"There has to be some sort of mistake."

The lawyer looks back down at the will laying in front of him. "No. No mistake. Your mother wishes for you to stay with her close personal friend. You know her, don't you?"

"I haven't seen her since I was eight years old. There has to be someone else that I can live with, please. I don't know them anymore."

"This is who your mother appointed as your legal guardian if something were to happen to her. I'm sorry, but there's nothing more I can do."

I slump back in my chair and try to control my emotions before I break down in tears. I've just lost my mother. She was on her way home from the hospital, where she works, and some stupid drunk driver ran a red light. In the blink of an eye my whole world came crumbling down. My mother is all I have. The funeral was yesterday and now I have the pleasure of sitting in the lawyer's office while he reads me her will.

Where's my dad? Also dead. I don't remember him, though. He died when I was a baby. All I have of him is a few pictures and his favourite old baseball cap. It's a little worn out from me wearing it, but it's still in pretty good shape. Now all I have of my mom are the things she left behind. But I would give all of that up if it meant I could have her back.

"Anne will be in charge of your trust until you turn 18. Your mother arranged for a small amount to be deposited into your account every month until you take it over completely. Everything she had was left to you, including the house. You are supposed to live with Anne, though, so you can do what you'd like with it."

"Sell it," I command bluntly.

"If you want to take some time to think about it-"

"I don't want it. I don't want any of it."

"We'll save that decision for another day. The mortgage is paid off, so the remaining bills will be pulled from the account as arranged."

"What am I supposed to do with a house? I'm sixteen," I scoff. They're not going to let me live in it, so what's the point of it sitting empty?

"I've spoken to Anne. She's probably already waiting outside my office. I made a copy of your mother's will if you want to look over it." I take the packet roughly from his hand and stuff it in my bag. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss, Addison. If you have any questions don't hesitate to call us."

I mumble a thank you and walk out of the office, desperate for some fresh air. I keep my head down as tears start to stream down my cheeks. I just want my mother back. I don't care about any of the shit she left me. (She was a doctor, so she left me a lot of money.) I just want her. She was my best friend. I need her. I'm not ready to be on my own. I need parents. I push the heavy doors to the legal offices open and walk to the side down the steps, collapsing beside the railing with my face in my hands. How could she do this to me? First she leaves me, now she makes me live with Anne? Is that some sort of sick joke she's playing?

"Addison?"

I look up and my eyes trail up the body of a woman in a very expensive-looking pant-suit. It's Anne.

"Goodness. You're the spitting image of Claire." It doesn't seem like she's speaking to me, just thinking out loud. She's staring at me like she's seen a ghost. Claire is my mom's name. And to be fair, I do look exactly like her. People always thought we were sisters. It was a huge confidence booster for my mother. I have long brown hair that falls in natural waves just past the middle of my back. I'm average height and I've got a small frame. I don't think I'm very pretty, but of course my mother would disagree. Typical mom. She was the beautiful one.

"Do you remember me?" She asks, sitting on the step beside me.

"Yes."

She smiles and puts her hand on my knee. "I'm so sorry about all of this. I can't imagine how you're feeling. Your mother is an incredible person."

"Was," I correct. She gives me a sad smile. "Did you know? That you were the one I would go to?"

"We did talk about it when you were small. I figured she would have changed it by now. I guess people get busy and time gets away."

"I know you don't want to take care of me, so I can just get my own place," I offer, looking out at the street.

"Addison- can I call you Addie? That's what you used to ask us to call you." I nod and she sighs before continuing. "I knew your mother my whole life and I watched you grow up for most of yours. You're family."

"When was the last time you spoke to her?" I ask, still not looking at her.

"It was...it was years ago. We spoke now and again on the phone to catch up, but you know yourself how busy she got when she got promoted at the hospital. Head of paediatrics. That's a big deal. She spent all of her time with you or at the hospital."

"How am I supposed to live with you? I don't even know you." The words come out harsher than I intended, but I don't really care.

"But you do. It's just been a while since we've seen each other." I shake my head slightly and a tear rolls down my cheek. "Come on, let's get you home. You're shivering."

"I don't know where home is anymore," I whisper.

"I'll show you," she says, standing and offering me a hand. I take it and she pulls me up, then startles me by wrapping me up in a tight hug. I do remember Anne. When I was a kid she was my second mother. I loved her. I've seen her around town, of course. But when my mother lost touch with her, so did I. I also stopped being friends with her kids...I still see them though. The girl is three years older than me, so she's off in London at school or something. But the boy....the boy is very much still here. At my school. In my class.

Anne brought me to my house so we could get some of my stuff, the rest of which she said we would come back for another time. Before I leave I go to my mom's bedroom and clutch one of her pillows to my chest, breathing in her smell. Eventually it would fade and the smell that had come to mean love and comfort for me would vanish forever. I go to her dresser and open her jewellery box, searching for the piece I can't leave behind. I need it. It's a ring that my father gave her when they were dating. She stopped wearing it because she had to take it off for work anyway. It's nothing special; my parents were quite poor when they started out. It was the nicest thing he could afford; a gold band that twists into an infinity sign. It's so simple, but it screams love to me. It's a symbol of both my parents. Next I go to her closet and fish through the mess until I find what I'm looking for. Her Cambridge sweater; She's had it since she went there for medical school. I used to steal this sweater when she was away or working for long periods of time; it's always been a comfort to me, a way to have my mother with me when I couldn't actually have her with me. Now I never would.

I take one last look around the room and slide the ring onto the ring finger on my right hand.

"Goodbye mom," I whisper. "I love you."

---

"Well, this is it," Anne announces, pushing open the front door to what I assume is her home. It's quite large and it's a beautiful house. Seems quite new. They didn't live here when I was a kid. "Harry is at school and Gemma doesn't live at home anymore, so it's just us." I stand in the entryway with my bags and look around. The home is one level, but it's huge. The living area is to my right, with the living room at the front, then the dining room, then a massive gourmet kitchen. The living area is quite spacious; there's a massive sectional sofa that looks like it would seat twenty people as well as a reclining chair. They're all aimed at a very modern but cozy gas fireplace with a huge TV mounted above it. There's a large harvest table in the dining area and the kitchen looks nice, but I can't exactly see it from where I'm standing very well.

"It's nice," I compliment.

"This is the main washroom, she says, turning to the hallway to our left and opening the first door on the right. The hallway turns a corner that extends down the length of the house with two doors on either side. "That's Gemma's room," she says, pointing to the first one on the left. "That one down the hall is Harry's room. This one here is mine. And this is yours." She leads me to the second door on the left, across from what she said was Harry's room. "It shares an ensuite with Gemma's room so it will basically be your own bathroom," she explains. She pushes open the door and leads me inside.

The room must have previously been a guest bedroom; the bed is large and exquisite with tons of decorative pillows on it. There's a small seating area near the massive bay windows, complete with a build in wall unite and TV. On the wall to the left of the door there's two more doors. One is open and I can see the bathroom. Through the door on the opposite side there's another bedroom. Must be Gemma's. The bathroom is long and narrow, with a double vanity lining the wall to my right and the toilet on the far side by the door to Gemma's room. On the left wall there's a huge soaker tub next to a walk in shower, lined by glass with a shower head big enough for three people to stand under. It's gorgeous.

"There's a walk in closet here," Anne says, opening the second door I mentioned. The closet is twice the size of the one I had at home. "Well, what do you think?" she asks when I emerge from it.

"It's great." I give her my best attempt at a smile and look around again. "Are you sure it's okay that I'm here?"

"This is your home now, Addie. This room is yours. I was thinking maybe you would want a desk in here over there by those chairs. For school."

"I usually do my homework on my bed."

She nods and starts backing out. "I'll let you get settled in. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks." She shuts the door as she walks out and I sit heavily on the edge of the bed. I don't really want to be here, but on the plus side my room is incredible. My mom made a lot of money, but she didn't see the point in having anything extravagant like this. Plus she never would have had the time to move us to a new house. I put my backpack and duffle bag on the bed and start unloading all my stuff for school; all my books and supplies, as well as my art supplies. I immediately clear out the drawers of the table on the far side of my bed so I can put all of my sketchbooks, pencils, and other supplies in it. I love to draw; my mom told me it's something I got from my dad. That made me proud. I roll both of my suitcases to the closet and unzip the first one. I fit most of my clothes in these and there's still my box of shoes by the front door. I thought I had a lot of clothes, but I don't think it'll even fill half of this closet.

After about an hour my clothes are all unpacked. They take up more space than I thought they would, but the closet is no where near full. There's a huge floor to ceiling rack for shoes, so I make my way to the front of the house to get my box. An intoxicating smell draws me instead to the kitchen.

Anne smiles when she sees me walking over. "Are you hungry? I made cinnamon rolls. I was going to make you a proper late lunch, but I figured some comfort food would taste better," she says, winking at me.

"It smells incredible," I comment, also taking in the kitchen. It has an island and a peninsula. The peninsula separates the kitchen and dining room and has three bar stools along the outside that face towards to the kitchen. It's probably the nicest kitchen I've ever seen. I stand on the opposite side of the island as Anne and let my eyes wander. They stop when I see a door that leads to the backyard. My room looks out at it as well, but the blinds were closed so I didn't see it. It's just as luxurious as the inside of the house, complete with a pool and hot tub and a really cool-looking fireplace. Who are these people??

"Your home is incredible," I comment, still looking around the space. Anne laughs lightly.

"Thank you, Addie. But it's your home now too. Here, come help me put icing on these." I stand beside her and she hands me a knife to spread the creamy home-made frosting on the freshly baked rolls. "So, catch me up. I think the last time we saw each other you were eight or nine years old."

"Yeah, something like that."

"Anything monumental happen?"

"Besides my mom dying?" I sigh and set the pastry down. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"It's fine, Addison. How are you liking high school?"

"It's alright." The truth is I really do like school, but I hate my school. Well, the people in it. I hate how exclusive all the groups are; everyone has one label and you stick to it and the people with it for four years. I'm not a loser, but I'm not popular either. I have a bunch of acquaintances, but my best friends are Tyler and Caroline. Caroline could be popular if she wanted to be; she's pretty, smart and really outgoing. Boys love her. But she hates that crowd. Tyler isn't as outgoing, but he's not as shy as I am. He plays on the football team and he's friends with everyone. He's sort of a floater, I guess. But he's like my brother. Then there's me. I just...ordinary. No one really picks on me, but no one really notices me either. To be honest, that's the way I like it.

Anne continues to ask me about myself, staying away from anything that would require talking about my mom. She's just like I remember; so nice and caring and she listens to every word I say with a look that tells me she's truly interested in me.

"Anne, can I ask you something?"

She stands and prepares some more tea for herself. "Of course. What is it?"

"Does umm...do Harry and Gemma know that I'm here?"

"Yes, they know. I told them yesterday."

"Are they okay with it?" I ask quietly. I don't want them to feel like I'm intruding on their lives.

"Gemma lives in London now. She was disappointed that she wouldn't be here to spend time with you. Even though she was older, you two were like sisters."

"Yeah, I really looked up to her," I recall. She smiles and continues with the other.

"Harry didn't say much, but don't worry about him. He'll be nice to you, don't worry."

I just smiled and took another bite of my cinnamon roll. I go to school with Harry; he's one of the popular ones. His friends can be nasty, especially the girls. To be fair, he rarely joins in on the teasing and bullying. He always looks indifferent. Once in a while he'll crack a smile, but that's only if someone says something clever back to one of his friends. He's one of the quieter ones in the group, but of all the boys he's the most popular. He's the best looking guy at school and he's got a mysterious sort of dangerous vibe. I've also heard he's a player, but people say that about all the popular kids. He plays on the football team with Tyler, as well as three of the other guys he hangs out with.

When we were kids Harry and I used to tell each other we loved each other. We planned to get married. I hope he doesn't remember any of that stuff. That would be so embarrassing. After our moms stopped hanging out we slowly stopped talking and when we got to high school it was like I didn't exist anymore. He changed as he got older. When we were kids he was so happy and adventurous, always getting us into trouble. It was hard to get Harry not to smile; his face seemed to be constantly displaying his adorable dimples. As he grew up he started to keep to himself more and he always looked...annoyed maybe? It was a mixture of annoyance, sadness, anger and boredom. I don't even know if he has dimples anymore. I don't remember the last time I saw him smile. Smirk maybe, but not smile.

"Thanks for the tea," I tell Anne, standing from my bar stool. "I think I'm going to go hang out in my room. Is it alright if I tell my friends where you live? They've been texting me all day and I haven't been at school at all this week."

"Where you live," she corrects. "Yes, that's fine. If they want to come over that's fine with me. It's friday after all."

"Thanks, Anne. For everything."

Notes

chapter oneeeee. wee. new story.

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