-ＤＡＵＮＴＬＥＳＳ- 𝑗𝑜ℎ𝑛𝑛𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑤𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒

𝟏 • 𝐋𝐎𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒

🅛🅞🅢 🅐🅝🅖🅔🅛🅔🅢
─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────

I cram the rest of my belongings into the remaining storage bin and snap it shut, reinforcing it with duct tape.

"Hey, Mom said to be downstairs in ten minutes, you almost done?" Erik asks, peeking his head into the doorway.

"Yeah, I'll be down." I never wanted to move out of my childhood home before I had to for college, but since my parent's divorce, the choice has been made that me, my two siblings, and my mother would be moving across the country, leaving my dad here.

It's bittersweet; of course, I don't want to leave my dad, he's one of my favorite people to be around, but apparently just didn't mix well with my mom long-term. On the bright side, I've been promised frequent visits back here in Chicago to see him and who wouldn't want to spend their senior year in California?

As I attempted to be optimistic, as difficult as that may be, my siblings have mixed feelings. My little sister, Andrea, who's freshly sixteen, wasn't very joyous about the decision to move. She's now constantly spiraling about everything starting over. To be fair, I'm a bit nervous too, but I choose not to show that in front of her so she has someone to look up to aside from my twin brother, Erik.

He's not even scared from what I can tell; I think more upset at the fact our family's being 'fucked over' in his words. I try not to think of this change as that, knowing it will just make this inevitable experience ten times more painful than it has to be.

As we drive to the airport, Mom questions if we have everything packed so that we won't have to wait for it to be shipped last minute to California. "The boxes in the shed and the ones in the attic of your dance trophies, Andrea?"

"Yes, Mom. I triple-checked, don't worry." She sighs, obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation, and thought of moving her sentimental belongings out of where they'd always been since receiving them.

"Look, I'm sorry. I just want this to be as enjoyable and smooth as possible for all of you, even if it may be hard to deal with." She glances back at Erik and Andrea with a sincere look while reaching over and rubbing my knee comfortingly as I lounge in the passenger seat.

"It's okay, Mom. We get it, I'm sure it wasn't easy on you either." She gives me a saddened half-smile and I return it, before reverting my gaze to the yellow and blue-tinted morning sky. She didn't want to leave dad, but visibly seeing the only thing that made her happy was her job wasn't amazing.

The flight to Los Angeles was long and very boring. I tried to read a book that Andrea recommended but quickly gave up since my surroundings were too distracting for me to focus and be able to contemplate what the ink-smeared pages meant. I resorted to just looking out the window of the plane, and oddly enough, it was the most soothing option I could think of.

The clouds appeared to be opaque and fluffy, like strips of cotton floating above the fields of green. It's sort of odd seeing everything from that high up and almost unreal since you've spent your whole life on the other edge of the spectrum.

I nervously bounce my knee as the flight attendant announces our arrival at the Los Angeles airport. As we land on the runway, I can spot palm trees in the distance and I feel the clammy temperature change as I step off of the plane with my carry-on in hand. "Come on, this way, Sammy." My mother directs, taking the lead as my brother and sister follow behind me, exiting the terminal.