*****
Starting over has to be the hardest thing in the world. The willpower and drive it takes—you have to be completely set on it.
The girl drowned in her thoughts as she stacked box after box, all filled with her belongings, on top of one another.
'This is what you need. It's for the best.' She mentally repeated to herself. She yawned quietly as her bedroom door was yanked open.
"How much longer you gon' be, Noel?"
She rolled her eyes upward, and exhaled softly. "I have one more box." She looked up and to her left slightly, to glance at her visitor.
Stepping in the room and peering into boxes, the guest smacked their lips in an annoyed manner, "Well- you need to hurry up and go. I'm supposed to be having company and you holding me up."
Noel looked at her mother, Tanya, and slightly squinted her eyes. Instead of replying, she just doubled her lips and nodded her head curtly. She was ready to leave anyhow.
Tanya cut her eyes at her child, and propped a hand onto her right hip as she shifted all of her weight to that side. "You got a problem?" She lifted her top lip in disgust, "It's an issue with me wanting you out of my house?"
Stopping her movements, Noel scrunched her brows and looked at her mother, pure confusion written all over her face. "What?"
Tanya jerked her head back dramatically and placed a hand on her chest. "Yeah,"she shook her head and scoffed, "you gotta go."
"I'm confused but, okay." Noel taped her final box shut and labeled it, 'BOOKS'. Placing it on the floor, she slid into her brown UGG house slippers, picked up the two boxes, and headed toward the entry of her bedroom. She was becoming annoyed with her mother.
"Stop acting retarded, Noel. You know what I'm talking about." Tanya followed closely behind Noel as she carefully walked down the stairs. Her vision was blocked by the large boxes she carried.
Noel handed the boxes to the man waiting at the bottom of the stairs, "That's it." She then looked towards her mom, with no emotion on her face. "Don't call me retarded." She stated simply then skipped up the narrow flight of stairs, every other step creaking as she did so. She glanced at the room she used to call hers once again, being sure that she wasn't leaving anything behind. She didn't want to ever come back to this place.
She grabbed her light blue jean jacket and her plain black purse, a random one she got from Walmart, before slipping her Samsung into the back pocket of her sagging jeans.
After flipping the light switch off and closing the door, she jogged back down the stairs and stopped in front of her mother. "Bye." She dropped the house key she was using, on the coffee table, and exited the home without another word.
A chill ran down her spine as she stepped into the wind. She looked around the neighborhood, inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before heading towards the U-Haul that was rented for her use.
Noel stared into the rear view mirror as the mover pulled out of the driveway, she didn't know how to feel about this move. She kept telling herself that it was for the best but she wasn't convinced.
"May as well get comfortable, miss. We have a long ride ahead of us."
*****
Her eyes glistened with adoration as they arrived at their destination. This wasn't what she was expecting at all. She honestly thought they would live in a house. This was better.
"We're here, miss." The mover turned the ignition off before hopping out of the truck. He headed to the back and opened the latch to begin his job.
Noel felt as if everything was in slow motion as she removed herself from the vehicle. She jumped down and looked around, taking in the area. She flinched as she heard her full name being called.
