Her Legacy

I. First Day

"And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings." Meister Eckhart

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Chapter I – First Day

Ordinarily I would have been thrilled to move to a beach house along the beautiful coast of North Carolina. Maybe a cute place to spend summer vacations away from our life in Bedford. Providence was where I was born, after all. It might have been nice getting to know my home town a few months out of the year.

I could see myself relaxing on the beach with a book and attempting to tan my pale skin. Learning how to cook the fish I could buy at the local markets. Maybe meeting a handsome stranger I would never see again once I returned to New York.

I mean, the latter was almost laughable. I had never really spoken more than three words to a cute boy in my life, and one had certainly never gone out of his way to speak to me.

I blended into the crowd at my high school in Bedford. I was one of seventeen hundred students. Nobody noticed me and I quite liked it that way. I was a good student, and I got good grades, and so I liked to keep my head down. I didn't bother myself with teenage drama, and I never had to worry about boyfriends.

Not that my mom would let me have one anyway.

But now that my mom's job had taken us to Providence, North Carolina, I was sure I was going to stick out like a sore thumb. How could I not with only five hundred students in the school.

And I was starting late. It was October, after all. If a teacher made me stand up the front of the class and spout fun facts about myself I was sure I would die of embarrassment.

Maybe I should think up some just in case.

My name is Sara. I'm a Virgo. Why would I bother with that? I don't believe in astrology.

"I got nothing," I sighed. I looked at myself in the mirror and wished that I knew which box my makeup was in. All I had was a crusty, old concealer that I had found in the bottom of my purse. I used it to cover my eye bags and the few red unmentionables that seemed to enjoy popping up right when I didn't want them to.

I ran my brush through my brown hair and when I realised it wasn't going to cooperate, I pulled it up into a messy bun. It was still quite warm in Providence, so I had dressed in a plain white t-shirt and some ripped skinny jeans.

After checking over myself one last time, and realising this was as good as it was going to get, I grabbed my book bag filled with all new supplies and left my barely unpacked room.

My mom had moved us into a really nice little house on the beach. It was just the right size for the two of us. It was newly remodelled, but still had the character and charm of wainscoting and hardwood floors.

My mom was in our little kitchen, pouring a green smoothie into a travel cup for her to take to work. Mom had been really young when my parents had had me. She was only twenty and my dad had been a couple of years older.

After he passed away in an accident when I was two, she moved us away from Providence to New York, where she completed college and medical school as a single mom, eventually settling us in Bedford.

My mom and I had a really special relationship. It had been just us for so long, and so we had learned to heavily rely on the other person. She relied on me most of the time. With her hectic work schedule, I helped to look after the house, the grocery shopping, and most importantly, myself.

If I had been a difficult child, I don't think my mom could have been as successful as she is.

My mom, Dr Amanda Bryant, is a paediatric oncologist. People travel from all over the country to have her treat their kids. Kids who are going through the fight of their lives. I honestly don't know how she does it. All I could really do to help her was reduce the stress she had of having a daughter at home by looking after myself.