𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧. a true story

⁀➷ 33- BAD NEWS

-𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐲-

And so ended another drama. Things went smoothly for a while after that. I had Connor and my friends, Ian dealt with karma, and I had no other worries. I'd even gotten back to the friend stage with Asher again, who I hadn't talked to in forever. My life was perfect.

Until the bad news came.

It was during breakfast on a Saturday in late September when my parents decided to make an announcement that would change everything.

"Michael, Malina, Melody," Dad said with a solemn tone, "I know this is sudden, but I found a different job that'll pay a lot more than my current one."

"You did? That's a good thing, isn't it?" Mal asked.

"Yes, well... it's in Princeville."

( i moved to somewhere on the east coast of america , but I won't be saying exactly where just for privacy reasons . i'll be calling the city I moved to "princeville" from now lol- idk if its actually a city or not , i just came up with it randomly )

I stopped chewing as Michael choked on his drink.

"Princeville?!" my sister cried. "You're expecting us to leave everything we've known for the past six years and move all the way across the country?!"

"Dad, we can't just leave everything behind and just yeet across America!" I shouted. "What about our friends? And school? It's the middle of the year! How can we just-"

"We've lived in this house for years, dad! You're telling us to forget everything we've known and loved and move to a completely different place we've never even been to?" Michael demanded.

My dad remained calm. "I know how much California means to all three of you, and I'm sorry. But mom and I decided it's a good opportunity. We'll be moving in about three weeks or so."

Unable to hold back my tears, I dashed up to my room. I closed the door and sat with my back against it, letting my tears fall.

I don't know how long I sat there crying, but it must've been a while because I couldn't feel my butt when I finally stood up.

I sat on the edge of my bed, staring absentmindedly at the floor.

Of course, as soon as I get everything figured out, life decides to hate on me again. Just my luck.

I curled up on my bed, letting out my anger by squeezing the life out of my pillow.

---

Monday

When I got to school on Monday, I was already dreading it. I thought of faking sick, but there was a major Math test that I couldn't miss.

I walked into 1st period with my eyes cast at my feet. Connor sat down in the seat beside me, smiling so widely that it hurt my heart knowing that I would be a million miles apart from him in less than a month.

"Hey, sunshine. You weren't at church yesterday?"

I looked away, unable to tell him I would be on the other side of America in only a few weeks.

Connor bent down so that his eyes were on the same level as mine.

"What's wrong?"

I stared back into his enchanting dark brown eyes.

"N-nothing. I'm j-just not feeling well."

How can I possibly tell him?

Connor raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? You tend to stutter when you get nervous... and when you lie."

I nodded. "Yep. It's nothing."

---

During Focus, I sat with my homework spread in front of me untouched. I was too busy fidgeting nervously.

"I'm moving to Princeville."

I didn't know how I'd suddenly had the guts to say it, and there was no taking it back.

When I looked up, Connor, Callie, Tessa, Harper, Lexi, Caleb, Julian, and Asher were all staring at me, bewildered.

Cal broke the silence with a laugh. "Yeah, right. Oh gosh, I really panicked for a second."

A tear forced its way out of my eye against my will, and Callie's smile died away.

Connor rook my hands into his and looked into my eyes with desperation. "You're kidding, right? Please tell me you're joking."

I looked away.

Connor let go of my hands and looked at me with the saddest eyes I'd ever seen on a person.

"You're... moving?" Harper asked, her voice barely audible.

"Why to Princeville of all places? That's so far away!"

"When are you leaving?"

"What about school? You can't just leave in the middle of the year-"

"You're going to visit, right?"

"Is this why you've been so quiet all day?"

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

I covered my face with the sleeves of my hoodie and cried into my hands. I felt so stupid and weak to just cry like an idiot.

"I'm s-sorry," I managed between shaky breaths as Connor hugged me tightly and let me cry in his arms.

"I just wanted to spare myself the heartache."

---

I sat on the kitchen counter, listening to I Wanna Cry by Seori while slowly munching on strawberries.

Suddenly, Mom appeared behind me, rubbing my back gently.

"I know you're still upset about the move, but there's a church retreat this Friday if you're up for it."

I perked up at that.

"They're renting four camping cars- it's for one night and three days."

"Really?"

"Yep- and it's just for 8th and 9th graders."

Well, I guess I have something to distract me from moving now.

in love with this song... tho it's pretty sad and gives me depression vibes-

-Emmie