Chapter 1: Moving
I wish this day wouldn't come—but it did.
Moving Day.
The one day that I dreaded the most out of my life.
Mom got a job offer in Station Square, which was nice. But it required me and her to move over 20 miles away from our old home.
"The move will be good for you," she started, "A nice change of scenery."
"But what about my friends? I can't just leave them."
"You can make new ones."
"Our garden?"
"We can start a fresh one."
I really wasn't buying this whole ordeal. But of course no matter how much I begged and pleaded, Mom wasn't going to change her mind.
"What about dad?" Mom looked crestfallen.
"Honey. I understand it was hard on you when your father passed, but we can't just bring him with us now can we?"
My dad had died about a year ago due to heart failure. It was sad knowing he wasn't going to be there physically anymore, but I learned to accept it. Ever since his passing, I made it a priority to go to his grave almost every week; resting a fresh bouquet of flowers near the tombstone marked "Jasper Aiden Rose. Loving father, husband and firefighter." Mom promised me that we would try and visit him at least every two weeks. Hearing that brought a smile to my lips, but I was still bummed about the move.
I turned my attention to the road, we were still on the highway, which meant we had a long ways ahead before we reached our destination. I took a glance in the passenger rear view mirror to see the moving truck directly behind us. There were actually two moving truck, but the first one had went on ahead of us, considering he was a friend of mom's and he knew the way. As a matter of fact, he was the one that suggested the job offer to mom. Thanks a lot! Since it would still be a long way, I decided to take a nap to pass the time.
XXXX Two hours later XXX
Looking out the window after waking from my nap, I noticed we were still on the highway. The only change was a lake right under the highway. Mom briefly told me we were close. I then looked down to my lap where a bouquet of roses lay. I had completely forgot they were there the whole entire time. Grabbing a hold of the stems of the bouquet, I took a close inspection of them. They were a farewell gift from one of my closest friends, Honey. Honey had given me the bouquet right before we had left today. We were all hanging in front of the driveway of my old home, along with my other friends Eimi, Erma, Barby, Henrietta, Leeta and Lyco.
"We are surely going to miss you Amy," stated Leeta as she gave me a firm hug. Lyco, her twin sister placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. Henrietta, the klutz of our little group, was on the verge of tears, and soon produced a flowing waterfall. Barby, who stood by, offered her a hanky which she graciously accepted. Mom blew the horn of the car, indicating that it was time for us to go. Before I made my way to the car, Honey had offered me a small gift. "Here Amelia," she was the only one who called me by my full name, a gift from all of us girls. She handed me a small bouquet of red and pink roses tied off with a pink ribbon. I thanked all of the girls, gave all of them one last hug, got an extra one from Eimi since she loved hugs, and made my way to the car.
I rarely had any guy friends back at my old school except for Nicky, who lived down the street from me. Nicky would happen to be my second closest friend, next to Honey. We have been friends since we were babies in diapers. Our parents were close friends, so we always hung around with each other all the time. People would mistake us as brother and sister because of how close our bond was, and I could believe them. Nicky was like the big brother I never had. However, when we got into our middle school years, I saw less and less of Nicky due to all the extracurricular activities he did. Band, tutoring, honor society, he was a smart kid. We still made an effort to hang out with each other, and the girls when we got a chance. It sucks that Nicky couldn't make it to my going away, he had to go out of town for his grandma.
After snapping back into reality, I noticed that a few of the petals from the roses had begun to fall. "Mom, my roses are wilting," I exclaimed as I held the bouquet for her to view. She took a quick glance before turning her attention back to the road.
"I told you not to crush them. As soon as we get to the house, you can put them in some water. But for now, you'll have to wait."
"And when will that be," I replied with a huff.
"Soon." Yet we were still on the highway.
It took maybe 30 more minutes before we reached our destination. A small white home in a little neighborhood. I sat in the car for a while, taking in the atmosphere of the neighborhood. Plenty of trees, many houses, some different, so identical, and a couple of cars lined the streets. The second moving truck at took up the curb near the front of the house. I soon emerged from our small car to get a better view. I looked to the yard that was to the left of me and took notice to a small cream rabbit girl who was in the middle of playing with her ball. Apparently she had stopped because I saw her eyeing me, and her ball was firmly in her grasp. Next thing I know, she drops her ball and bolts into her house. "She must be shy, really shy," I thought to myself.
I then proceeded to the back of the car to retrieve my things, my two red suitcases, and my fuchsia colored backpack which I slung over one shoulder. Afterwards, I closed the trunk of the car and made my way up to the front door of the house. I took notice to the huge front porch with the porch swing that was nearby before making my way through the front door. The inside of the house was bustling with movers, they moved things here and there while Mom was standing in the middle of the way giving out orders. From the inside of the house, it was way bigger than how it looked on the outside. A large living room to the upper right of the entryway, the kitchen right under it, the dining room to the bottom left, and the hallway where the bedrooms were, were right after the dining room. Mom soon took notice of me coming through the door.
"Oh, so you finally decided to come out of the car didn't you?" she joked. "Conner already put your furniture in your room. Go set your stuff in there, then you can come help me ok?" I nodded. And soon made my way down the hallway.
"It's the first one on the right sweetie," Mom had yelled down the hall. As I approached the door, I noticed Connor coming out of the room.
"Oh hey kiddo, just finished putting your room together. Connor was lanky dog with forest green colored fur with red accents on his arms, legs, tips of his ears and tail, and even the upper part of his eyes. He had a bright set of amber colored eyes, and he seemed to be growing a scruff of red fur under his chin.
"You like the way I set up your room," I take a quick peek inside to admire the contents. My bed on the far right wall, taking up the center of the room, the nightstand to the left of the bed, my desk on the right, the small dresser lining the space under the window on the back wall, and the large dresser on the left wall. I gave a simple nod to the dog, and he returned it with a smile before walking off down the hall.
"You're the reason why I regret this day," I mumbled under my breath as I shoot a sneaky death glare into his back.
Setting the bags near the door, I also make my way down the hall and to the living room. Mom was currently digging through one of the many boxes scattered about. Looking around I could tell she had already started with the unpacking, there were already a couple of things placed around the area. A few were laid out on the nearby sofa, along with my pink dufflebag that I had forgot in the car. I then reached for said bag, and soon heard Mom say "I found it", before emerging from the box she was digging in. She turned around and saw me waiting.
"There you are sweetie, I just found the vase for your roses. I'll go ahead and put them in some water for you. She reached for the kitchen bar and grabbed for my bouquet that she retrieved from the car. "Thanks mom," I replied.
XXX Hours passed XXX
Mom and I had finally finished with the unpacking, well with Connor's help of course. He was the last of the movers who stuck around to help before making his way back home. The other movers had left a couple of hours ago. I sat on the long couch that faced awat from the huge tv in the living room. My body slumped from exhaustion, I certainly didn't feel like sitting up straight. Mom had occupied herself in the kitchen by putting away the last of the dishes. We hadn't got a chance to hook up the tv, and it wouldn't be until tomorrow on Saturday when the cable amn would come by and install the cable. So for now, all I could stare at was a black screen.
Mom soon emerges from kitchen, "Alright, it's been a long day and Momma doesn't feel like cooking. What do you want for takeout?" She took notice to my tired form on the couch, "You alright Amy?" she asked. All I could groan out was a simple "I'm tired." My mom came behind the couch and rubbed the top of my head.
"You just need some food in your system. You hungry for Chinese?" Looking behind me, I could see mom with a caring smile on her features.
"Lo Mein and some Egg Drop Soup does sound nice."
~End Chapter 1