A sigh escaped my lips as I watched the trees zoom by from the outside of the car. I was moving to a new home, a new neighborhood, a new state with my dad. Ever since my parents told my little siblings and I the truth about them getting a divorce, I haven't been talking all that much. I closed my eyes and I flashbacked to a week ago, when my parents told us that things were going to change.
"Ava! Jonathan! Minah! Please come downstairs! We need to talk to you!" I heard my mom call from downstairs. I groaned as I slid out of my warm and comfy bed, away from my beloved laptop which I had previously been playing Minecraft on (when I honestly should have been working on homework). I swung open my bedroom door, and called downstairs. "Coming!" As I walked through the hallway, I banged on my little sister's bedroom door (Ava) and my little brother's bedroom door (Jonathan). "Come on, kiddos! Mom and Dad want to talk to us." I heard Ava complain and whine about how she was busy talking to her friends, and I rolled my eyes. Ever since the brat had gotten a cell phone (even though she was only 13 years old; which isn't old enough to have a phone, in my opinion), she had been even MORE bratty and disrespectful than usual. Not like that was surprising, I was expecting it anyway.
Eventually, my two little siblings trudged out of their bedrooms, and we walked downstairs, to the living room. I plopped down onto the sofa, with my siblings sitting on both sides of me. "Yeah? What is it?" I questioned. My mom and dad were sitting on the fireplace. They looked at each other, and then my mom took a deep breath. "This is going to be very hard to say, but… Kids… Your dad and I…"
"We're getting a divorce." At hearing this, my eyes widened and my mouth dropped. I was in shock, and so were my siblings.
After a moment of silence, I uttered out a "what…?!" My mom and dad looked at each other once again, before turning back to face us. And then, they started to explain.
As they explained in the softest way they could, I didn't realize that I was starting to twitch and hyperventilate. As my parents finished explaining, my eyes began to let out a waterfall of tears, but I covered my face so they couldn't see. I snuck a peek on both sides of me, to look at my siblings. On the right side of me, Ava, the youngest child, was starting to cry. On the left side of me, Jonathan, the middle child, was just staring at my parents in shock (which was a surprise, because he usually can't go five seconds without speaking).
My parents noticed all of this, and my mother stood up and came to give me a hug. I just sat there, quietly, as her arms wrapped around me. Eventually, I hugged back, but I was still in shock. Tears stopped streaming down my face, but I was still in utter despair on the inside. My mom stopped hugging me to hug my sister and my brother. "Do you guys understand?" My father asked quietly. I nodded my head slowly, but soon afterwards, I shook my head. "W-Where… W-Who is going to move out…?" I questioned. I had read enough books (fictional and nonfictional) to know that when it came to a divorce, one parent tends to have to move out. "Me." My father said. "W-Where… W-Where are y-you going to move to?" I asked. A moment of silence ensued, before my father answered me. "I will be moving out of state, to a small town in the state of Colorado." My eyes widened even more in shock. "Your mother will be staying here." Immediately after this settled in, I blurted out, "I want to go with Dad." My mother and father stared at me in surprise, surprised to see that I already knew who I wanted to be with.
"But what about school, Minah? And your friends?" Mom asked, with my father quickly asking something afterwards. "And Jonathan and Ava? And… And your mother?" I looked down at my lap as I wrapped my arms around myself. "S-Somebody has to keep Dad in check… And besides, Jonathan and Ava won't be w-willing to switch s-schools… I, at least, can s-still talk to my friends, because I have a phone. And S-Skype." My parents still stared at me, until my mother stated her opinion. "If that's what you want… Then you can move in with your dad, if he says yes." I looked pleadingly at my dad. He sighed and nodded his head, signaling that I could go with him. After that, we started to talk more, before I excused myself, and headed upstairs to my bedroom, to… To think. And to cry.
"Hey, chickadee? You okay there?" I shook myself out of my dazed state, and looked to my dad, who sat at the wheel, glancing worriedly at me. I nodded my head and hummed, signaling that I was alright. "Good." A moment of silence ensued once again, as Green Day (my favorite band) blasted from the radio. "Listen, we'll be there in about ten minutes. You ready to see our house?" My dad asked, and I nodded once again. Soon enough, we arrived in a suburban neighborhood. My new home. My new neighborhood. My new state. My… My new life.