p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"It was a very rainy Monday morning in Downtown Seattle and it made me want to stay in bed a few moments longer. Thunder softly rumbled in the background and it was very calming to me. I enjoyed thunderstorms the most. I rolled onto my side and looked at the other empty half of the bed, feeling my good mood slip away. It had only been six months since my breakup and it still felt fresh./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"We just ended up wanting different things and growing apart… Eventually he got bored enough that I found out he had been cheating on me. It was my fault. I was a workaholic and I didn't have the patience or time for a relationship, even though I wanted one./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"I had decided after the last relationship that I was going to take a break. I needed to focus on myself anyway. At least, not having him around made planning her days easier. She lied back down and slept for at least twenty more minutes when she heard her roommate get up and take a shower, slamming around in the bathroom./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"I turned on my tv and got dressed, listening to the morning report and what the commute looked like. Things were jammed up in the direction we were going and I groaned. I decided Breanna and I would carpool to work. I straightened the turtle neck on my sweater, brushed back my sleek short black hair and was ready for the day. I wiped my face clean with a cleansing wipe and shut the room down./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"I could hear Breanna out in the kitchen. We had a routine in the morning before going to our job. We both did the same thing. We owned one of the most successful coffee companies in Downtown Seattle. Three locations and our products had just been picked up in the local grocery stores. The idea came from our obsession with coffee. We sold coffee beans and crafted things in-house. Our baristas were far more qualified than any big chain Barista. It was the big leagues of coffee and we were roaring./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"I opened my bedroom door and the aroma of coffee filled my lungs, pulling me into the kitchen. The brewer beeped just as I walked in and I grabbed a mug from our little wooden mug tree. I poured myself a cup and mixed in a little bit of creamer and vanilla syrup. The mug had a painted side profile of a large black wolf. It made me think about home again. I sat down at the kitchen bar, turning on the small tv we had./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Good morning." She smiled at me, pouring herself a cup. I groggily nodded to her, taking my first sip. Just then the harsh ring of the landline phone startled us both. She answered it./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""It's, Breanna!" She paused. "May I ask who is calling?" She asked while looking at me, and listening closely. I took another sip of coffee watching her. Her face fell and she handed me the phone. I looked at her before slowly taking it from her hand and pressing it to my ear. I paused for a moment./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Hello? Who is this?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Joanna?" A voice crackled through the phone. He sounded like he might have been crying. I cleared my throat. It was my brother. No one had called me Joanna in such a long time now, it felt unnatural./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Hey... Is everything okay? Is it Dad?" It was not like my brother to call me, just because. Especially this early in the morning… Or on a Monday. I worried something had happened to Dad. I wasn't sure how he had been doing lately. My father and I hadn't talked in close to ten years…/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Harry Clearwater is dead." I dropped the coffee cup in my hand as it shattered, meeting the hard top of the bar, coffee flooding the counter and floor. I jumped out of my seat as Breanna rushed to grab kitchen towels./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emNot Seth and Leah's father…/em/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Harry was a good man and he had helped to raise all of us. I helped Breanna soak up the coffee as I held the phone to my ear using my shoulder. She picked up the shatter pieces of the mug and sighed. At least it was my mug.../p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""The funeral is later this week… Dad wants you to come home, today." I fell back onto the ground and stared at Breanna. I was flooded with a cocktail of emotions. I did emnot /emwant to go back to Forks. Seattle was my home. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""I can't just stop what I'm doing here Jacob…" I suddenly wanted to get back in bed. emShouldn't have even left/em… I thought to myself. "I, ugh-" I wondered if I could just hang-up and pretend it was a bad connection./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""You are going to get your ass home! Or, I will send Sam out to drag you here." My father cut in and I was quiet. My father and I had a complicated relationship. When I was younger, we would butt heads constantly. As I got older, I saw he was just trying to protect me. I regretted putting him through all that, now./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Yes, father." I solemnly spoke into the phone. I wasn't going to argue with him. Besides, I knew I had vacation saved. Since I never took a vacation… ever. "I need to make a few calls, but I will be there by tonight." I hung up the phone, trembling./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emWhat had I just done?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Well? What happened?" Breanna asked, mopping up the last of the spill. I felt like screaming and smashing a broken mug shard into my skull. Instead, I just blankly stared at her. "I hope it's good because we are going to have ceramic shards on the floor for the rest of time." I smirked at her, staring at the floor./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"I had fought so hard to get out of Forks, ever since my mother died. I wanted to experience what she had experienced before she met my father. She had lived in this area of downtown, gone to the same University I had and was a single working woman for 6 years before she settled down and met my dad. My dad was who brought her to live in Forks. She fell in love with the reservation and they never left./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" My father hurt the most when she was gone. I think him looking at me, a spitting image of her, made him hurt more. That was what led to us to fighting about everything. He wanted me to stay and embraced my culture, my heritage. I wanted to come here instead. I applied to college through a scholarship and got accepted. Bought my own car and apartment, and we hadn't spoken since the night I left./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""My uncle died."/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"I started to tear up and Breanna rushed to my side, wrapping her arms around me. I cried for a lot of reasons, like the fact that I probably wasn't coming back here. If I went back to Forks, I knew what would happen and I would be stuck./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""I'm sorry, Jo."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Breanna, I may not be coming back."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""What do you mean?" She pulled away looking at me, concerned. I sighed, looking down in my lap. I had a deep dark secret about my family, and I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about it. I looked at her and silently shook my head, 'no.'/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""If I go back to Forks, my family will keep me there. There is a lot of unresolved business there…" /p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Well, then think of this as an unexpected route…" She brushed my hair behind my ear. She was trying to be positive about it. "You can almost always come back to the old route, but enjoy the unexpected detour." I thought about what she was saying. Maybe she was right, I just had to find my silver lining. "How far is the drive, anyway?"/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Four hours."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Well then, I guess we better get you packing!" She helped me up from the floor and we headed to my room, packing all the things I couldn't live without. Unfortunately, I couldn't take all of Seattle back to Forks with me. Still, I managed to take at least 50% of what was in the apartment./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"I had brought everything in my bedroom except for the bed and large dresser. My tiny hatchback Civic hung low to the ground, loaded down with all of my belongings. I turned back to Breanna, hugging her tightly in the freezing rain. I waved good-bye and got into my car, pulling away./p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"I drove out of the city and started down the interstate, heading back to where I had come from. The rain was falling hard, but I continued to make good time. It wasn't until I hit the next town that I had to wait in a traffic jam as people made their way to work. By now it was prediciting for me to be there by u7:30PM/u./p