16 years later
I glanced at the clock, and groaned when it was already past one o'clock. I had school first thing tomorrow and Mom would not forgive me if I woke up late. Taking a look out the window, I saw the park lights still on. How was I supposed to sleep with those glaring at me? Getting up from the computer, I went across the hall to the living room and began to search through the numerous boxes for my things. That was the worst part about moving, having to pack everything up then just unpack it once again, only in a different location. I quickly changed, brushed my teeth and jumped into bed. Despite being nervous about my first day of school, I soon fell asleep.
The blaring alarm woke me up a couple hours later. Reluctantly, I crawled out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. Mom was already up making breakfast once I finished washing up. She shot a glance at me and said "You stayed up late last night didn't you Skylar?" I grimaced, too tired to make a reply. She sighed, "I could hear you, rummaging around. If you are going to sneak around, at least do it quietly." A plate of eggs was placed down in front of me. "Eat up, then we have to get going to make it on time."
When we got to the school, Mom dropped me off with little more than a "Good luck!" because she was late for her job at the hospital. As I maneuvered my way through the crowds outside the front of the school, I noticed that the majority of the people either ignored me or just didn't notice. This was good. Many years of being the new kid gave much experience in adjusting to the high school population. It was never a good thing to be noticed right away, it meant that they had noticed something about you that made you stand out. You might look different to them, which in school, was never a good thing. I followed the large crowd of students into the school and looked around. There was a staircase that led to the classes upstairs and to the right, two double doors with a sign above reading "Main Office". I made my way to the office and walked up to the secretary. I stopped in front of her desk, cluttered with pictures of her family and friends. She was talking on the phone and gestured for me to take a seat. I sat down in a slightly uncomfortable chair and looked around the office. To my left was a case filled with various artwork, clay pots, paintings and photographs. Towards the back of the office there was a line of kids, presumably waiting for a note to be written. When the secretary finally hung up, I got up and walked back over to her. Without looking up she asked "Name?" I blinked and answered "Skylar Jackson." She looked up and peered at me. "Ah, you're the new girl," I nodded and she entered some information into the computer. The printer made a groaning noise and as it finished, the secretary grabbed the paper and shoved it at me. "This is your schedule," she told me absentmindedly, already turning back to her previous work. "Since you're new, your teachers shouldn't be too mad if you're late to class, but I would still hurry if I were you." When I just stood there, she looked back up at me raising an eyebrow. "Can I help you with anything else?" "Oh. No, thank you." I replied. Once again she turned back to her work I quickly walked back towards the double doors that I came through. Taking a deep breath, I headed down the hall to my first class.
The day passed like any other first day of school. Kids stared when you walked in, asked you questions about where you came from, lost interest and went back to their own conversations. Not soon enough, the bell for the end of the day rang and everyone began sprinting out of school. I took out my cell phone and saw that Mom had left me a message apologizing because she would be a few minutes late but to wait for her outside. I looked around, spotted a wall and walked to sit down against it. To entertain myself I pulled out the book I had been assigned in English. A few minutes later, I heard footsteps coming towards me and when I looked up, there was a man heading for where I was. I looked back down at my book, hoping he would just pass by me.
"Excuse me, but would you happen to know where I would pick a student up?"
So much for wishful thinking.
I looked up at him. "Sorry I just moved here, I don't know much." He smiled and his green eyes lit up, "You must be the one that moved into the house across from the park!" I gave him a funny look, for that was exactly where the house was. He saw my look and began to apologize "I don't mean to scare you out; it's just that I live in the house next to you, the one with the oak tree in front, and I noticed that the house had been sold." A dark man, he looked as if he was fresh out of college. Sticking his hand out, he introduced himself.
"I'm Evan. It's a pleasure to meet you"
I slowly reached my hand out and shook it. "I'm Skylar," Once again he smiled and began to speak when he suddenly stopped and turned to look at something on the right. I followed his gaze and saw another man standing off to the side. All I could make out was that he had red hair when my view was blocked by Evan.
"Well it's been great talking to you but I have to go pick up my sister, I'll see you around," With that, he turned towards the school and disappeared within. When I looked back at the red headed man, he was gone. Puzzled, I sat there contemplating until a familiar car pulled up. I grabbed my stuff and jumped into Mom's car. She turned to me and gave me a big smile.
"So how was your first day?" She asked as she began to pull out from the parking lot, to which I merely gave her a look. "Oh come on, it couldn't have been all bad, tell me one good thing about it."
"Mom, its school and I'm the new kid, you do the math". I looked over to see her frowning. Once we stopped at a red light she started to talk.
"Skylar, I know its hard moving around, but it's really important that we keep moving."
"For your job?"
"Yes."
"Mom, you work at a hospital."
"So?"
"There are hospitals everywhere!" I exclaimed. The light turned green and we started moving again. There was silence for the rest of the car ride home. When we pulled up into the driveway, Mom put the car in park and looked at me again, frowning.
"I don't expect you to understand why we move around so much, but just know it's necessary." And that was when I couldn't take it anymore.
"Why do you keep so many secrets from me? I'm not eight years old anymore Mom, you can't trick me into thinking every time we move it's so we can go on some fabulous adventure! I don't have a normal life because of you, and I doubt I ever will!" With that I stormed out of the car, slamming the door and stomped across the street towards the park without looking back.
When I entered the park, I looked around. I could either go towards the playground with a bunch of screaming children, or go towards the quiet lake. I headed towards the lake and walked the trail down to the water, still angry over Mom's insistence that she treat me like a child. When I reached the water's edge I stared out across the lake at the trees on the opposite side. I then walked to a bench hidden in the trees and I sat for a while trying to cool down, when I saw Mom coming towards me. Looking up, I saw her with two ice cream cones, her arm extended to offer me one. I ignored it and turned my head the opposite way as she sat down next to me.
She looked at me. "I'm sorry Skylar." She then turned towards the lake and began to eat her ice cream, all the while fingering the pendant that she wore around her neck. I hadn't heard the words I'd wanted to hear. I wanted to hear that we weren't going to move again and we were staying here forever. But I wasn't so foolish as to start another fight again. I knew that we would probably move again, and I knew that Mom wouldn't promise something that she knew wouldn't come true. In quiet acceptance, I took the other ice cream and we sat watching the water in silence.
