Joanna Tremaine paused from the rigorous packing she had been doing to stare longingly out the window. There was nothing cheery about this day. Even the Irish countryside looked bleak with the fog and rain that was drizzling down in fine sheets. Ever since her mother had sprung the news that they were moving to Los Angeles, Joanna had dreaded this day. True, Los Angeles was where she had been born, but this house had been her home for twelve of her sixteen years of life. It had been her comfort when her father and sister were killed in a car accident. And now, she was being torn away from them.
Thinking about them made Joanna unconsciously lift her hand to stroke her jaw line where a jagged scar still resided. Every time she looked in a mirror, she was reminded of the night. She was reminded that it was all her fault.
"Joanna!" her mother called. "Let's go! We'll miss the plane if you keep dawdling!" The rebuke brought Joanna back to reality and she forced the rest of her clothes into her suitcase, trying to make way too many clothes fit into far too few suitcases.
"Coming!" she called and raced around her room to stuff the last of her sentimental items into her other bags. She ran down the stairs and out the front door where she found a very pleasant surprise waiting for her.
"We wanted to say goodbye," her best friend, Meaghan O' Connor said, trying very hard to hold back any tears that might spring forth. Joanna's other three friends, J.J., Simone, and Bridget nodded in agreement. Even though Joanna saw her mom waiting impatiently next to the cab, she hugged each friend earnestly.
"Don't worry," she admonished. "We'll see each other at feiseanna."
"But the dance competitions won't be the same!" J.J. pouted, his long hair falling in his eyes. "We won't have you to practice with." He had been Joanna's friend since the age of six and she hated the thought of leaving him.
"I'm sorry, but that can't be helped. You know how much I want to stay. I'll just have to advance fast enough to come to the All Ireland then," Joanna said, trying hard to stay strong for her friends. She had promised herself earlier that she wouldn't cry, but her friends were making it increasingly difficult not to.
"Joanna! Let's go!" her mother's tone warned that she was getting rather annoyed. Joanna knew better than to make her mom wait for her. If she did stay and finish the conversation like she had hoped to, she'd be presented with an extraordinarily long lecture on obeying authorities instead of friends.
Bridget stepped forward suddenly and hugged Joanna hard. "Do your best Joanna," she whispered. "The accident wasn't your fault." She'd been trying to get her friend to understand that for years now, but Joanna was a hard person to convince. Once her mind was set on something, it was difficult for her to be swayed.
Joanna smiled sadly at her. "But it was," she said, and got into the car with her mom.
As the cab disappeared in the direction of the airport, Bridget shook her head. Simone put an arm around her friend. "She'll be just fine without your worrying."
Bridget smiled at her friend but shook her head. "She'll only be fine when she finds someone who understands her." She gazed down the road where the cab had disappeared. "Someone who understands her more than any of us ever could."