As the school year drew to a close, the days seemed to grow longer. It was becoming a time where students are overloaded with the end of year tests and last minute projects. A really inconvenient time if you ask me, especially when it comes to moving to a new school district. Which is apparently why my parents waited until the summer to spring it on me that we were picking up and leaving.

Please note that, in all honesty, I wouldn't have had a problem with moving in the first place if they had just told me right off the bat of their plans. It's not like I had much of a reason to stick around anymore given the year's events and all. But my parents waited until the very week we were supposed to move to finally notify me.

I sat hunched over with my arms crossed loosely over my chest and my temple pressed against the backseat window. I watched as various trees and plants, along with the black pavement the car drove on, all pass by at a fast pace. It was something that I would've appreciated if I wasn't so tired. In the background the radio played a random slow song, and it seemed to be the only barrier between deafening silence and the low hum of the driving car itself.

I can feel my eyelids growing heavy and soon enough without my given permission, they began to fall closed. And if they had been all the way shut, I would've missed the little white sign that reads "Welcome to Derry!" In red lettering. My eyes open back up and I take the fleeting moment of us driving by to acknowledge the decal flowers and vines that decorated the corners of the words on the upper left and lower right. It seemed that someone had even tied a balloon to the pole, a little red thing that echoed the sign's message as it bobbed in the wind.

I lift my head up off of the window and sit in a lazy upright position. I take a moment to wipe my eyes with a single hand.

"We're here." Mama chimes gleefully

I repress a sneer that threatens to cross my features the second she opens her mouth, letting out that sickly cheerful voice of hers. Against my better wishes, I watch as my mother turns around in her seat to look at me. She offers me a weak smile and even extends her hand out to me, reaching for my similarly sized hand. I begrudgingly allow her to take it, but turn my gaze back to where it had originally been, out the window. I admit that I felt my stomach drop when I came to realize that the open woods no longer danced past our car; and it was just differently shaped pastel colored houses that lined either side of us now.

I felt the car rolling to a stop at a random stop sign, and I once again turned my attention forward upon feeling my mother retracting her hand from mine. I watch as she turns back around in her seat so that she could face forward.

Boredly, my eyes wander over to the red stop sign on the crossroad we'd stopped at. The streets were generally quite empty, and there were kids who could only be slightly younger than me biking down the street on my right. My eyes follow them as they ride, and it was at that point that I noticed the street sign sitting on the left side of the car. "Burnside Avenue" was what was printed in squarish white lettering on a green sign.

The car suddenly begins to drive once again, and Dad pulls down that specific street, catching me by surprise as my body leans to the right. My eyes turn upward towards the rear view mirror, where I noticed him glancing up at me.

"Well," He begins, trying to break the ice "Who's ready for some unpacking?"

Mama turns her head and offers him a smile while I just cross my arms over my chest and shake my head at them in disappointment. The car rolls to a stop outside a decently sized two-story house that was painted a shade of a pale red. There was already a U-Haul truck parked in the gravel driveway, where a couple men were unloading various things. Upon seeing that my black dresser had already been set on the lawn, I couldn't help but feel my mood sour further.

"Look kiddaroo, I'm sorry we had to move." Dad tells me as he shuts the car off and pulls the keys out of the ignition.

My attention snaps up to his face as a fire ignites in my stomach. I land an abrupt and harsh blow to the backseat passenger door beside me in a fit of useless rage.

"You're not sorry, you liar!" I argue "If you were sorry then I wouldn't have been blamed for everything!"

My parents both flinch at my sudden outburst, but quickly regain their composure. I watch with a bitter taste in my mouth as Dad turns around in his seat.

"Nobody's blaming anybody, kidaroo." He assures me calmly "What happened, happened. Nobody's saying you-"

"Yes, they were!" I shout "None of the other girls had to move!"

"[First Name] I-"

I was already done with this conversation. I unbuckle my seat belt, feeling as if I was going to break something the longer I listened to them make excuses. I reach over to the opposite side of the backseat and grab the strap of my backpack. I come dangerously close to breaking the strap as I hook it over my shoulder, whilst I bitterly opening the door on my side of the van and climb out. Mama tries to call out to me through the car, but I just slam the door shut. I storm across the grass and up into the U-Haul truck. The two strangers were on their way down in front of me, and I stood to the side, impatiently waiting as they unloaded my mothers wooden vanity.

I stomp up the ramp after the two men are finally off of it. I hadn't bothered to learn their names at that time, but later that day I discovered that their names were Tim and Allen, so that's what I'm gonna refer to them as until we get there.

I grab a random box that I had scribbled my name onto and walk down the ramp, heading over to the front door. Dad and Mama had gotten out of the car by this point, and immediately went to start helping Tim and Allen with unloading in general.

I squish the box between the door and myself so that I could free up a hand to try the doorknob. It was indeed open, and I almost dropped my box when the door nearly flung open. But, I managed to gather the box back in my arms, which was a relief. I stepped inside of what was presumably the living room, and take a moment to look around, before acknowledging the stairs. I scoff at how small they were but still make my way over and up them. The wood croaks and cries as I trudge up, planting one foot in front of the other, not bothering to acknowledge the carpet that lined the steps.

Upon reaching the top, I glance around, before picking a random direction to walk in. I continue throwing my head from side to side, trying to pick out which room I wanted to claim, before settling on the only one farthest down the short hallway that was on the left. I enter it, and plop the box down by the closet with a sigh. I shake my aching arms out, trying to get them to loosen up before I let the bag slip down from my shoulder and hit the wood floor beside the box.

Maybe that physical therapist was right after all. Damn, in that case I really needed to get back into exercising again.

I look away from the box and pivot as my eyes land on the large, horizontal rectangle of a window that I would have now. It seemed to be covered with some blinds, which was nice because I wouldn't have to go buy new ones, but they still let some light pour in. Regardless, I was interested. I trudge over to the large window, taking a moment to casually grab the cord and pull it down. In response, the blinds slide upward, folding over each other with a gentle screech as I pulled. It was a bay window, which was a nice new touch since I hadn't realized before.

I lean over, placing my palms on the outward-jutting windowsill. I could see about three or four houses in front of me, and a few more as I turned my head in either direction. The homes in this town weren't anything special compared to the obnoxiously extravagant ones that used to surround me, and I had to admit that it was a nice change. I peer down at the lawn, eyes scanning it until they fell on those that I was looking for. Dad was helping Tim carry some boxes in whilst Mama engaged Allen in a conversation about who knows what. Curiously, my eyes ventured over to the other side of the road, where my eyes land on something a bit unnerving.

There stood a boy, staring directly at me with piercing eyes. I couldn't tell what color they were from the distance I was at but it didn't matter anyway. My body locked up against my will when a saw a grin stretch across his face. I scan him, sizing him up almost by default. But that was before the stranger distracted me by raising a single hand up to wave at me. It was a motion that caused the corner of the tan shirt, the one that had a light purple flower surrounded in pale green leaves, to hike up just a bit. His other hand just remains flat against at his side, barely twitching at the movement. He stuffs his hands into the pockets of his black skinny jeans, after having finished his waving, but that wasn't what he caught me off guard with. What caught me off guard was how he shot me a wink and opened his mouth, snapping his teeth at me like a dog would a piece of meat dangling overhead, before his form shook with laughter and he dragged his tongue along his top and bottom lips in a suggestive manor. I felt myself jerk back in surprise, but for some reason, perhaps out of anger or stubbornness, I remained standing at the window.

'What the fuck?' Is all I could ask myself as he chomped at me

Suddenly, his ratty black combat boots that somehow still shined in the sunlight, moved; his feet turning him in a different direction. He began walking down the sidewalk, going god-knows-where. From what I could tell, he still wore the same unnerving grin on his face as he walked away, but who knows?

Now feeling greatly unnerved as his left, I finally recoiled, snapping out of my stupid daze of curiosity. I reach over and grab the cord, taking a moment to yank it so the blinds would come down. Sure, they ended up going all the way down and almost fell down off of their holders, but I didn't care. I didn't want to see any more of that freak for as long as I was stuck in this town.

"Hey kidaroo,"

I let out a cry of surprise and jump upright, almost going through the ceiling as I spin around, slapping one hand over my heart whilst the other caught my almost-falling self on the windowsill. My dad steps forward trying to reach out to catch me as I stumbled, but he retracts his hand with a chuckle upon realizing that I'm fine.

"Well kidaroo, sorry to scare you. I just came up to check on you," He tells me "See if you'd decided on a room yet."

"Yeah, I did." I tell him passive-aggressively

I straighten myself back on my feet, quickly regaining my balance. I let out a small sigh of annoyance as I cross my arms over my chest by default and give him something of a half-assed glare. Dad raises his hands up in defense in a relaxed manor, silently calling for a truce.

"Sorry, didn't realize you were still on vacation in 'tude-central." He remarks, jokingly "Anyway, I'll be downstairs helping Tim and Allen load things into the house with your mother if you need anything."

"Sure, Dad." I reply in a stand-offish manor

Dad spins around and walks out of the door, and I turn away to look back at the window. But I'm stopped when his hand grips the door frame, pulling him back just enough for his head to peak into the doorway. His eyebrows knit together as he frowned a rare frown.

"You know that we really don't blame you for any of what happened, right?" He asked me quietly "And that we love you very much?"

I sigh once again, it being much softer than my previously anger-driven ones. My arms loosen up from their tight cage that I had locked them in, and before they even completely uncross, I lift one up to run that hand through my messy hair.

"Yeah, I know." I tell him gently

I feel tempted to say anything, maybe even tell him that I was sorry. But instead, I choose to bite the words back, choking on them after they revert back down my throat as he smiles at me; before disappearing from my door frame. I didn't owe an apology to anyone. I made that very clear when I had those handcuffs slapped on my wrists all those months ago, earlier in the school year.

Either way, before my head can begin it's unwilling plunge down the rabbit hole that my memories resided in, I swat away the metaphoric thoughts that swarmed around me. Instead, I shrugged it off, figuring that I'd deal with things later if they came up, 'cause I just wanted to get my room unpacked and together.

Maybe Mama was right. Maybe a new start would be good for me.