Forbidden Love

Chapter 1 / prologue

I sat on the sofa with my twin brother. Word had spread through the streets our parents wanted us home instantly.

This lead to us sitting here, not a clue what was going on and our parents standing nervously in front of us. They hadn't spoken yet.

It clearly wasn't good news. I readied myself for whatever it was they were going to say. Someone must have died. But who? It can't have been someone we were close to, they didn't look that upset.

As I was deciding who had died my mum said, "we're moving away. To England. Birmingham."

"What?" Ethan said beside me interrupting her before she could say anything more. I felt as shocked as he looked. We lived in Belfast. Northern Ireland. Sure there was trouble but it was home. We couldn't leave.

"Your father's job is closing office here and moving and we are going with them." Mum continued, "I think it will be good for us, get us away from all of this." She waved her arms around our living room as if we were suppose to see something bad here.

I looked around and saw the home I grew up in.

I couldn't leave Belfast. Leave my school, my friends, my family. I jumped to my feet and ran out of the house faintly aware of my parents yells for me to come back. I ran down our street and into the next where my grandparents lived. I had to ring their bell three times before I got an answer.

"Olivia!" My granny answered the door, "whatever is wrong?" She was used to me dropping by but could probably tell by my face I wasn't happy.

"Have they told you?" I asked her walking into the house and into the living room where my grandfather sat in front of the television.

"Your mother was in earlier," my granny followed me into the living room, "she didn't think you'd take it well."

"I'm not going." I said sitting down next to my grandpa and giving him a hug, "I'll stay with you."

"You'll have to go sweetheart." He kissed the top of my head wrapping an arm around me, "it's not that far away you know."

"No one can make me." I knew I was pouting like a child but it couldn't be helped sometimes.

"No one could ever make you do anything!" Grandpa chuckled, "but you know as well as I do that you'll have to go. Your da has a job to do."

"But what about you?" I loved my grandparents more than anything in the world and I'd always had a sweet spot for my grandpa. I'd been grandpa's little girl from before I could walk or talk. 

"I'm not so old and frail that I won't be here when you come back my love! And I can always come visit you too." He tried to comfort me.

"It's not the same." I sighed leaning into his side. I knew he knew it too. "Can't you and granny come with us?" I looked into his face and I knew the answer but I held out hope anyway.

He laughed, he actually laughed at me, "No, my love. My life is in Belfast. There's no place for an old sod like me in England."

"Then there's no place for me either."

"Ah but there is. You and your brother are only 16. Just at the start of your lives. You two could make it anywhere."

The front bell went and my granny went to answer it and returned with my father.

"How did I know you'd be here?" He asked me with a smile.

I did not smile back.

"Come on," he said, "it can't be helped, you can't stay mad at me forever."

I looked at him and the thought of staying mad at him forever did sound nice. "I can stay mad for a bit though." I replied with my arms crossed but I could already feel the tension leaving me.

"It's only natural to be upset about leaving. But we aren't going for two weeks so you have plenty of time to say goodbye to all your friends."

"Two weeks?" I sprung forward, for some reason I thought I would finish the school year even though it wasn't even Halloween.

"Yes we're taking the boat over the Halloween break so that you and Ethan miss as little school as possible."

"But I've got a Halloween party to go. Me and Eve have our costumes ready. They wouldn't work by themselves." This just wasn't going to work. Dad had to see reason.

Dad just smiled at me, "I'm sorry love, Eve will have to do her costume with someone else. We are going to be on a boat on Halloween."

I could feel the tears welling in my eyes and begged them not to fall. I'd feel silly crying over a Halloween party.

"It's ok," grandpa said pulling me into a hug, "you'll be alright, no matter where you are. You always find your way. My girl." I wasn't so sure, but I let my grandpa hug me anyway.

I returned home for my dinner. Dinner was somber. Ethan wasn't too happy with our parents either. Both our parents seems to be trying to be cheerful about the move. Ethan was ignoring them. I decided I'd follow his lead.

"We'll learn more about the details tomorrow." Dad was saying, "all we really know right now is that they are closing the Belfast branch for good. They offered me a position in the Birmingham branch. Comes with a house and a car and a slight pay rise too. I'll have to ask about the schools in the area see what they're like but I'm sure they're just fine. There's been the smallest bit of trouble in Birmingham I admit that but we shouldn't have any trouble."

"It all sounds lovely." Mum smiled. I looked at her closely. Her smile was a little too big. So was dads. Maybe they didn't want to go either. They should have more sense and not jump across the sea just because dads job says so.

"I'm going out." Ethan says standing up the second he finishes his food.

"Wait up." I say following him out.

"Don't be late!" Their mother called after them, "and Ethan, keep an eye on your sister!"

"You'd think I was ten years younger." I mumble to Ethan annoyed as we shut the door behind us.

"Where did you run off to earlier?" Ethan asked me as we walk towards the park at the back of our streets where we knew our friends would also go after their dinners.

"Granny and Grandpa's." I answer, "I don't want to leave them."

"Grandpa's little girl." He teases me and I shove him but smile, I don't mind being called that, not really.

"What are we going to do?" I ask him. He rarely knew what to do but every now and then I had to admit my brother was a genius. This was not one of those times as he simply shrugged, saw one of his friends and ran off.

I looked around and saw Eve talking with a group of girls from our year. I ran over to them.

"Why did you get called in?" Asked a nosey girl from the year above reminding me that me and Ethan had been called in early.

"I'm going away," I said it like I was being sent to prison and almost giggled at the dramatics, "my dads job is going to England and we are all going with him."

"No!" Eve gasped, "when?"

I looked straight at her, "two weeks. I'll be on the boat Halloween."

"Oh Olivia!" Eve looked like she was about to cry and she hugged me which soon turned into a group hug, "what are we going to do without you? School is going to be so boring."

"You'll survive." I say not sure what I'm going to do without my friends and my town, "you'll all be ok."

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