For as smart as Abby was, and how much her parents claimed her to be, a divorce from her parents was something she never saw coming.
Her face fell into being upset. "What...? A...a divorce?"
"Yeah." Zack answered while her mother slowly nodded.
"Why? How did this happen?"
"Well, we kept it a secret that our marriage was falling apart from you the best we could," Marissa explained. "We never fought in front of you, and your Dad and I wanted different things in life. Sometimes, your Dad more than me..."
She said her last sentence in a low and bitter voice that Abby didn't understand why she had said it like that.
"We want you to know that in no way this had anything to do with you," Zack assured. "It's between your Mom and I. Not at all your fault."
"Right," Marissa immediately agreed. "Unfortunately, we can't just work it out anymore."
Abby didn't want to believe it. Her own parents were separating. It was more than just a break up she's been hearing at school. They're getting a divorce, and they won't get back together.
"Haven't you considered going to marriage counseling?" She asked desperately.
"Honey, counseling wouldn't be able to fix us." Marissa shook her head slowly at her.
Abby felt like she was at a complete loss as what to do. This was something she couldn't help them with.
Was she that absorbed about her own life she never saw the signs of her parents' declining marriage?
She now understood why they went out to eat. Not only to break the horrible news to her, but so she wouldn't have made a scene about it.
Abby always believed her parents would've been together forever. She couldn't imagine them being apart. She loved how they were together as a family. Her Dad would do or say goofy things to have made herself and her Mom laugh. Mom would take them to the comic book store. Abby loved to read manga, and it was hilarious that her Dad still loved the Archie comics.
The thought of her parents divorcing almost made her want to cry.
"Are you okay, AJ?" Zack asked her with worry and concern. He even used her nickname which made her soften.
"Yeah, yeah...I'm fine." Abby nodded, shaking those feelings off.
"Maybe we shouldn't tell her the other part." Zack said looking at his wife. Well, his ex-wife.
"What other part?" Abby asked curiously. "Whatever it is, I'm sure I can take it."
Her parents exchanged glances at each other.
"Well..." Marissa began unsurely.
Then she got interrupted by their waiter who brought them their food. But Abby had lost interest with that, and was not ready to eat it yet until she found her answers.
"May you please tell me?" Abby almost begged to them, and they sighed.
"My job promoted me to work for them in their office at San Fransisco," She revealed delicately to her. "And I accepted it."
San Fransisco...that's about five hours away from Pasadena. She can't be serious! Abby thought with horror because of the long distance.
She felt like her appetite was completely gone at this point.
"You're...you're going to leave us?" Abby frowned feeling like she really going to break down. She didn't want to be separated from her mother. "Will I have to go to school there?" She hoped that she wouldn't have to.
Chloe was her only best friend, and she didn't want to leave her behind. It was difficult for Abby to make friends as it was.
"I'm not leaving you, sweetie," Marissa assured. "You're going to continue school here, and live with your Dad. We couldn't force you to live with me after getting such heavy news, and I know how close you'd want to be with Chloe. In the summers, you'll live with me."
"What about holidays? My birthdays?"
"We still have to sort that stuff out." Zack answered.
"So, I won't be leaving school?" Abby asked just to be sure.
"Well, I was planning to move into a smaller space. Y'know, just for the two of us," Then he sheepishly continued. "And it won't be close to your school now, so you have to go to a different one."
Mom did say I will continue school here meaning in Pasadena, but not at my regular high school. My life is falling apart... Abby thought miserably.
It turned out being shot down by Tyler Marshall wasn't the worst part of her day after all. It's because of her parents.
Abby felt tears prickled behind her eyes.
"You okay, honey?" Marissa asked worriedly, her hand reaching out to touch her own, but Abby moved hers off from the table, and onto her lap.
"Yeah, I-I'm fine, Mom. Why-why wouldn't I be?"
Despite how upset Abby felt, she started to eat her food much to her parents' surprise. They joined her by eating their meals as well.
When they arrived home, the first thing Abby did was she went up to her bedroom to text Chloe about what happened during dinner. She had to inform her about everything.
Instead of texting a reply, Chloe called her. They talked about it almost all night. She was just as upset about the news as Abby was. Her best friend was leaving her, and moving to a new school. They were going to lose each other.
It took a while for the moving process to take place. Apparently, her father already had bought their new house for them, and her mother bought a new house in San Fransisco. They done it all behind Abby's back. She couldn't help to have felt hurt and offended being left in the dark, and for them keeping secrets.
When they were going to move, Abby said her teary eyed goodbyes to her mother, and they fiercely hugged each other. Marissa promised that they could talk together on Video Chat, and she'll see her in the summer. Abby moved into the new place with Zack as her mother departed.
It was like she was starting a whole new life.
Abby was going to start her new school after the weekend was over. She already said goodbye to Chloe at school, and Chloe had visited her before the big move.
On a Sunday, Abby and Zack were eating pizza for dinner.
"Are you excited to go to your new school?" Her father asked as if in an attempt to start a conversation.
It was just dead silence between them if there were no talking.
"I guess..." Abby mumbled with a lazy shrug.
Zack sighed not knowing what else to say. He knew already how disappointed and upset his daughter was. But it was the only right thing to do for his family.
"To divorce your mother was the only way to make things work," He softly told her. "You get that, don't you?"
"Yeah, I get that," She snapped. "Can we just not mention the...D word?"
"Like dollop?" He asked playfully.
"Dad..." She groaned in annoyance.
In other situations, that would have made her laugh. It was one of the words she hated like moist. But she hadn't felt the humor in anything.
Zack nodded in understanding, but was a little disappointed and sad that he hadn't made her laugh. He still ate anyway.
Abby dreaded the next day she would go to her new school.
Arthur Cooper was in the hallway with his friends and twin sister, Caroline. His fraternal twin sister, mind you. They had time to spare before they had to go to home room for the morning announcements. He was with Michael Wolowitz and Padma Koothrapali. Michael was older than them being sixteen. Arthur was a year younger, and Padma was fourteen. She just started her high school year as a freshman.
The three of them mostly grew up together. Along with Michael's older sister, Halley, who was a senior. She was being with the rest of her own friends. Halley was the oldest out of all of them. Not only was she the big sister to Michael, but it was like she's the big sister to the rest of them as well.
"You know what I've been thinking about?" Padma said thoughtfully.
"What?" Michael asked trying to sound interested.
Him and Arthur knew how strange her thoughts were. It was something they didn't want to know.
"It's not how can vampires have orgasms again, is it?" Arthur groaned.
"No. You can thank Twilight for screwing me up with those type of questions. If the earth is flat, how do you explain the time zones?"
"Ugh. If we're going to talk about the possibilities of a flat earth of all things, hang me now." Arthur's twin sister, Caroline, said.
"You know no one here believes in that sort of jargon, do you?" Michael asked to Padma.
"I know, but don't you want to think about it for fun?" She asked eagerly.
"If we have those thoughts for fun entertainment then we might as well believe in the existence of mythical creatures, witchcraft, pseudosciences, and a bunch of other mumbo jumbo nonsense."
Arthur tried to stifle in his giggle.
"What?" His twin asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"You said mumbo jumbo."
Caroline and Michael gave a look at each other to shake their heads and roll their eyes because of him.
"I kind of believe in it. I mean, who's to say it's not?"
"Astronauts." Caroline bluntly answered.
"Yeah, my Dad is one which he tells Halley and I and also tells us his space story about a thousand times." Michael sighed. He could remember by heart what his father did in space.
"He built a dumpster, right?" Padma asked seeming to have forgotten.
"That's not what he likes to call it."
"Sorry. Space dumpster."
"According to Dad, it's a zero gravity waste disposal system. I could happily tell him that you would like to hear about his NASA story. He showed Halley and I a PowerPoint presentation of it."
"Uh, no thanks." Padma grimaced.
"Really? He'd gladly show you. It's quite riveting." He said sarcastically.
"You've really got to stop watching conspiracy videos." Arthur advised her.
"Can't help it. Makes my mind think."
"How about this to ponder about: do you think that cute girl over at nine o'clock would like to go out with me?" Michael asked, eyeing the person he was mentioning.
Him, Padma, and Caroline turned their heads where he was looking. However, Arthur looked down at his wristwatch in confusion with a frown on his face.
"What are you talking about? It's not nine o'clock. It's seven thirty."
"Figure of speech, Arthur." Caroline told him.
"Oh." He immediately understood, and looked at their direction.
They saw a confused and lost girl in the middle of the hallway looking down at her schedule. She had long, curly brown hair, and was short. The girl was also pretty. They were positive she was new. She wasn't recognizable to them at all.
"Does she look familiar to you?" Michael asked them.
"No." The three answered, shaking their heads.
"She's short. Perhaps 5'5." Arthur commented out of the blue.
"Of course you'd point that out of all things, not the fact that she's cute," Michael responded. "And, yeah, she's short, but she's not my-Mom-short," He turned to Arthur's twin. "Hey, Caroline-"
"No, I'm not going to set her up with you." She rejected with crossed arms. She was in that position before under his request.
"Thanks for that heads up, but I wasn't going to ask you that anyway. I was wondering if you could befriend her, hoping it'll lead to that point, but-"
"Me? Going up to her? You know how I am meeting new people. I'll make it awkward." Caroline got worried and anxious. She was mostly comfortable being with her friends and her twin.
"What if I go with you?" Padma encouraged helpfully.
"I don't know. I mean, what do I even say to her?"
"A hello and stating your name would be a fine introduction." Arthur answered which Caroline gave him a look for because of the obvious.
"Well, what if she won't like me?"
"Don't worry about that," Arthur comforted. "You overthink too much."
"If you won't go to her then I will." Padma volunteered.
"No. Let's go together. I could use a new friend." Caroline eventually accepted the task.
Her and Padma approached to the girl together. Hopefully, things would go well for them.
"Hi." Padma greeted friendly to her.
"Uh...hi." The brunette said. She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"My name is Padma Koothrapali."
"And I'm Caroline Cooper." She remembered to introduce herself, and made a small smile at her in an attempt to be friendly.
"My name is Abby Johnson. You can call me AJ, too, if you want. That's what my Dad does." She finished awkwardly. She didn't know why she told them about the AJ nickname when they were new to her. Only her Dad and Chloe could call her that.
There was suddenly silence between the three of them. Neither one didn't know what else to say next. Until Padma was the first to speak.
"We couldn't help to notice that you're new." She mentioned.
"Yeah, you look lost." Caroline observed.
"Was I that obvious?" Abby asked. She wasn't aware that she was.
Caroline worried that she might've said the wrong thing to have made Abby felt bad. "Well, no, it's just that - uh, I mean-"
"Anything we could help you out with?" Padma interrupted her.
"Yeah, I need to find Mrs. Dechart's homeroom." She glanced at her schedule again.
"That's where I'll be going, too. I'll show you." Caroline replied.
"So, you're new here?" Padma asked conversationally.
"Yeah. My Dad and I just moved, so I had to go to a new school." Abby answered.
"Where were you originally from?" Caroline asked.
"Around here in this area." She really didn't want to tell them the reason why they had to move. The topic was still new and sensitive for her.
The three of them started talking to each other. Caroline got comfortable with the girl's presence. Padma was mostly doing the talking. Caroline thought it was funny how Padma's father couldn't speak to women once, but his daughter was the most talkative person she knew. Padma must've gotten that from her mother.
When the bell rang, they went to their respective homerooms. Abby was in tenth grade like Caroline and her twin brother.
Once everyone filed into homeroom, and took their seats, Mrs. Dechart started to do the roll calls. Of course, Abby's name stood out to her because she was new. Mrs. Dechart let Abby introduce herself to everyone.
I hate doing this... Abby groaned inside her head. It's so embarrassing!
Abby walked up to the front of the class, and stared at everyone. She recognized Caroline who was the only one familiar to her.
"Uh...so...my name is Abby Johnson. I recently moved here with my Dad. Just me and him. There's nothing else interesting to know about me. Oh, except my IQ is 175, but sometimes, I don't feel like I am. Ummm...I've made a ferrofluid lava lamp for fun once, and a Hoberman Sphere. Other than that...yeah." She finished lamely, and ignored everyone staring at her as she returned to her seat.
The morning announcements started, and then a few minutes later, it was time for class.
This is going to be a very long day. Where's Chloe when I need her to help me get through this? Abby thought missing her best friend.
Author's Note: I named Sheldon and Amy's son, Arthur, after Arthur Jeffries aka Professor Proton since he was the one who got Sheldon interested in science. I always see their son getting named Stephen because of Stephen Hawking. Caroline is a character from Amy's favorite TV Show called The Little House On the Prairie. Leonard and Penny won't have any children in this story because Penny didn't want any. I actually didn't like that she got pregnant in the finale, but oh well. I hope you like this chapter, and please review! :)