Close Encounters of the Boy Kind

Chapter 1

I sit up in bed, looking around my room filled with cardboard boxes. I sigh, because the reason they are here is pretty clear. It's moving day. My dad got some job in San Diego and now I have no choice but to move with mamma and him. I'm not saying that I'm not happy about my dad's new job, it's just that I have so many friends here in New York. Yes, you heard right. I am moving across the country. From New York City, to San Diego.I grasp my little necklace Jennifer got me for a going away party,and I remembered how she cried handing it to me at the party saying

"This is for you to wear the whole way there. Just so you remember that I will always be here with you. It says 'In spirit, never gone. I will always be with you from night until dawn.'"

(That was a very long day for all of us, because we had finally come to the realization that we weren't gonna be able to stay in touch, despite the good intentions. Now that 2 more dreaded weeks have passed, the dreaded time has come to say farewell to my beloved friends, and I am not handling it very well, as you can imagine.)

My mom walked in as I was putting the necklace around my neck, almost in tears, and she started to close the door to leave me be, but I stopped her.

"No, mom. Please come in. We can't wallow forever." I said grabbing my door and easing it open, reaching for her hand.

She walked into my virtually barren room, rubbing her arms nervously and then sat down on my bed letting out a whimper, lip quivering.

"So this is it, huh? This is what it's come to? We are just gonna go? Like it's nothing?" she said voice cracking as she broke into tears.

I hugged her tightly, reminding her of the benefits of going to San Diego.

(WHY am I doing this? I don't even wanna go! Why am I promoting this? I should be sitting next to her stating every reason why we should stay, but some part of me felt like it was destiny for us to go.)

My dad walked into my room, seeing my mom upset, and immediately began to comfort her. My mother stopped him before he got to my bed, standing up saying,

"We need to keep packing. We can't mope forever. We have a lot ahead of us, and we can't sit around drowning in sorrows. Come on Jess, downstairs and start packing things into the U-Haul. Grab some boxes and get busy." She said marching out of my room wiping her tears.

I looked at my dad who was standing in awe at what he just saw, then he turned to me, smiling.

"It's alright dear, I'm sure mamma just needs a little time to...cope...just like the rest of us will. Mamma is always so strong for you and I, and right now she is just going through a moment where she isn't as strong, so we have to supplement by being strong for her. Do you understand?"

My dad ran his fingers through my hair and I nodded, looking over at my window, the place I called my "thinking spot."The window was big and had an area where I could sit in the windowsill and then close the curtain, so my parents wouldn't know where I was for a while when I needed to be by myself.

"Let's go daddy.We really should be getting ready to go. The more daylight we have the better."

I grabbed one of my suitcases, then grabbed his hand, and I walked with him down the stairs, and we packed the moving truck. My mom still was emotionless, trying to be strong like she always was, and we all just solemnly packed our bags.By 9:00 A.M, the entire apartment was barren, all that was left was the memories.

My mom was calling people on the phone, crying on every call, saying her final goodbyes. She expressed to each person how much that she wanted to stay in touch, and routinely, 30 seconds after she said that the call would end. I got my Lime Green iPhone 5c out of my pocket and texted Jennifer.

"-I WILL stay in touch. Wearing your necklace. I am going to miss you so much. Thanks for all the memories,Jen. I know I will never meet a person in San Diego who has a better personality than you. ILYSM, Jess.-"

I was so caught up in typing my text to Jennifer, that I didn't even hear my parents yelling me name and telling me to get in the car. I took a deep breath, disobeying their command, and turned around. I walked up to my house and kissed the door slowly as a single tear ran down my cheek. My parents, now extremely irritated with me, yelled even louder at me from the car. I had spied on the realitors when they were getting the info for our house ready, and saw what the key box code was for the little oasis of what opened my house. I quickly punched in the 5 digit code as my hand shook.

"5-3-6-1-0... Enter"

Click. The box opened with ease and I quickly looked at the 3 keys present in the box. My mom's, which was shaped like a dog paw at the top, my dad's which was a plain key, but was camo, and then there it was. My key. It's top was like that of a clarinet, and It was black, with very intricate clarinet keys painted on it. I got the key out, and then slid it onto the necklace I was wearing. I then closed the box and turned around, putting my necklace in my shirt so my parents wouldn't see my key. Once we were 200 miles away, they weren't going to turn around because their daughter snuck the key out of the box.

Head hung,I got into the car,not saying a word.

My mother sharply turned her head from the passenger seat and scolded me.

"Young lady, just what do you think you were doing? I told you to come to the car and you didn't listen. What is your problem? You haven't been yourself all day today!"she said in a stern voice.

"Well mom, maybe it's because I'm leaving a part of me here.This is my home, and no matter where you guys take me, I will ALWAYS call this place home. Any other place is just a place in which I sleep, eat, and do homework. "

After I said this , I looked down, turning the music on my phone on, listening through my skull candy headphones. I watched as we departed from my one true home and the long drive to San Diego was finally underway.

I fell asleep and after about 3 hours of driving I felt something pulling at my necklace.

"WHAT IS THIS DOING WITH YOU?!" my mother shouted

"It's the key...I...I...I needed a part of home to come with me and I can't just leave it all together."

"We are going back to return the key! Right now!" she said

"No, Lynn. We can't go. We are 3 hours away for crying out loud! You're smarter than that! Just let her have a piece of her life!"

"George!Don't be so stupid!"

My parents continued to argue and I tried to stop them so my dad could focus. Before I could get any words out, my dad crossed the center line while he was looking away from the road, and then the impact.