The day I found out my family would be moving from beautiful San Diego to hot-as-hell Tucson was terrible. My Dad had hinted at it a few times, but finally he came out and said that his company had transferred him to a new plant. What a joyous family bonding time the next few weeks were.
My name is Angela Louise, but everyone just calls me Angie or Angie-Lou. I'm here to tell you the story of what seemed to be the most tragic months of my life, and the person that helped me through the whole thing.
Now I know you're probably starting to doubt the worth-readingness (it's a word now) of this story, but trust me, it'll get good.
Just hang with me.
Since we were on break when my Dad broke the news to my family and I, I sent out an email to all of my friends, explaining my situation. I really had only three
people I considered my best friends. Esther, whom I had known the longest, Nina, the girl who was practically my twin (as we liked all the same things…it was
kind of creepy), and Damian.
Damian was a strange one, to say the least. He was called a "nerd" and "loser" by everyone, and hardly talked to anyone. He had messy black hair with bangs, glasses, was very pale, used to be homeschooled, and loved sci-fi. Oh, and he didn't talk much. Especially to girls.
Does he sound like the stereo-typical nerd yet?
Yeah, that's 'cause he pretty much is. Sigh.
Anyways, Damian was also strange because he was the only guy I had ever grown exceptionally close to. Though I'm not entirely sure why, because when I first met him I thought he was a stalker. Like…for real. He would always stare at me whenever I walked by, or sat in the same row as him in class, etc., etc. He wasn't even trying to be subtle. But I recently found out it wasn't because he had a crush on me or anything, but because he was fascinated with how loud I was.
Okay, I'll come clean. I am a very loud person. I have a great sense of humor (or so I've been told). My facial expressions "are off the charts." I'm always introducing myself to people and I just love to talk!
And that part of me drew Damian's attention, because (as he recently admitted) he had never seen someone that "never judged, and just accepted everyone." I…like people. Or something like that. I'M A STRANGE PERSON, OKAY?
So anyways, I sent out the email to Esther, Nina, and Damian (with them all CC'ed of course, so they couldn't see I sent it to the others) and told them that after five years of living in San Diego, I was moving.
Their responses were heartbreaking.
You could tell Nina was trying to comfort me by joking that "we'll just kidnap you! And then forcefully adopt you! So you'll have to stay in California!"
Esther was just a mess, saying how sorry she was and how much she would miss me. She does tend to be quite emotional.
But then…there was Damian. His reply was short and to the point:
"My dearest friend, Angie-Lou: (he always addressed me as such. It had become a friendly joke)
I will admit that I am very sad that you will be moving seven and a half hours away from your true home. But this feeling is outweighed by my excitement and happiness for you. You will get to live in a new house, redecorate your room like you've always wanted, and you'll get to see new things and meet new people. Stay in touch, you here?
Fare Thee Well,
Damian."
I could just imagine the sad eyes and small smile his face had while he typed it out. Ugh.
It's not like I was mad or anything, but...I expected him to say something similar to Nina and Esther, y'know? How much he would miss me and all that? How he wished I could stay? I know I probably sound really selfish right now...but...I dunno. That was just Damian for you. I think, at the time, his words did help me to say goodbye to San Diego, but I just didn't realize it. He was weird in that sense. When you talked to him over the internet or text or whatever, he was the most thoughtful, awesome guy. But then you get around him in person...and he's just so socially uncomfortable that you almost want to leave him alone out of pity.
-END OF CHAPTER ONE-