“What kind of 24 hour fitness doesn’t live up to their name!?”

She banged on the door before saving a tear from falling.

She briefly thought of her own name, and with a discouraged mind, thought that she herself should’ve been named something else to match her less hopeful situation.

She believed in the power of linguistic associations—beginning with a person or business’ name.

As she turned around and flipped her hooded sweatshirt on, she ran back to her car before any more rain could spill on her.

She wanted to at least make sure her hair didn’t poof up into a small ethnic afro.

Ice cold body sitting upright with both hands gripped onto the steering wheel. The ignition wasn’t on but she continued to think that if she at least looked like she was ready to do something, nobody would ask questions and it’ll eventually manifest.

That was her current mantra.

She was accustomed to her old reality: the high end job, car, beautiful apartment, good friends, and a loving boyfriend. Well, good things don’t last forever and she needed to revamp, and grow.

At that point, it had already been five months since she moved to a new state. Leaving behind a hometown full of recent pain, anger, and confusion. IF she dare turn back now… who’s to say she would ever make it back out.

She was happy to be experiencing the newness of her surroundings. Although the culture clash did make some things difficult. Her priority became to save, and get back on her feet. We’ll just say that there was a lot more living in the moment, than saving. Regardless, she was experiencing and growing. You can’t blame her for that.

But moving out of the living situation she originally had and trying to find another one, was the biggest and current headache.

It became her daily routine to wake up before the sun rises so that she can go into the gym to shower, do her hair and make up. She always brushed her teeth from her car so that people wouldn’t start to question her presence for being in the gym’s locker room (since, clearly with a huge black duffle-bag, it definitely wasn’t to work out or lift weights).

Clothes, food, and memories. Her entire life was packed tightly into her small Toyota corolla for two months straight.

The car that housed her, was luckily the same car that got her from point A (wherever she stationed herself that day) to her jobs she found from the staffing agencies.

The friends she met at those jobs were amazing! Great times and never a dull moment. But to keep up with their perception of her…she chose not to tell them about her current situation.

After many personal conversations with them, she found out that they wouldn’t be able to help her even if she did open up.

So, this is when she reached her breaking point…

After finding dinner and driving around until she found a safe spot to park, she grabbed her phone and called up a friend that was currently living in Los Angeles.

Their conversation was long and emotional, but resulted in something great. She hid her phone under a pile of clothes in her passenger seat, grabbed her windshield sun shade and positioned it carefully (making sure no one was watching her hide herself), then rolled her seat back to fall asleep.

Her phone’s loud vibrations startled her and woke her from her sleep. It was a notification from her bank regarding her most recent direct deposit.

She quickly did some research and calculated some gas costs, food costs, and checked to see if she’d have enough leftover money for emergencies for the next two weeks.

Bowed her head in prayer and asked the Lord for guidance and safety… then hit the road.

It wasn’t her normal path (to the gym to shower)… she was driving towards the freeway. She planned to drive nonstop 26 hours from Austin, Tx to the big, beautiful city of LOS ANGELES.

There was no stopping her and no turning back now. She needed a change– FAST.

Front seat

Back seat