Thank you so much for all the help!!I packed up the last of my clothes, wondering if I was forgetting anything. Pookie, the teddy bear I’d had since I was three? Check. The scrapbook Stacy, my best friend, had put together and given me as a going away gift? Check. Gloves, shoes, purses? Check, of course. What about my spoon collection? Yeah, check. I looked around my bedroom for the final time, tears blurring my deep blue eyes, and the gravity of what was about to happen hit me.
“Skye! Are you ready? It’s almost time to go,” my mother called from upstairs. I lugged my carry-on bag up the steps, then ran back down for a last look at the place I had called home for the past thirteen years. How could I be leaving Colorado? I saw a box in the corner, and realized I had forgotten to put my Significant Moments box in the big moving truck about to leave the driveway. I had been remembering every so called “important” thing that happened to me in there, whether it was a ribbon I won from a spelling bee or barrel racing competition, or a school pictorial with the picture of my crush highlighted in blue. I thought about how ironic it was that the most momentous event of my life so far was the first thing I ever couldn’t record in my secret box, and I sadly carried it carefully up the flight of stairs and into the back of the sixteen- wheeler.
My brother whooshed past me and almost made me trip over his still untied shoelaces. Sheesh, little boys were so annoying! “Mom,” I yelled, “tell Joshua to settle down! He’s going to mess something up!”
“He’s only having fun, Sweetie. Just because you aren’t looking forward to our move doesn’t mean he isn’t allowed to be excited,” she said calmly.
Parents. They never understood. Just then, my daddy burst through the door, a huge grin on his face. What was he so smiley about? How could they all be so happy on the worst day of my life? They dismissed it as teenage angst, but I knew better. They just didn’t want to admit that they were intentionally tearing my life apart; they needed some excuse. Apparently, being almost fifteen was excuse enough for them.
“Who’s ready for our big adventure?” My dad’s shout shook me from my thoughts. Easy for him to say; he wasn’t being dragged away from the only home he had ever known. He was sick of the snowy winters and winding roads; he wanted to get away from the small mountain town vibe. Which was stupid, if you ask me, since we were moving to an even smaller town. Unfortunately, no one asked me.
We all hopped in our four- wheel drive SUV and headed down the mountain, toward the Denver airport. It was about an hour drive- an hour to listen to Joshua sing stupid songs, an hour to hear my parents discuss our new house (which no one had cared to show me beforehand, by the way), an hour to get sicker and sicker about all that was happening. Great. By the time we arrived at the Frontier Airlines check-in, I was wondering if this was what drowning felt like.
“This is the final boarding call or Frontier flight 837, Denver International Airport to Washington Dulles International Airport, Virginia,” the tinny voice of the announcer lady rang over the chatter of the travelers. My daddy, mom, brother, and I walked up to the man checking boarding passes. I was this close to running as fast as I could to the other side of the airport, outside, into a taxicab, and- just maybe- back home. But I forced myself to stand still, knowing that dashing would only cause more problems for me, and fidgeted with the ring on my finger. In almost a trance, I felt myself follow my parents down the hall and onto the plane. I heard Joshua screaming some gibberish about how the plane’s wings had a penguin on them, and looked out the window to find that he was right. I took my seat by the window next to my father, and silently looked out the window.
“Skye? You alright? Hey, this’ll be exciting! I know you might be a bit apprehensive about going to Middleburg, but I promise that your mother and I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t for your best interest,” My dad put a hand on my shoulder.
Yeah, right. I just nodded and tried to pretend that this was just another vacation. I almost convinced myself that I’d be back in my room by next Sunday, chatting to Stacy about how awesome our hotel was, how we had the best food, and how maybe next year she could come with us. Almost. But then again, we usually only went on trips to places where my dad was flying; he was a pilot and didn’t get much time off, so if he got the chance to take one of the big jets to a great place, we jumped at the chance to have a week off with him in, say, Chicago.
Of course, Southwest, the company he flew for, didn’t go to Virginia- or so he claimed; I thought he just wanted to fly in coach with us instead of having the extra stress of bringing us to our new home. I was too lazy to check, though. So here he was, sitting next to me, and obviously feeling awkward about not knowing what to do. I sighed. Why did things always have to change? The pilot up front announced in the usual monotone that we were “ready for takeoff,” and as the plane went up, tears went down my face. I was leaving Colorado, maybe forever.
I had to admit, the skies were pretty clear up here. We were somewhere above the Tornado Alley by now, and I guess I expected turbulent storms. The snack ladies came around, offering us pretzels or cookies. I chose pretzels; I didn’t think dry shortbread cookies would go too well with the ginger ale I was sipping to settle my stomach. My dad looked at me, apparently confused about something. I didn’t see what was so shocking about anything that had happened on the plane, but whatever, I guess.
“What are you doing?” he finally asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Look around! You’re making yourself miserable before you even know what you’re getting into. You’ve got your family, all your junk, and the opportunity to start over in a beautiful new state!”
I sighed. “I don’t want to start over. I liked things how they were. Why would you want to move anyway? You got to travel all the time, then come home to a peaceful, beautiful place. And you decide to just take that all away with no explanation? So excuse me if I’m not uber- pumped about moving to into a house I’ve never seen in a state I’m not familiar with.”
Daddy just shook his head and offered me his cookies. I didn’t think cookies would help, though. From across the aisle Joshua promised me that they would make me feel better, but I wasn’t that naïve. We were not far away at that point, anyway; I wasn’t going to spoil my appetite for dinner tonight. Apparently we were going out, since we were staying at a hotel for a few days until our furniture got to our new house. The suite we had checked into didn’t have a kitchen.
“Welcome to Washington Dulles International Airport, please remain seated and keep your seatbelt securely fastened until the ‘buckle seatbelt’ button has turned off, we hope you had an enjoyable flight; thank you for choosing Frontier, and have a nice weekend,” The announcement all ran together; it must have been that pilot’s dull monotone. My family gathered our belongings and stepped off the plane- out of our old life and into a whole new adventure. Not that I was looking forward to it, of course.
We waited for the shuttle to come pick us up. We’d be in a rental car until our own stuff arrived in the big mover’s truck, so we sat on our suitcases and looked for the bus that would take us to the Alamo a few minutes away. As soon as it arrived, I grabbed my bags and walked into the back row. Joshua followed me, and my parents sat one row ahead. At least we’d have our own car back soon enough and not need to worry about squishing in with total strangers on a smelly bus.
After a few minutes in a bus and a while waiting in line to get our car, we were on the road to our hotel. I leaned back into the seat back and stared out the window. If it wasn’t for the fact that this was my unfortunate new home, I might have thought the place was pretty- maybe even interesting. As the circumstances were, though, I wouldn’t let myself even consider liking Virginia. I saw a horse running along the fence line; finally something good. Maybe there would be a good stable near our house. With that thought in mind, I dozed off until we got to the hotel. By then, we were all tired and went to bed.
I awoke to the sound of birds chirping and the smell of coffee. What a terrible dream I had! I thought about calling Stacy to tell her about how I had thought we were moving, until I realized that it hadn’t been a dream. I walked numbly out of the room I was sharing with Joshua and into the living room/ kitchenette of our suite. A note was under an empty coffee mug. My mother had written, “Went to the welcome office in Middleburg to get some info abt. our new home. Made some coffee, help yourself. Your dad is in lobby but should be back by the time you wake up. ILY. – Mom” Daddy wasn’t back yet; Mom must not have left too long ago.
“I’m back, with bagels!” my daddy’s loud voice called out when he walked through the door.
“What type?” I asked without looking up from my coffee cup.
“I got sesame seed, cinnamon raisin, and plain. Oh, and a bunch of cream cheeses.”
My father’s bright, excited voice made me smile- in an annoyed, early morning kind of way, but it was still a smile. I walked over and gave him a quick hug before taking a sesame seed bagel with strawberry cream cheese. It had been one of my favorites at Einstein Bagels in Colorado, but I guessed they wouldn’t have Einstein down here. Either way, I lathered the strawberry topping over my breakfast and sat down to enjoy my food undisturbed by nagging memories. Soon enough, my mom would be home and we’d be off doing something fun, anyway.
Well, maybe not all that fun. We were taking a driving tour of our county. We were in our little rental car going around all these pointless places; it wasn’t the worst thing ever, but it was definitely not fun. I acted interested, though, because tomorrow “if you two are good” we were going to a waterpark. Now that was something I could look forward to! Whooshing through chilly water down long, fast slides, eating the gross yet somehow enjoyable park food under a tree, going down the lazy river when we got tired… that sounded like just what I needed. So, I acted interested, answering our realtor’s questions politely and smiling every once in a while. And guess what? It worked.
“Ready for our big adventure?” this time it was me calling that out, not my father. We all hopped in the car and drove down to the waterpark- the drive was longer than I expected, but whatever. When we arrived, Joshua dashed into the crowd to be first at the slide he wanted to do; I guess since my parents were shooing us to go do whatever we wanted (while they got some relaxation, I’m sure), I’d go do that ride with him. See? I can be nice sometimes. So we did. And for the first time since we moved here, I was smiling genuinely. Giggling little boys could have that effect on you.
Soon enough, we got around to the bigger slides that I wanted to do. And waiting in line there, it wasn’t too long until I met a few kind guys. It wouldn’t have been that big of a big deal under normal standards, but today it made an impact on me. It reminded me of Stacy and the laughs we’d have looking at all the boys. Immature- but hilarious!- teenage stuff that I might never get again, at least not in the same way.
Yes, I know it is teen- angsty. It is supposed to be; it will make sense later on. Thanks for reviewing and liking!
