chat, and see each other over any breaks that we have."

Andy tightened his grasp as I was being yelled at to board the plane. I pulled away as he kissed me softly before I left.

"I love you." I told him fighting back any tears that I was holding inside.

"I love you too. Now go! Don't miss your flight!" I faked a smile as I walked backwards as long as I possibly could.

I boarded the plane and found my way to my seat. Mine was right beside the window. This was the first time I had ever travelled, let alone travelling all by myself. I scrolled through my iPod and played the most random playlist mixed with happy and upsetting songs.

The five hour plane ride flew by, literally. Before I knew it the plane had landed in Orlando and I was finding my luggage in the baggage claim. Orlando seemed nice. It was humid and the air was sticky. But I liked it. I looked around at the crowd of people. Seems as though they were mostly tourists coming in and out of the airport.

I called my mom and then Andy. The conversations consisted of how the flight was and any little detail you could probably imagine. I managed to keep each phone call under ten minutes so I was able to get going to the campus. I found a taxi and gave him a slip of paper with the address to the college on it. He nodded then drove off. The campus was approximately 30 minutes from the airport. By this time I was absolutely tired of traveling and couldn't wait to lay down in bed for just a moment to let it all sink in.

"Well, this is it. University of Central Florida." The taxi driver turned his head over his shoulder and smiled at me.

I handed him the money for the driving expenses and lugged my bags out of the taxi. The campus was huge. In the process of trying to find my dorm, I asked five random girls for directions and they all looked at me as if I had two heads. This is why I don't associate with tons of people. Finally I walked passed a girl who was also moving into her dorm.

"Hey! It looks like you could use a bit of help." The voice yelled over to me. I raised an eyebrow as she walked closer to me. She grabbed my information sheets and scanned over them then back at hers. "We're in the same dorm. I'm a few rooms down from you. Come on, I'll show you. My name is Yesenia but I go by Yessi."

"I'm Skye. As you can tell, I'm new around here."

"I couldn't tell." She joked. "This is my second semester here. But my brother came here years ago so I know the campus rather well. I came here for college visits for him and me both so I know a lot. Stick with me and you'll be good." She smiled and continued walking to the dorm.

She led me to a huge dorm and we took the elevator up to the third floor. Right on the corner was my room, 378. The door was cracked so I peaked in slightly to see a girl who had to be my age. She was hanging up pictures beside her bed. She wore a simple polka dot dress with a pair of sandals. Her hair was long yet managed to stay completely straight. I watched as she put up picture after picture with multiple different people in each. I knocked on the door quietly but loud enough for her to hear.

"Oh hey! Come in. You must be..."

"Skye. Skye Anderson." I finished for her.

"That's a pretty name. I'm McKenna Tirado. It's nice to meet you!"

She pulled me right into a hug and I felt her chin rest on my shoulder. Being close to others is going to take some getting used to for sure.

Author's note: So this is kinda just introducing the story and a few of the characters. I know it's boring but I have some good ideas for this story so I'm excited for it! Please vote, comment, add it to reading lists and that stuff. I hope I get a decent amount of people interested in this story as I did for my others (which I will work on soon enough). But yeah, tell me what you think! Thanks for reading (: -Cassandra