Hi! I hope you like the story so far. I was planning on only uploading one chapter each night but chapter one was so short and I couldn't help myself.

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2. ARRIVED

After Aunt Janiece's half an hour long goodbye and listening to Dad saying "We need to go" a thousand times, we finally left Saints Beach, and began the tiring journey to Kansas.

Dad was silent most of the time, yet that was because I was non-stop talking about everything he had missed since the last time I had seen him, which was two years ago.

I didnt feel rude shooting my mouth off, because Dad had ordered me to inform him of what was going on in my life everytime that I had seen him since I was ten. So I was basically reporting to him, giving him all the goss and what not.

I knew he didnt really care about half of it, like how we almost set Gina Downey's hair on fire when we were straightening it, but I guess he felt guilty for not being in my life, and knowing that I loved to talk, thought this was a good way to make up for not being there.

It took me three hours to get what I had to say out of my talkative mouth, and when was done, I asked my routine question.

"So what's been up with you?" I asked, not entirely curious or interested.

He took a breath, so I knew something was up. Now I was curious.

"Well, I got a promotion." he began. My face lit up, I loved it when good things happened to him, he had had a hard life so far.

"That's awesome," I chirped, feeling like such a teenager. "so what are you doing now?" I asked eagerly, changing my position so I faced towards him more.
He seemed overly pleased and a tad surprised by my reaction, and realized it was his turn to let the words run wild.

"Well," he started. "you know how I used to be Manager of the Linklater Farm?"

"Yes." I lied, I had thought he was just Head Rancher or something, not Manager.

My Dad's family, the Linklater's, owned a big cattle ranch outside of town, and employed thirty something workers.

Everyone in Keys County, wheat, fruit, cattle, pig and other sought's of farmers all sold their supplies to a large company called 'The United Farmers Distrubution Company', but we just called it The Company, who then distrubuted all the goods where they needed to go.

Anyway, they had a office at Keys, as Keys County was mainly a farming area where all the farmers sold their goods to The Company.

"Just the other week I was approached by The Company and they wanted me to be the Keys County Manager! And of course I said yes, so your Uncle Harry took over the Ranch, and your cousin Jesse is Head Rancher now. But in my opinion, he's way too young, but then again I was Head Rancher when I was eighteen..." he said, starting to get off track.

"Well that's great Dad, I'm proud of you." I quickly stated, before he could go any further.

He smiled warmly, he loved someone being proud of him, seeings though he's parents were both dead and the love of his life, my Mom, had died as well.

"Your Mom would be too." he whispered to himself, but I heard it.

"She would?" I asked eagerly, not knowing when the rarely talked subject about my Mom was going to be brought up again.

He looked out the window for a moment, then back to me.

"What wife wouldnt be proud of a husband who got a promotion?" he explained, a sad look on his face.

I nodded slowly, deep in thought.

Although my parents had never actually tied the knot, he always referred to her as 'my wife', which strangely made me uncomfortable.

I knew he had never got over my Mom, and he had lived alone in the same house ever since, which probably only made it more painful.

I had no pictures of my Mom, but whenever I had visited Keys, random strangers would tell me how much I looked like her.

It was probably true though, as I looked nothing like my black haired, green eyed, scruffing looking father.

I had dark brown eyes and honey colored hair. My hair was straight, like if straight hair could kill the population of the world would be reduced to zero straight, and was parted in the middle.

However, I always wore it up in a high pony tail for sport reasons and to avoid being called a hippy, as my hair almost reached my waist.

The only thing I had in common with my father was that I was really tall.

I was the third tallest girl in my grade back at Saints Beach High, which had over two hundred students in Grade 10, so I was quite tall.

This year I was in Grade 11, and I was turning seventeen on the 4th of July, a date in which my Dad was proud of.

"You dye your hair Amber?" Dad asked as we entered Keys County.

"Oh, um...no, I didnt. Just havent been getting much sun during the winter. Looks mid brown now instead of light brown, doesnt it? I'm not sure if I like it." I replied, feeling myself beginning to babble again.

"Doesnt look like your Mom's much when it's that color" Dad commented dryly, shutting me up.

We were half an hour away from Keys now, and my hair was scruffed up from falling asleep against the window, so I climbed into the back and brushed my hair and quickly put some make up on.

When I scrambled into the front seat again, a quick glance at my Dad told me something was wrong.

He was frowning deeply, squinting his eyes, and he was almost hyperventalating.

"Dad what's wrong?" I asked quickly, putting my hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off.

After a moment his face went back to normal, but I could still see pain in his eyes.

I decided not to ask any further, so I resumed straightening my clothes and gathering my stuff off the dashboard.

We drove past lots of farms and I waved at the workers, whom I felt deeply sorry for, as they were working in the unbearable heat.

I saw a sign which said ten minutes 'til Keys! and started feeling anxious.

"When your Mom and I were driving up to her folks place in the City to tell them she was...pregnant...we were getting close, so she did what you just did: jumped into the back and cleaned herself up. I'm sorry I scared you like that, I totally forgot about that whole trip..." he explained suddenly.

I was taken aback at first, not really knowing what to say, or if I should say anything at all.

"Oh." I croaked, and then we fell into a tense silence as the entrance to the Linklater Ranch came into view.

But Dad didnt turn into the driveway, he just kept driving along the road that led to Keys.

I didnt say anything, because I thought that he might be going to the shops or something, so we continued to sit in silence.

I watched the country roll by: the hills in the distance, the cattle grazing sluggishly in the paddocks, the yellow color of the wheat fields, and I found myself feeling quite sad.

Keys was a fairly strange county, and was divided into two 'enemies', the townies and the farmers.

The farmers usually caused a stir, as they had some sought of grudge against the townies.

About four years ago there was the Keys riots, where the farmers tried to get the townies to move away by burning their houses and running a mess, but it didnt work.

That was all ended thanks to my Aunt Meredith, my dad's twin sister and my cousin Jesse's Mom, who was the Sheriff...and still is.

That's when I had stopped visiting Dad, so I hadnt been to Keys in four years.

I was anxious to see if anything had changed, if the town had grown, if it was still full of hicks and rednecks and hopefully, if there was more shops around.

Dad slowed down as we approached the Keys Intersection, and we turned right along the main road, in the opposite direction of the supermarket.

To my disappointment, Keys hadnt changed much. There were a lot more improvements, but other than that, there was only a few more shops and a couple of new houses.

Keys wasnt an attractive looking town, as there wasnt any green trees or vegetation left from the what seemed constant drought. Most of the houses were just plain brick with the exception of a few rendered houses, but other than that there wasnt anything that caught my eye.

The trees were bare, the grass was yellow, and the only place where there was a vast amount of water was at the Keys Lake, which was about a five minute drive out of town, but that water was brown and muddy.

It was a good place to do a whole lot of nothing except tan, let's say that.

We continued to drive east along the main road until we got to what looked a new estate called 'Golden Gates Estate'.

I was now deeply confused about why we were here, when Dad lived at the Ranch with his younger brother Harry and his nephew, my cousin, Jesse.

I still didnt say anything, as I was lookng at the new houses that seemed to look extravagant compared to the small brick houses back in the central part of town.

These houses were all sandstone brick houses that had red roofs on top.

They all looked quite similar, but some even had green grass on their lawns.

Dad drove along the new section of main road until he got to the last left turn available, Rockford Road, and turned into the new house lined street.

He got up about halfway up the street when he turned right into number fifty four, another brand new house which looked almost exactly the same as the ones beside it.

He stopped the car in the driveway, which was on the right side of the lawn.

Ahead of us was a double garage with a big roller door, and above that, on the second storey, was a large window with bright red curtains.

Thinking Dad was visiting a friend, I remained in the car and stared at the beautiful house.

There was a small path that left from the driveway to the huge front door, which was a creme color.

Dad walked around to my door and opened it, obviously expecting me to get out.

"So who lives here?" I asked, slamming the door a bit to hard behind me. Dad laughed, but I didnt find it that amusing.

"We do honey." he replied as he opened the trunk and started unloading my many suitcases.

I squeled in excitement and accidently tripped over my suitcase.

"No way!" I screamed, getting up and jumping around joyfully.

Dad's face went completely red as an old couple living to our right stared distastefully towards us.

"Sorry!" I called, and reduced my jumping and squeling to a minimum level.

"You like it?" Dad asked. I lept into his arms.

"Yes!" I approved, hugging him around the neck, until my weight became a bit of a problem for him.

"The Company gave me the new car, house and job...good deal I'd say." Dad commented, handing me the keys so I could open the door and allow him to drag my stuff inside.

"Shit yeah." I said, then regretted it quite quickly. Dad shot me a mad look, but said nothing, as it was true.

I skipped to the front door, careful not to step on the beautiful green grass, and opened the large creme door.

I immediatley smelt bleach or some cleaning product like that, and knew that Dad had made an attempt to clean the house before he left to get me.

The fall was completely tiled with faded orange tiles, except in the lounge room to my right, which had creme carpet.

To my left was the kitchen, which was large and had cedar benches, and then I turned right into the dining area, which had a large cedar dining set.

Beyond that was a large glass sliding door that led onto a patio and then into the backyard, which I could see also had lucious green grass.

I skipped back around to the lounge room and, like the kitchen, led onto another space, which Dad had set up as an office or something.

I ran excitedly back to the front door to help Dad carry my stuff upstairs, which was directly in front of the door.

We walked up the carpeted stairs into a tiled hallway.

At the left end of the hallway was Dad's room, which had an ensuite and a walk in wardrobe.

Next to that was another study, and then a large bathroom with a spa.

On the right of the bathroom was a small laundry, and at the right end of hallway was my room, which had a small walk in wardrobe.

It was painted bright red with white trimmings, and I realised it was the room above the garage.

Dad had bought me a new silver metal double bed, red sheets and blankets, a new bedside table and a cedar desk and vanity table with a large mirror.

"Oh...my...god." was all I managed to squek out of my overwhelmed body.

Dad shrugged past me and rested my bags down on the bottom of my bed.

"You like? I hope you still like red." Dad commented plainly. I dropped the bags at my side and ran into Dad's arms once again. This time I hugged him for a long and meaningful time, quite tightly too.

"Is that a yes?" he guessed, patting my back warmly. I pulled away from him and took in the sight of my perfect room.

"Yes! I love it Dad, it's perfect. I love you." I replied, and pecked him on the cheek.

He cleared his throat.

"Yeah, well...I got you got you one of them laptops as well, and a cordless phone. They're in your cupboard. I'll go and get the rest of your gear." he informed me awkwardly.

I almost collapsed right there and then.

My own laptop? My own phone?!

Back at Aunt Janiece's house my room was previously a study, and I had never had any of these comforts there.

Maybe I wouldnt regret moving to Keys after all.

I raced to my cupboard, pulling it open carelessly to find a Mac Air (a thin white laptop), and a matching white cordless phone, sitting on one of the bare shelves.

Also, there were a hundred dollar each SportsPower and VanityGirl gift vouchers sitting on top of the laptop box.

I screamed so loud that I think I broke the decimal limit.

From outside, Dad must of thought there was something wrong, so he raced back up into my room, to find me jumping around like a kangaroo.

He got surprisingly mad at me for screaming like I did, but honestly, I dont think I was loud enough.

He explained the vouchers, beautiful room, laptop and phone by saying it was 'his way of repaying me for having to wait for him to grow up'.

He then said that he had a few work related things to do at his office, and left me to unpack, leaving behind a hundred and fifty dollars so I could ride to shops when it got lighter (as it was only eight thirty in the morning) and buy anything I needed.

It only took me half an hour to unpack and when I was done, I walked slowly around my new house, feeling not at all anxious anymore.

I sat down on the brand new sofa, and almost instantly fell asleep.

I dreamt of the new house, and some other whacky stuff, but nothing out of the usual dreams.

When I woke, it was intensly hot. After a quick glance at my watch, I realized it was exactly midday.

I trudged slowly up to my room and pulled on some denim short shorts and a white singlet, then headed to the garage to collect my bike, which was also brand new.

I grabbed my wallet and my phone and somehow managed to fit them into the pockets of my short shorts, and snatched the keys of a hook near the front door.

After I had the house locked up I skipped into the garage and climbed onto my bike, and rode out into the blistering sun.

It was a nice day, but days like this in Kansas could get a bit to hot, and most of the people I saw walking on the Golden Gates Estate pathways were already sunburnt.

Riding was one of my favourite things to do, and I rode quite fast, so it only took me half an hour to get to the shops.

I ditched my bike in the bike rack and walked into the cool air conditioned supermarket and immediatley felt like I was in a hospital.

The walls, floor and everything else was white, and their were large florescent lights lighting up the empty isles.

I pulled out a piece of paper that I had shoved in my pocket that had a list of things to buy scribbled on it.

I weaved my way slowly through the isles, grabbing anything that I thought I would nead, which included a ten pack of Gatorade, a sports magazine, that time of the month essentials, toiletries and more hairties, along with a hundred dollars worth of healthy food.

I waited patiently as the lady at the check out beeped all my items rather slowly.

I was flipping through a couple of magazines and texting my best friend Emma back in Saints Beach when I noticed that everyone was staring at me.

I put my phone back in my pocket and turned to the check out lady.

"Hey, excuse me? What are they staring at?" I asked, gesturing towards the shop full of people glaring at me.

"This might sound stupid, but they think you're a ghost." she answered shyly. My jaw dropped. A ghost?

"Um...why?" I questioned curiously, leaning on the counter.

"Well, you just look so much like your mother. Not everyone knew she had a daughter." she replied, starting to pick up her pace.

"Oh...right." I commented to myself. I didnt like all this attention, and I began wondering if I shouldve dressed more formally. After a few more moments of being intensly stared at, I snapped.

"Look I'm her god damn daughter, alright? Now stop staring at me!" I shouted into the direction of the isles.

I heard a few remarks, and then people continued their shopping.

"Er...ma'am? That comes to a total of one hundred and twenty three dollars." the check out lady told me cautiously. I paid the bill then grabbed the trolley and took it outside, and then realized my problem.

I had a trolley full of bags and I was riding a bag, great.

Remembering Dad's office was nearby, I pushed the trolley roughly across the road, without looking where I was walking.

I must have walked into oncoming traffic, as I heard a screech and I turned to see a big black 4WD blaring it's horn at me. My heart skipped a couple of beats, but I continued to push the trolley across the wide road towards the United Farmers Distrubtion Union Keys Centre.

I ditched the trolley outside and pushed my way through the glass double doors.

There was a young lady sitting at a desk in a bare room.

"Hi, how are you?" she asked pleasantly. I smiled and shoved my hands in my pockets.

"Good thanks. I'm looking for my Dad, Mr. Linklater?" I asked, getting to the point.

"Sure, Amber, go right in." she replied, gesturing towards a wooden door in the top right hand corner of the room. I flashed her a quick smile before entering my Dad's messy office.

I cant really describe what his office looked like right now, because it was all covered by tons of paper.

Dad was sitting with a client or something at his desk, and they both looked up when I entered.

"Hi, sorry Dad, but I need to borrow your car to get the groceries home." I told him immediatley.

"Sure honey," he replied, throwing me the keys. "this is one of the United Farmers Union Representitives, Mr. Whitlam."

We awkwardly said hi to each other, and then I said goodbye almost straight away.

I left the building, saying goodbye to the lady, named Stephanie, and drove the groceries and my bike home.

After unloading all of the shopping, I made myself a sandwich and sat down to watch the Red Sox versus the Yankees.

I woke up at about five in the morning, still on the couch, but with a blanket on top of me.

I could hear Dad snoring loudly upstairs and, feeling rather energetic, decided to go for a jog.

I crept up the stairs quietly and pulled on my jogging outfit and my shoes, then headed outside, where it was chilly.

Jogging was my way of clearing my head, it was my alone time.

I didnt think about much though, and I ran for quite some time before I realized I was almost at the other end of town. I saw a sign that read 'Lake Keys 5 miles', and decided that would be my destination.

It was a boring walk to Lake Keys.

In the space between where the town ended and the bare forest began was nothing expect for a downward hill.

Nothing besides overgrown grass and a dirt road that seemed to go on forever.

When I finally reached the start of the leaveless tree forest, I slowed to a walk, and felt myself feeling a bit scared, as if someone was watching me.

I was only a two minute walk through the bare trees before I reached the brown Lake Keys.

It looked different than the last time I had seen it.

There was actually some green grass on the west and north side of the lake, and the fifty metres high cliff on the west side now had picnic tables and a railing on the top.

To my surprise, there was already a few people fishing on the lake and sitting at the picnic tables.

I glanced at my watch, and to my shock saw that it was already eight o'clock.

I walked to the edge of the water and splashed some water on my face.

Upon returning back to where I had been standing, I slipped on the mud and landed face down.

The worst part was that my nose had hit a slightly exposed rock, and was now gushing blood.

I picked myself up slowly, and clutched my nose in pain.

A few people had seen me fall from the cliff top, and were now running towards me.

In the lead was a tall, tan black haired woman, holding a handkerchief, thank god.

Behind her was a replica, but slightly taller.

A few metres behind the replica was a not as tan girl and shorter girl.

When they got to me, they appeared to be laughing.

"Hi, there! Took quite a fall didnt you?" the older lady laughed, handing me the handkerchief which I gladly accepted.

"Don't my her, that's my Mom, Burnie Browning. I'm Tiffany, and this is my 'lil sister Ruth." the taller girl said, gesturing towards her Mom and sister.

"You must be Amber then?" Burnie asked suddenly. Tiffany glared at her mother.

"Um..yeah I am. Di you know er?" I replied, struggling to talk with blood gushing into my mouth.

"Yeah she was my little sisters best friend in high school before she..."Burnie started, but was unable to finish.

"Die? I swear everywon in this town nu who she was." I said, picking up the converstation again.

"Yeah, and every boy was in love with her." Burnie added. I laughed, but then choked on my own blood.

"Look, I better go. Thanks." I said, not knowing whether to give her the blood soaked handkerchief back or not.

"We were just packing up, so you could get a ride into town with us. Where do you live?" Tiffany suggested.

"Rockford Road." I answered as the blood flow from my nose ceased. They all laughed, these people were crazy.

"Seriously though where do you live?" Tiffany repeated.

"Fifty four Rockford Road, the last street in Golden Gates Estate." I replied.

The smiles faded from their faces while they took in the information.
"Oh...right. We live in Parker Street, the first one in Golden Gates." Burnie implicated after a moment.

They escorted me to the carpark, where I waited in their blue station wagon while they packed up their gear.

At first the drive was silent, awkward. But once Burnie opened her mouth, she didnt shut it until the end of the car ride.
"So when did you get here?" Burnie asked, starting the first round of questions.

"Yesterday morning." I replied.

"Getting settled in alright?" she questioned, and I knew this would lead to many more questions.

"Um...yeah I guess."

"Where did you live before?"

"Saints Beach, California."

"Who'd you live with?"

"My great aunt."

"Oh yeah. Did you like living there?" she continued to asked, and I was beginning to feel like I was being interrogated.

"Loved it."

"So why'd you move back here?"

"Well my aunt had a heart attack and I'd promised Dad I'd move back in with him one day, so...yeah."
"Aw that's to bad. Why didnt you live with your Dad in the first place?"

"Well he couldnt cope to well when my Mom died, and all his brothers and stuff were to young to really help out so my aunt offered." I answered, now beginning to feel breathless.

"I think that's enough for now Mom." Tiffany pointed out, and I felt immensly relieved.

"Oh whatever honey." Burnie laughed, focusing more clearly on the road now.

Tiffany turned around to face me.

"Sorry about that. You probably felt like you were being...interrogated." she said slyly. I frowned, it was like she had known what I was thinking.

"It's okay." I lied. Tiffany winked at me before turning around and reving up the volume on the stereo.

I then realized that ever since I had met the Browning family, Ruth had not said a word.

I risked a quick glance at her, and luckily she was staring sadly out the window.

She must of noticed me looking at her, for she returned the gaze with a pleasant smile.

I smiled and then turned to face out the window. A few moments later, Burnie's voice broke the silence.

"You alright Ruth?" she asked, looking at her daughter through the rear vision mirror.

"Yeah Mom, it's fine." Ruth replied, and I immediatly felt aware that they were referring to something private.

I glanced out the window and noticed that Burnie had turned into my street already.

She drove along until we reached the driveway, where she pulled in with sharp turn that made me collide with Ruth.

She cut the engine and we sat in silnce for a moment. I was deciding whether or not I should invite them in or not, but then Dad burst through the door and walked over to Burnie's window, which she rolled down.

"Hello, Burnie," he began, then after glancing at me and my dried bloody nose said,"what happened?".

"Well I went for a jog to the lake, and then fell on a rock...then Burnie, Tiffany and Ruth helped me home." I explained quickly, so Burnie wouldnt ramble on about my klutzy fall.

"Oh, well...thank you Burnie." Dad stated, looking more relaxed now. Burnie smiled.

"Yeah, thanks for helping me. At least now my clothes arent stained with blood." I joked, and began to climb out of the car, but Ruth grabbed my elbow.

"Dont run up and down the stairs...you could fall. I'll see you at school okay? Meet you at the office at eight forty five." she informed me strangly.

I thanked her ad got out of the car, then waited with Dad while they drove away.

"Fell on a rock, aye?" Dad commented slyly as they turned around the corner.

"Shutup." I replied, then trudged back inside.

I was still confused about what Ruth had meant by not running up and down the stairs, which I wasnt planning to do.

But I merely pushed the comment aside and focused on the main thing: I now had someone normal to hang out with at school, and Ruth seemed like a nice girl.

It was Sunday today, and I was mildly excited and nervous about my first day of school tomorrow.

The high school at Keys was actually quite large, with around five hundred students that attended it.

As it was the only high school for a hundred miles, the townies and the farmers children both had to attend it, so I guessed that there would be lots of fights and stuff, but that happened at any high school.

The High school was located at the very edge of town, near where I had walked this morning.

Now that I thought of it, the large space of bare downward land which I had seen had probably been the high's schools oval.

Unlike other American high schools, Keys District High School was not one large building, but about a dozen house sized white brick buildings with dark red roofs.

Dad had all of my school stuff lying in the study area near the lounge room, so I went and rummaged through it.

There was small information booklet, six brand new red books with a matching red folder and a red pencil case, and my timetable.

I was doing English, Drama, Sport Studies, Advanced Maths, German and Physics.

While I was preparing all my stuff for tomorrow, there was a knock at the door, so I raced down to open it.

Standing on the other side was a beautiful lady with mid brown hair done up in a bun and hazel eyes with long black eyelashes.

"Oh hello, you must be Amber." she greeted with a pleasant smile.

"Er...yeah." I replied awkwardly, amazed by her beauty. She stepped in closer, so I allowed her inside.

"I'm Nicola, your Dad's...House Assistant." she explained, and I relaxed.

"House Assistant?" I asked, closing the door behind me.

"Yes, I cook, clean, all that stuff. I come every day at four in the afternoon besides Saturdays." she explained further. I nodded, and she went straight upstairs and grabbed a vacuum out of a small cupboard. I didnt move from where I was standing, as I had nothing to do.

"So is this your only job?" I asked quite nosely, but she didnt seem to mind.

"No," she answered, and paused for a moment. "I'm at this rich family's house all day, taking care of their three kids, cause they work at The Company's main office as Lawyers. At the end of the week, I get like a thousand bucks after tax, so it's all good." she babbled. I smiled, she seemed friendly enough.

"Do you like the kids?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Yeah, love 'em. Their names are Kiara, Zach and Ashleigh, they're really well behaved so it's not like it's a challenging job or anything. But the parents are ignorant and snobby." Nicola continued.

She said something about having to vacuum, then left the room. Seconds later I heard the unmistakable sound of a vacuum blaring away.

"So you met Nicola then?" I heard Dad ask from the top of the staircase, which startled me.

"Yeah. She's nice. Since when did you need help like that?" I asked, after my heart slowed down.

"Since I moved into this huge house." he answered, toweling his wet hair. I laughed, my Dad had changed a lot since I had last seen him.

"You nervous about school?" he asked, grabbing his keys of the hook.

"Not really, I got Ruth to hang out with...so that's something. Where you going?" I asked.

"I need to pick something up from the mechanics, you coming?" he replied. I nodded, and followed him to the car.

Dad drove way to quickly for my liking. I dont think he realized that he didnt need to press down on the gas pedle so hard in this new car.

We arrived at the Mechanics with a slam of his brake, and I jumped out of the car quickly, eager to touch hard ground again.

I followed Dad around to the small office where the man at the desk said "it's ready" and led us around to the back of the shed that the mechanic operated in.

The ugly little man walked over to a bright red two door Honda with a large purple ribbon tied around and opened the door.

"Do you like it?" Dad asked, looking closing at my face to see my reaction. I turned to him, my face full of disbelief.

"WHAT?" I shouted quite fiercly. Dad looked quite pleased with himself.

"Early birthday present." he explained plainly.

I exploded.

I dont want to go into epic detail, but let's just saying there was a lot of hugging, jumping, screaming and "no way!" was shouted a thousand times.

I jumped inside the leather interior car, and put my hands on the steering wheel.

"Holy shit Dad. You're the best." I complemented him. His eyes glistened.

He handed me the keys and I let out another excited squel of excitement.

"Geez Amber, I dont think my ears can much more of your squeling." he complained. I laughed.

"Dad, I dont understand how you could afford this." I said, my tone now becoming confused.

He looked defeated.

"Well The Company actually gave it to me as a bribery offer sort of a thing, because they knew that you would be coming up to live with me and...they said that if I accepted they'd give me the truck...so everybody won." he explained.

"Wow. Cool." was all I could manage to say. This was beyond cool. This was legendary.

Dad and I were starting off really well, and I was beginning to regret not moving back earlier.

But if I had of moved back a year before, things would have been different, they would have been worse.

Dad would have still been in his fourteen year long Great Depression and he wouldve been living on the secluded Ranch with my aunt Meredith, my one year older cousin Jesse, my uncle Harry and Barno, who I had know idea how I was realted to.

Dad allowed me to drive home, and I made it without scratching the car or burning the tires.

I also felt suddenly privelaged when I realized that I had my own car space in the garage.

Keys was really growing on me.

I had arrived...and survived.