Firewall

Gram was dead. That I was sure of. She was diagnosed with lung cancer, from years of tolerating her son's addiction. I was twelve when they found it, three and a half years after I'd left America. Carter was devastated. He vowed that he would somehow gather up the money to pay for her treatments so the doctors would have more time to fight it. But there was nothing he could do. The cancer stopped her heart in November of the next year, two months before Carter could even get a job. Once Gram was gone he had no one to take care of him.

So he was put in foster home after that, he wrote me as often as he could. His letters matured with him, becoming longer and more detailed with age. But as the years passed, they aldo became less frequent. I haven't heard from him in three years since he sent me a letter and a neckalce for my sixteenth birthday. To this day I still wear the necklace. It's a silver chain with a pink diamond in the shape of heart on it.

I've been waiting three years for Carter to say something, but he never has. Now, since I'm moving, he never will.

As much as my mom doesn't want me to, I'm moving to London. It's for my own good. I'm looking to be a professional photographer. There are loads of models in London so I'm told, and with the 02 area so close there should be plenty of celebrities.

I'm on my plane now. My mom and I had all my stuff sent to my flat last week along with some furniture I picked out online.

I'm sat next to an elderly man who has his wife sat on the other side of him. I tried to hide my face behind my hair as I played Circle on my phone but the couple wouldn't leave me be.

"S'cuse me lass," the man said in a thick Irish accent, "Do you know how'ta get the service woman to come back 'ere?"

I showed him the flight attendant button on the panel above the seats and he pressed it about twenty times before a flight attendant showed up. I took this time to plug in my headphones and turn up my music so I wouldn't have to listen to the man anymore. Centuries by Fall Out Boy came on and I continued to play Circle until the plane landed.

It was 12:37 when I got off the plane. Since most of my stuff was already at my flat I only had a small duffel bag as carry on. I walked out of the airport and it was raining. My mom told me it'd rain a lot here so I'd better get used to it.

I hailed one of the many cabs that'd been driving around the airport and got in with my bag. I fished out the paper with my adress on it and gave it to the driver. Wrecking Ball was playing over the cab radio and the man driving started to hum along. It took all I had in me not to burst out laughing, nothing stopped me from recording it though.

The cab stopped in front of a building fifteen minutes later. I was sure he'd taken the long way so I'd pay more but I handed him the money without question.

My flat was on the fourth floor, third door to the left. I had a balcony that went off of my kitchen. It was on the front side of the building so I could see the pet store across the street.

There were so many boxes in the living room that I could barely see the floor. I knew that before anything I should put my bedroom together. There are three rooms in the flat, I decided a few months ago to have one room as my bedroom, one as a spare, and one as an office. I picked a room that had a walk-in closet and a really big window towards the rest of the city.

I plugged my phone into my iHome and started to unpack. It was 2:30 by the time my bed was fully together, matress, pillows, and all. My blanket and sheets are pastel blue and green. I have a ton of pillows that are blue, green, and brown.

The A Team came on over the speaker and I started singing along to it. I was holding a small rectangle pillow, dancing with it in my room.

"Fly, fly. For angels to fly to fly to fly, angels die." I ended the song and smiled.

I set the pillow on my bed and looked up. Through the window was another building a few stories taller than the one I was in. I looked a bit closer and saw someone. In the window across from me was a guy, he had straight lightish brown hair that swooped over his face a bit, and he was watching me. Once he saw that I'd caught him, he pulled his curtains closed.

Well that was creepy...

I found my curtains hung them up, their pastel blue matching my bed.

It was then that I heard a knocking at my door. I paused my music in the middle of Teenagers by My Chemical Romance and walked out of the room

I opened the door, wondering who could be visiting me when I haven't even left my flat yet.

"Hello." A girl with blonde hair said.

"Hi." I greeted back.

"Did you just move in? I've seen men bring boxes in here this past week but haven't heard anything. Just now I heard singing and was just wondering if you're the person moving in."

"Oh, yeah." I said, embarrassed that she'd heard my singing. "Sorry about that. Would you like to come in?"

"Yeah, thanks." She came in and I closed the door. "I'm Gemma by the way, you can call me Gem though. Wow, you haven't unpacked much have you?"

"No, just my bed." I said, embarrassed that I didn't even have a place for us to sit.

"You know where your couch is?" Gemma asked as we walked through the maze of boxes.

"Uhm... I think it's over there." I pointed to a big rectangle box in the corner.

Gemma walked over and hoisted herself on top of the box. I laughed and got up there with her. "Nice couch." She said and we both started laughing.

Just then, the middle of the box collapsed and I fell through. Gemma doubled over laughing and pulled the box off the couch. It was coffee colored and fluffy. We both sat on the couch.

"I meant to ask, are you Irish? You sound Irish." She asked, pulling out her phone.

"Yeah, I moved here because there are just more opportunities for me here. I wanna be a photographer." I told her.

"Ooh really? Thats cool. Maybe you can start you photography with a selfie." She held her phone out and snapped a picture. The filter she had made my super pale skin look a bit tanned.

She turned to me and poked my fringe. "I like your hair."

My hair was, as my mom said, extraordinary. I had a pixie cut that I fluffed up in the back and a fringe that went to my cheek bones. My black hair was laced with streaks of teal.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"Can I post this on twitter?" She asked.

"Sure, let me get my phone so I can follow you."

I got my phone from my room and followed Gem, looking at the picture. I was winking and had my tongue stuck out.

Gem's phone rang and she answered it. I could hear whoever had called her.

"Hey" the person said.

"Hi"

"Where are you?"

"I'm with the girl who moved into the flat next to me. Why do you care?"

"Because you said you had to meet Fen somewhere and that isn't Fen in the picture."

"Oh, well I lied. I can't stand your company for to long." Gemma laughed.

"Hey!" The person said sounding a bit offended.

"I'm only kidding! Talk to you later okay?"

She ended the call and saw me looking at her curiously. "That was my brother, nothing serious." Gem gasped "I never asked your name!" She seemed a bit embarrassed.

I laughed. "I'm Sadie."

She looked at her phone. "Well Sadie, I gotta go. Maybe we could get lunch sometime, or I can show you around the city."

"That would be wonderful." I smiled.

Gemma left and I was alone In my unpacked house. I got on my twitter and saw that thirteen people had commented on the picture of Gemma and I. There were a few that made me laugh, between Gemma and some guy.

@Harry_Styles: @Namelessgem you ditched me to hang out with a stranger?

@Namelessgem: @Harry_Styles it was for a good reason! Without me no one could have helped her out of her couch box!

I decided to comment too.

@SmileforSadie: @Harry_Styles @Namelessgem without you I wouldn't have been in the couch box in the first place XD

I plugged my phone back into my iHome and I Miss You by Blink 182 came on. I was putting silverware in a drawer when my twitter notification blared over the speaker, causing me to drop forks all over. I groaned and put the forks in the sink, going over to check my phone.

@Harry_Styles followed you

@Harry_Styles: @SmileforSadie how did you get in a couch box?

@SmileforSadie: @Harry_Styles I'm not gonna tell you cuz you just made drop all my forks.

@Namelessgem: @Harry_Styles @SmileforSadie we're fat and the box collapsed when we sat on it. Your forks?

@SmileforSadie: @Harry_Styles @Namelessgem damn you, and yes, my forks.

@Harry_Styles: @SmileforSadie NOT THE FORKS! D:

I laughed and sat my phone down on the counter. I really need to get to work on unpacking. I grabbed a box of plates and bowls that was so heavy I almost dropped it four different times. My kitchen was mostly done about an hour an a half later. I was pulling bubble wrap out of the TV box when my Twitter notification went off again. Gemma had DMed me.

@Namelessgem: You need help unpacking?

@SmileforSadie: Omg yes I'm gonna die if I try to lift this freakin TV

@Namelessgem: Okay XD I'll come over and help tomorrow but then I'm taking you on a little trip

@SmileforSadie: Ooh sounds exciting

@Namelessgem: Gotta go, see ya tomorrow :)

@SmileforSadie: Bye

Nice to know that I've made a friend in the five hours I've been in London. I went in my living room and looked over all the boxes seeing what I could do next. My eyes caught an Amazon package.

I don't remember ordering anything from Amazon...

I cut the tape and gasped. Inside was a beautiful Polaroid camera and a few packs of film. A note sat on top;

Sadie,

Your going to do great things, I'm confident when I say that. You've made me unbelievably proud in your nineteen years, and I know you're not going to stop now. I love you.

Love,

Mom xx

I wiped a tear from my eye and stuck the note to my fridge with a magnet. I took my new camera out and put a pack of film in it. I hung the strap around my neck and went out onto my balcony. The windows of city buildings shimmered blue, orange, and pink in the dying sunset. I took a picture of the rainbow painted city and a piece of film came out of the bottom.

I held up the developing picture to the actual view, watching as the colors appeared.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew the picture from my hands, I tried to catch it as it fluttered in the wind but it was too far. I watched as the wind carried it off into the city and I smiled. Someone was gonna find that picture.

I went back inside, locking the balcony door behind me. In that moment, my stomach made an awful gurgling noise. I laughed and pulled on some converse. Time to go restaurant hunting.

I found a little cafe about three blocks away from my house and stepped in. There weren't very many people inside. I sat by a window near the front of the cafe. I ordered some shrimp pasta and waited.

I was trying to beat my high score on

Circle when the bell above the cafe door jingled. I looked up to see someone who for some reason seemed familiar. He had deep set eyes and hair that kinda swooped over his face... I gasped.

He was the guy who was watching me through the window earlier!

His eyes looked over the few people sitting around. I started to stand up and his eyes drifted over to me. His eyes widened and he rushed out the door before I got to him. He must've recognized me.

I sighed and sat back down. My food came minutes later and I ate in silence.

It was 6:30 when I left the restaurant and the sun had completely disappeared over the buildings around me. I was about a block away from my building when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and answered it.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hey sweetie! How's London so far?"

It was my mom.

"Oh! It's great! I've already made a friend or two."

"That's good, you got there safely?"

"Yeah," I laughed, "thanks, for the camera."

"You got it? You deserve it sweetie, it was brave of you to move to the city alone."

"Thanks, I love it."

"Okay Sadie, I gotta go now. I love you. Call me sometime."

"I will. Love you too."

My mom hung up and I shoved my phone into my pocket.

I was in bed at 11:30 that night. I'd arranged all my living room furniture and got some stuff set up in the guest room. My arms were so sore.

I snuggled up into my blankets. I had my music on really low. Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade started playing.

"The best thing about tonight's that we're not fighting. Could it be that we have been this way before?" I quietly sang along.

I saw the city lights through my window, tinted blue by the curtains. The shadows of buildings were cast across my bed and onto the wall.

I'm lucky to call this city mine.