Second Chances

Three weeks later, Sam found herself being forced out the door one day by Lacey and Val. Apparently; they were taking her to go get her new California driver’s license because she was twenty one today.

A horrible feeling began to brew in her stomach when she thought of that.

Mostly because she knew that she was old enough to walk up to a bar now and that they rest of the guys would gladly buy her drinks too.

Sam sighed, waiting for her number to be called at the DMV. Lacey and Val were sitting on either side of her, busy texting on their phones. Sam assumed they were texting the plans of what they were going to do tonight because Leana wouldn’t shut up about it last night and accidently told Sam what they were going to do.

First the bar, then the club, then back home, then passing out and waking up with a hangover the next morning.

As great as that all sounded, having a hangover the next morning sure didn’t.

“Seventy-four.”

Sam slipped her purse back on to her shoulder and held on to her paperwork, walking up to the counter. The woman who had called Sam up had short, dark brown hair and glasses that looked to be from last generation, but she had a smile on her face, so Sam knew that she didn’t have to deal with a cranky bitch.

The DMV is notorious for having crabby employees.

“Good afternoon Ma’m.”

“Hello,” Sam smiled back, handing over her paperwork to the woman. She checked it over and typed a few things in to the computer, but when she got to the state of residency question, Sam had left it blank.

“You didn’t fill in your State of Residency,” The brown haired woman informed, holding out the sheet so that Sam could see it too.

She shifted her weight from one side of her body to the other, staring at the paper nervously. “Yeah, I don’t know where I live exactly.”

The woman looked confused.

“My parents died in South Carolina,” Sam said, avoiding the woman’s face. “I’m living with my cousin for now.”

She nodded understandingly. “Alright well, why don’t we just put that address in for right now and when you get everything all settled out, you can come back and we’ll change it.”

Sam nodded and gave her Jimmy’s address.

“Take these over there and get your picture taken,” The woman instructed. “And happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” Sam smiled, collecting the paperwork she had been given and going over to the spot for her picture.

While waiting in line, Sam started to think about the incident that had just happened. She didn’t know if she was really homeless or if she was just bouncing between homes right now. Though she really didn’t want to go back to South Carolina, even if here parents were there.

So many memories and reminders were there to torment her and make her life hell. But out here in California, she had Jimmy, and the beach, and her friends, and Brian.

Maybe it was time to move on.

“Samantha Sullivan?”

Her decision had been made.

“Looks so much better than mine,” Lacey commented, eyeing Sam’s new driver’s license.

“Hey Val, do you mind if we make a quick stop at the post office?” Sam asked, buckling herself in and taking her ID back from Lacey.

“Sure,” She answered, checking her blind spots behind her in the mirrors before pulling out of the parking space.

“You aren’t carrying some secret letter, are you?” Lacey asked, twisting around in the passengers seat.

“Nope. I have something I need to do though.”

A short drive later, Val pulled up right in front of the post office and Sam got out, telling them that she would be right back. Surprisingly, for it being a Saturday, the post office was rather quiet.

Sam stepped right up to the counter, seeing as no one was there waiting in line.

“Hi, I need to change my address.”

The man behind the counter nodded and ducked down, coming back up with a form and a pen. She stood there and filled it out with a little help from the man when she didn’t know what the zip code was. She was never good at remembering that kind of stuff. She was lucky that she could even remember Jimmy’s address!

He took the sheet from her when she was finished and glanced over it, making sure that all the blanks were filled in correctly.

“This should be processed in two days,” He informed her.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Sam made her way back outside to where the girls were waiting. Obviously they were comfortable because they had their feet up on the dash and the windows rolled down, singing Katy Perry very loudly and very off key.

“Done already?” Val asked, putting her feet back under the wheel by the pedals.

Sam nodded, buckling herself in. “Yep.”

“What’d you have to do?”

Sam grinned. “I am now happy to say that I live in Huntington Beach, California.”

“I was kind of hoping you want to live here,” Val admitted, starting the car up and heading out on to the main road that would take them back home.