Cut Off

Chapter 18

It's Saturday morning and I'm packing up the rest of my house. Somehow, my dad actually agreed to let me stay here. Now, let me be clear, he is still very angry. He's basically just ignoring me now. My mom has been trying to get him to ease up on me, but that's clearly not happening any time soon.

I get to stay in Los Angeles under a few conditions. First, my mom will be coming back every month to check on me. In the last month of my pregnancy, she said she will stay the whole time until I give birth. Second, I have to call her at least once a week. Third, I will be staying at Zach's house until we get an apartment. We already found one nearby, but we have to wait a week before we move in.

My dad did not say anything about these conditions. My mom pushed him into letting me use the dorm money as long as I promise to still take my online classes. I also had to sell my car. I guess that was fine since I wasn't driving much anyway. Once the semester starts, Zach will be attending UCLA. It is about a 30-minute drive from our new apartment.

Right now, I'm finishing packing up the rest of my childhood home into the moving trucks. It is kind of making me sad, but I know that this is what I want. My stuff is just staying in storage for the next week. The only thing I'm really bringing to Zach's is some clothes and other essentials. I won't need much for a week.

I am all good and fine until it is time to say goodbye to everyone. This is the hard part of staying here. I won't be seeing my family every day.

Tyler runs up to me and hugs me. It was so unexpected. I hug him back.

"Hey," I say to him. "I'll call you. Promise."

"You better" he responds.

I laugh a little. We may be 6 years apart in age, but Tyler and I have always been really close. Being away from him is going to be really hard.

I hug him again and then he gets in the car. My family has got a long drive ahead of them.

My mom comes toward me, and I can see tears in her eyes.

"Bye, baby," she says as she pulls me into a hug.

"Bye, Mom," I say.

"I'll call you when we get there. Please be okay without us. I don't want anything to happen to you when I'm not there. I hate this."

"I know. I do too. But I'll be okay. I promise."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too. See you in a month."

"Bye."

And then she's gone. My dad is already in the car. He says he doesn't want to see me. It sucks that I won't see him again for probably a long time and he won't even say goodbye.

I wave at them as I leave and then I turn around.

I walk up to the doorway of the house. Looking at the empty house makes me want to cry. I don't know how long I am standing there before a feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey," Emily says in a careful voice. "You okay?"

"Yeah" I respond, though I'm not sure.

"Come over. Let's talk. I've barely spoken to you in the last week."

"I've barely spoken o anyone in the last week."

"Well, let's change that."

"Fine."

So I follow her to her house. At least that will still stay the same.

We go up to her room and I can see my old bedroom through the window. Emily sees me staring and closes the curtain.