Chapter 1
I sat upside down on the couch with my feet over top the top. I saw a pair of shoes and jeans walk in front of me.
"Hey," the voice said.
"What up?" I asked. My brother Billy sat beside me. He shook his head.
"You shouldn't watch this." He said, as I watched The Jetsons, which was intended for ages 4 to 10. And I was sitting here, 13 years old.
"Bite my shiny metal ass." I said sticking my tongue out at him.
"Make me." He said with a smirk. The phone buzzed below my head. I tried to pick it up, but fell off the couch in the process.
"God damn!" I exclaimed. I picked up the phone, pulled the antenna up and hit the talk button.
"Yo?" I said, sitting up.
"Emmaline? It's me." My friend Vanessa said into the phone.
"What's wrong with the boys now?" I said.
"Well," She said.
"Van?" I said, agitated. I knew something was up. That was just me.
"It's about you." She said.
"Yeah? What do I not know about myself?" I said, now something was definitely wrong.
"Well, your parents didn't want to tell you but," She paused. "You're moving." Was all I heard.
"What?!" I screamed. I smashed my finger on the end button and tossed the phone onto the cushiony chair.
"What's wrong?" Billy asked.
"We're moving." I said and lay down across the couch. He sighed.
"I'm gonna order a pizza, to seal the pain of this." Billy said. He got up and dialed the Dan & Alex's Pizza number into the phone.
"Hello? Yeah. Can I get a 16 inch pepperoni pizza with bacon? Delivery please. Thanks." He said and hung up. He sat down next to me in the recliner chair. I flipped on the tv again and returned to my program.
I could not believe that my mom and dad had thought to not tell Billy or me about moving? Why would they keep that huge secret from us? I mean, I'm 13 years old, and Billy's 15, we should have heard it from the mouths of them at least, and not our friend.
About 10 minutes later, a knock came from the door and Billy opened it. The pizza delivery guy gave him the pizza and Billy paid him. He ran to his car and jetted off.
"Well someone's in a hurry." Billy said as he kicked the door closed with the ankle of his shoe. He set the pizza box on the floor and we dug in.
I loved Billy, he was my brother, I kind of had to, but I actually did love him. He's always been there for me whenever I needed him. Especially at this time of our lives.
"Turn up the volume." Billy said. I reached for the remote as our parents walked in the door. We stood up and looked at them, our arms crossed.
"Hey guys. How was your weekend? Did you have fun?" Our mom asked. I tapped my foot and Billy lifted an eyebrow. Our dad cocked his head.
"What's wrong kids?" He asked.
"We know Dad." I said.
"About what?"
"Moving." Billy said. Our parents sighed.
"Right, that." Mom said. She motioned us towards the couch, sitting us down.
"Billy, Em, we've been talking about this for quite some time, and we decided, we're moving to Salt Lake City, Utah." Dad said.
"Utah?!" We screamed at the same time. At that point, I was about to explode.
"Dad, that's halfway across the country!" Billy said.
"Why in the heck are we moving to that hell hole?" I exclaimed.
"Emma Jensen Conrad!" Mom said.
"I'm expressing myself! Jesus!" I said, got up, and stormed into my room. I heard footsteps coming down the hall. My dad opened the door and poked his head in.
"Em?" He said. "Can I come in?"
"Not my house." I said. I put my pillow over my head. He sat down beside me.
"Sweetheart, the reason we're moving is," He said. "I got offered a really good paying job there and it was either, moving there for 95% of the year there by myself, or move there permanently with you guys. And I just couldn't leave you guys." We sat in silence.
"Em?"
"Yeah?" I said.
"You forgive me, right?" He asked. My dad was such a softie sometimes.
"I might as well." I said and lifted the pillow off my face. I realized that he had brought the remainder of the pizza in with him. I grabbed the remote for my tv and flipped on Mighty Mouse.
"Dad, do you think Mighty Mouse could kill a person if he tried?" I said whilst I ate my pizza.
"Sure, but they wouldn't put it on tv, cause kids'd be scarred for life." He replied. It was a logical answer.
I hoped that Utah would be nice. I hoped.