Chapter I

“Mom, I don’t want to move.” I say.

“Honey, we have no choice. I can’t live here if your father has another woman. We already went to court and all of that. Now run upstairs and get your things to put in the car.” Mom says.

Mom sold all of our furniture, so we could buy brand new furniture when we got to the new house in Yormanville. When I first heard that name I laughed out loud. But, all I want to know right now is ‘Mom, why do you decide to leave in the middle of the semester?!?!’ and then she would say ‘Because, I caught him cheating on me in the middle of the semester, Elizabeth,’ with her calm, stress-free voice that is so annoying.

“ELIZABETH! You better get down here with your things!  The mayor of Yormanville said that we should be leaving right now if we want a tour of the town and house.” Mom says in her super annoying voice that she uses when she wants to nag me about things.

“I’ll be down in a minute,” I say, really annoyed.  She probably couldn’t hear it because I don’t get a reply from her, and she usually replies to everything.  It’s not a big deal, though, and I don’t care.

I get downstairs with just 3 suitcases:  one for my pants and skirts, one for my tops and dresses, and one for my cosmetics and accessories. When I put everything in my suitcases yesterday, leaving one outfit out to wear the next day, I realized that I don’t have many clothes.

“Okay, Elizabeth. Are you packed up and ready to roll?” Mom says with an overly enthusiastic voice.

“I’m packed up, but not ready to go.”

“I said roll, and leave your sarcasm out of this.”

“Mom, I just really don’t want to go.”

“Honey, you are going to love it here. Trust me.”

I get in the car as I say, “I do love it here... at my home.” Mom doesn’t say anything until…

RRIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGG RIIIIIIINNGGGGG.

I hate when my mom’s phone rings.  YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUR VOLUME ALL THE WAY UP SO PEOPLE CAN HEAR YOU IN AUSTRALIA, MOM.

            “Hello?” Mom said, still standing in the driveway.

            “Hello, Kathy.”  Her name is Kathryn… not Kathy.  I think it may be the real estate agent.  “Is this a bad time?” Yes, it was obviously the real estate agent.  He is much too kind to her.

I look down at my phone, so it doesn’t look like I’m eavesdropping.  She either has the phone on speaker, or he talks really loud. 

            “Oh, Johnny. No, this isn’t a bad time. Have you got the house all cleaned up?” Mom asks.  His name is Jonathan, not Johnny.

            “Yes, of course. Are you almost here?”

            “We actually are running a little late… I’m really sorry, Johnny.”

            “That’s okay, Kathy.  It’s certainly alright.”

            “Okay, well I should get on the road now.  It’s about a two hour drive.”  

“Alright Kath, see you soon. Goodbye.”

“Bye,” Mom hangs up her pink Motorola Razr. She has the magenta one that she covered in pink rhinestones. She says she feels younger with it.  Whatever floats your boat, Mom.  Whatever floats your boat.

            I sit silently and listen to my iPod—I’m more of a scream fan while my mom enjoys disco music—the rest of the way there, sometimes texting my friends.

            “We’re here!” Mom yells in a calm but loud voice.

            The house looks way different than what I’d expected. I thought it would be like a little cottage in a forest but it wasn’t.  It’s like a large cottage:  two stories with a balcony on the back of the house, made of stone, with light blue shutters, and it has a few trees in the front.  In the back is a wide open space that I believe was used for farming before, and behind that is a huge forest and I don’t know how far back it goes.

            An elderly man is sitting on the swing that’s on the front patio.  We approach him and he says, “Hello, Kathryn.  First, I want to thank you so much for buying this house.  The city of Yormanville greatly appreciates it.  Secondly, my name is William Yorman.  I am the mayor.  Sadly, Jonathan, my son, had to leave just a while ago to go to his job.  He regrets to inform you of this.”  He looks at me and says, “You must be Elizabeth, the daughter of Kathryn.  You look just alike.” 

            My mom and I do look alike.  Same lightly tanned skin, light blonde hair, green eyes, freckles.  The only differences are that she’s two inches taller than me and her breasts are much larger, but that’s normal, considering I’m only seventeen.

            “Thanks, we get that a lot,” I say.

            “I have a grandson named Peyton.  He’s a senior this year, and I heard you are too.  So maybe you’ll meet eachother at school.”

            “Great, thanks,” I say.  I try to be enthusiastic, because I don’t want to hurt his feelings.  Even though I’m not in the best of moods, I still try to keep people’s spirits up.        

            “Well we should go inside,” he said as he stands up and we follow him inside.  It’s completely empty, but we listen as he shows us around.  “Right here is the living room. There is a nice fireplace and a big window above the front door. To the left of the house is the kitchen with a back door to go out to the farm. To the right is a hallway. On the left there is a bathroom, laundry room, and office. To the right, there is the master bedroom where your mother will be staying. At the end of the hall there are some stairs that lead to your room, a bathroom, and a study for your homework and things. You can go on up there. I will go talk to your mother about some things,” He says.  I have a feeling that he’s going to talk to her about Jonathan.

            I go down the hallway, up the stairs, and see yet another hallway. On the left of the hallway is a small study and bathroom, and on the right is a large bedroom.  At the end of the hallway is a little closet with light bulbs, towels, and things like that.  On the floor is a long rug that is just a few shades lighter than the brown walls.  The flooring and steps are hardwood. The bathroom has a tan colored tile that goes perfectly with the brown walls, the same color as the hallway.  The study and my bedroom are both painted a light mint green, which has always been my favorite color. 

I go in my room and see the balcony, which I stand on and notice that the wood looks very old.  There are also steps that lead down to the farm. I guess that takes away the whole point of a balcony, but I still like it enough.

            I go downstairs.  The mayor looks at me and says, “The moving vans will be here very soon!  All your new furniture that you picked out is in two vans!”  At this point I become very excited and put a huge smile on my face.  “You will be able to point out where everything goes upstairs, and you can help your mom choose where everything goes downstairs.”

            After about ten minutes, the vans arrive and I point out where to put everything.   In my study I place two white moon chairs with a glass table between, a white wooden desk, black office chair, a white Mac computer, and two bookcases facing the moon chairs.  It’s a small room, but I love it anyways.

            In my room I put a king sized bed with galaxy bedding against the back wall, with two black wooden nightstands next to it, and facing it is a black dresser with a plasma screen television on top.  Next to the door is a white makeup vanity with a black seat in front of it.  And I place a few plants in the corners of the room to spice it up a bit.  After that I put my clothes in my closet.                 

            I go downstairs and see the progress, tell the mayor goodbye, and go upstairs and fall asleep in my cozy bed.