Light-Years From Hollywood

By Teri McGill

LIGHT-YEARS FROM HOLLYWOOD, a YA romance novella, explores the darker side of high school.

What is life like when you don’t seem to fit in anywhere? A deaf boy and a homeless girl forge an unusual friendship, learning that acceptance and ultimately love truly conquers all.

Dylan: High school is supposed to be an adventurous four years of exploring the joys of youth and unlimited learning opportunities, right? What a crock! The gifted program is challenging enough without being the only deaf student on campus. I was content with my under-the-radar, nearly invisible existence until a beautiful, blue-eyed freshman sat next to me in Algebra. I had always preferred my loner status until she forced me to see what else life had to offer.

Nikki: I have kept my embarrassing secret for as long as I can remember. Dylan was the only person I ever shared it with, and to my surprise he never judged me. Instead, he was determined to save me even though unforeseen threats lurked around every corner.

(100% of the royalties from this eBook will be donated to A Million Drops, which is a Los Angeles, California based non-profit organization making a difference in the lives of homeless, at-risk youth, and young adults.)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Teri McGill
• Release date: Jun 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9780986364563

Book preview

LIGHT-YEARS FROM HOLLYWOOD

by

Teri McGill

Chapter 1

The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved. ~Mother Teresa

Nikki

My name is — you ready for it? — Nikola Josefina Campos-Rivera. Yep. You heard that correctly. My father, Manuel Campos, was born in Mexico but migrated to California when he was eighteen. He met my mother working in the strawberry fields north of Los Angeles. They eventually married and I came along soon after. Mama never talks about him. I don’t even know what he looks like, except he has blue eyes. Like me.

Even though Mexicans were here in California first, many Americans do not hold warm feelings for us. Because of this, I go by the name Nikki Jo Rivera. I’m proud of who I am but sometimes it’s just easier to blend it. Let’s face it, Josefina is a hideous name anyway. Sorry, Grandma. I never knew her; she died of colon cancer when my mother was only fourteen. The same age as I am. I can’t imagine what would happen to me if Mama ever… I couldn’t allow my thoughts to go there. Back to my story.

I’m named after Mama, although she spells hers with a ‘c’, Nicola, and has always been called Coco. We both dropped the Campos part of our name and never speak of that worthless piece of shit who was nothing more than a sperm donor. He didn’t stick around long enough to get to know me, so fuck him.

Mama and I live in a suburb of Los Angeles called North Hollywood. Don’t get too excited. It’s several miles north of the real Hollywood and that is the extent of the resemblance. Parts of it aren’t too terrible, but the more north you go, the worse it gets.

Every day is a new experience on a different street. That’s because my mother and I are technically homeless. There were frightening times years ago when we actually lived on the streets. I was very young and most of my memories are vague. Mama made sure of that, insisting it was only for a couple of months when we first arrived in LA. She protected and shielded me, making everything seem like an adventure. Occasional terrifying flashbacks haunt me; she may have allowed herself to be abused or hurt if it meant keeping me safe. I see the way men look at her — still curvy and beautiful, not even forty years old. I’ve stopped hinting that she should date, maybe fall in love someday. I’ve also given up my childish daydreams of having a real dad. Our life together is much better now. We live in our car — an awesome baby blue, slightly used VW Bus, which only has a few thousand miles on it.

Everyone has a cleaning lady in LA, and my amazing mother is one of many who keep the homes in this city spotless. She has about a dozen clients, a few with huge mansions that take the whole damn day to clean, but most have smaller homes which enable her to do two in one day. One of her clients learned about our situation and allows us to use her guest house occasionally when her tenant is out of town. Mama also works weekends at LA Fitness gym, where we both take advantage of the showers. My mother is my inspiration and I thank God every day for her presence in my life.

My education was always of the utmost importance to Mama. She never allowed me to miss a day of school unless there was an emergency. We’d park in different locations every night so as not to arouse suspicion, but always in the general vicinity of the school where I was attending at the time. Mama would drop me off at school, then go to work and always pick me up afterwards. I joined many after-school activities because most of the days she’d be done with work around 5 pm. I participated in soccer, gymnastics, and martial arts. The cooking club and theater group also benefitted from my talents. My acting skills won’t win any Oscars but I can sing my fuckin’ ass off. I plan to use my gymnastic skills to be on the cheerleading squad in high school. Speaking of high school … tomorrow is my first day. OMG! I’m excited, terrified, and nauseous all at the same time. I’m gonna decide on an outfit from my many gently used hand-me-downs, which Mama gets from one of her rich clients, then I’m hitting the sack.

Mama eventually found a quiet, dark parking space a few blocks from my new school, following a quick bathroom stop at Macy’s where we took care of business. This was by far the worst part of living in a car. A middle-of-the-night emergency pee was no big deal, but a poop would involve driving to an all-night gas station or a 7-Eleven. Not advisable.

We undressed in the dark with only the faint glow of the streetlights to guide us to our beds. Mama tucked me in as she had done every night that I can remember and kissed both my cheeks, whispering, "Buenas noches, mi corazón. Te amo mucho."

Chapter 2

If one's different, one's bound to be lonely.

~Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Nikki

I asked Mama to drop me off two blocks away. I needed time and fresh air to calm my jumpy stomach. The huge sign could be clearly seen from half a block away: North Hollywood High School — Home of the Huskies

For a public school in the ginormous Los Angeles Unified School District, NoHo High School had a pretty good reputation, largely based on the Highly Gifted Magnet, HGM, which is comprised of about 10% of the student body. I was kinda shocked I got in, but Mama was