The rain hit against the windshield in little drops, the forest thinning out around us as we drove closer to town. My eyes moved from the green scenery around us to the temperature gauge on the bottom of the rear view mirror where I was met by the warm gaze of my father. I scowled in response and he quickly diverted his eyes back to the road and away from my icy gaze. The temperature was 68° degrees and I mentally shivered pulling my hoodie around me tightly. It felt as if the cold had started to seep into the car, and my heart.

My name is Allison Redford, Allie for short, and this is the tenth time my family and I have moved. Five times because of my father's job and five times because my mother had grown tired of living in the same house for too long. She would always joke that she had a gypsy soul, great for an eighteen-year-old but not something you would expect for a woman in her fourties.

We never stayed in one place for what my mother considered "too, long." We would usually stay in one place for two years before we would pack up and move again. I guess you could say I was used to it by now so I shouldn't' have been surprised when my parents sat me down in the living room last month to tell me the news of yet another move, but it still stung.

"Forks?" I said in surprise.

"It's in Washington." My mother answered

"I know where it is." I snapped.

"Don't use that tone with your mother young lady." My father reprimanded.

I rolled my eyes and slumped back into the couch suddenly feeling like a big weight had been dumped on my shoulders.

"But that's thirty-eight hours from here!" my voice tilting dangerously close to hysteria.

"Well yes but it's a really cute little town. You know the kind where everybody knows everybody. Wouldn't it be neat to know your neighbor's honey?" my mom asked as she sat next to me, putting her arm around my shoulder.

"Oh swell it'll be just like living in Cheers." I said looking over at her as if she'd just grown two heads.

She looked up at my father for help. He caught her helpless expression and let out a strangled cough before responding.

"Uh, aw come on Al it won't be so bad. Hey I'll make it up to you, what'd you say we go down to the diner for a milkshake?" he said giving me a goofy grin.

I just glared and crossed my arms sinking lower into the couch.

"I know you don't want to move again honey but I promise this will be the last time." My mom said with what she thought was a reassuring pat on the back before getting up and going to the kitchen to start dinner.

I rolled my eyes again. "Oh yeah like I haven't heard that one before." I muttered to myself.

"Come on Al, turn that frown upside down." My dad said with his usual goofy enthusiasm.

I rolled my eyes again before getting up and going to my room with the sensation that my heart had sunk into the bottom of my stomach.

And now here I was sitting in the back seat of my dad's Ford 4x4 watching the rain fall and feeling like the depressed weather matched my mood perfectly. We drove past the dreary little town of Forks, away from the main street with all its little shops and closer to the neighborhood where our new house sat. We passed some kids that were my age leaving a tiny diner all decked out with hoodies splashing their way through puddles the rain had left behind.

"Oh honey look, I bet they go to your new school." My mom pointed out enthusiastically.

"Gee ya think?" I said, my words dripping with sarcasm.

I saw my mother's hand drop and instantly felt guilty for being so harsh.

"Hey I bet that diner serves decent milkshakes. Once we get settled why don't I and you go share one?" my dad asked in an attempt to make me feel better.

"Sure." I said quietly.

Five minutes later we pulled into the drive way and I stared up at the small three bedroom, two bath house that I was now supposed to call home. As much as I hated it I had to admit it was beautiful. It was a baby blue color with white trim and shutters with a big wrap around porch. I had to hand it to my mother, she sure did know how to pick out a house.

"Alright let's get started." my dad said clapping his hands together.

He opened the door of the U-haul we had rented and thrusted a box of kitchen utensils into my waiting arms. I walked up the front steps and onto the porch and kicked open the door with my already rain soaked converse mentally cursing the never ending rainy weather. I stepped out of the cold breeze and into the entry way looking at my surroundings.

I suddenly felt a wave of home sickness over whelm me and it took almost all of my resolve to keep from bursting into tears. I missed the blue sun filled skies of South Texas. It's the end of summer and if I'd been back home I'd probably be spending the day with my friends at the beach with the warm sand in between my toes and the sun warming my face and arms.

I missed the sound of the waves crashing against the shore and watching my friends trying to build sand castles. Hell, we'd been in the middle of a drought when I left and now here I was in the wettest place on earth. There it'd been 104° degrees and now it was a freezing 68°. I felt immensely tired all of a sudden just thinking about it.

I wanted to crawl in my bed and cry but I didn't have a bed to crawl into yet so I tired to take a deep calming breath. I heard my mothers footsteps as she stopped to stand next to me with a huge smile on her face and shifted the weight of the box she was carrying on her hip, wrapping an arm around me. She closed her eyes and took a big deep breath before opening them again taking a good look at our new house.

"Ah, home sweet home."

And that was when the dam broke and the water works started.