Why Can't This Be Love? // Johnny Lawrence

So This Is LA?

"Sam! Are you up yet?!"

I nudged in my sleep, barely hearing the words. "SAM! WE HAVE TO LEAVE IN 30 MINUTES!"

"OKAY!"

My head pounded back into the pillow and sighed out loud. It took me a second to remember what day it was, took me a bit to adjust and remember it was real. I couldn't believe it was happening, it all came flooding back like bad news, felt my chest catch.

"SAMMARE. HAVE YOU NOT HEARD ME?!"

My mum came bursting into my room, veins practically popping out of her skin and her eyes bulging out of her sockets, she looked demented. "Yes mother, I literally just woke up, give me a minute."

"Don't you dare give me attitude Sam, not today. I told you our flight was at 6 am and we had to be at the airport by 4.30 and we have 20 minutes left before we need to leave and you're NOT EVEN DRESSED!"

"I SLEPT IN. I FORGOT, I'M UP NOW!" I spat back as good as she had. I get mothers are erratic and controlling, seems to just be in their small print, but my mum was another breed. Literally.

"Sammare I am serious. I am not letting your inability to accept this move sabotage this. It is stressful enough without your pathetic teenage angst. " Her boney finger was inches from my face, her bulging eyes looking as if they're seconds from popping out, I honestly feared for her at this point.

"This is so dramatic! I'm literally getting out of bed and you're wasting all this precious time yelling at me! AND I AM 20!" I didn't even look her in the eye I was so done, she does it every single day, with every single thing. It's constant.

"Act like it then, stop behaving like you're 19."

My mum and dad sat me down about two months ago and told me he got promoted. They were laughing and drinking champagne, celebrating this HUGE opportunity my dad's getting. But then they looked at me and said it..

"Los Angeles."

I bet you'd think anyone would be elated to be told they're going to be moving to LA. I wasn't. I hated the idea. It's not as if I live in Oregon or somewhere even remotely close, I live in Wellington. Yeah, New Zealand.. Why would a kiwi like me want to move all the way over to LA? I might be 20 and female, but that means nothing! All my friends, my school, even my dialect is here, moving a 20 year old woman all the way to a new culture is asking for their kid to be dissected. I could not of been more angry at my parents, and for some reason, my mother absolutely loved every minute of what it did to me.

"I STILL DON'T SEE YOU MOVING FROM YOUR DAMN BED!" Her voice honestly bellowed me out of that daydream and my neck almost snapped from the fright. "If you ruin this for me, so help me Sammare I will not let you forget it. If you even manage to put a dent in anything to do with your father's new job, I'll make your life hell." She was so close to me by this point I could see her pupils frantically shaking, so massive she looked like she'd dropped seven acid tabs.

"As always mum, this chat has been so special to me." She was already gone halfway through my sentence. My hands slapped my bare thighs in exasperation at my mother. I sighed and pulled myself all the way up out of my bed, I checked my watch, 4.23 am. Jesus Christ. There's a large part of me that thought Fiona booked an early flight on purpose, just to spite me. All my life I have never been a morning person, my own mother knows that better than anyone, so yes, she would categorically love nothing more than forcing me to have an hours sleep the night before she ships me off to my own death. Can't say she didn't walk into this though, she 100% did this to herself.