Dear Jolene

PROLOGUE

New York City.

Jo had mixed feelings about this city but she didn't really have a choice when her mother, Emily, dropped the bomb on her. The bomb was leaving the small town they had lived a peaceful life in for the past five years and moving to New York.

Even the name of the place sounded chaotic. Jo loved the peace and a chaos-free environment, or so it appeared. Nobody actually knew about Jo. She seemed like an open book but had many layers to her.

"Do we really have to move to New York?" Jo asked her mother in a sad tone.

Emily paused washing the dishes and let out a sigh, then slowly turned toward Jo, "Baby, it's a big city, and you're fifteen now, a big girl, think about the opportunities you will get an-" "And the expenses, a big city also means big bills, Mom!" Jo cut her off and tried to reason.

"Don't you dare think about the expenses, I am your Mother and I will take care of everything, all you have to do is pack and say goodbye to Karma and Dani", Emily said pointedly and went back to washing dishes.

Jo pouted and left the dining room and stomped all the way to her room, and slammed her door.

"You better start packing, or there won't be any time for goodbyes," Emily shouted from the kitchen.

Jo heard her loud and clear. She grabbed her phone from the bedside table and called Dani.

Dani picked up after a few calls, "Hey Jo!"

"Hi," Jo plopped on her bed and greeted Dani in a whiney tone.

"Oh no, it sounds like Emily is still on about New York."

Jo rolled on her bed and stuffed her face into her pink Barbie pillow, muffling her response.

Dani sighed and said, "Wait, let me add Karma as well, or else he will say we hide stuff from him."

There was a few seconds of silence before a loud hello was heard indicating Karma's presence.

Jo, Karma, and Danielle had been friends since Jo's first day of fifth grade five years ago. Karma was loud, and Dani was quiet, Karma was the talker, and Dani was the listener. They were predictable and made the perfect balance in Jo's life.

"I'm moving to New York, and it's final," Jo announced, "I'll be leaving on Saturday."

"Dang it, that's like only two days from now, I'm gonna miss you man", Karma said.

"Same here, don't worry, we will come and help you tomorrow with the packing, okay?" Dani suggested.

"Yes, yes," Karma said excitedly.

After a few minutes of gossiping about Karma's neighbour who gets drunk every night and runs naked around the neighbourhood at 3 in the morning, they called it a night.

Jo stood up from her bed and looked around, only to see millions of things she wanted to take with her. She collected the boxes from outside her room that Emily had kept beforehand and started packing five years of memories in square cardboard boxes.

Thursday came in, and so did Friday and Saturday, all the boxes and other heavy stuff went on a moving truck, and now all that was left was locking the house and giving the keys to the new tenant, tearful goodbyes, and a 7 hours-long car ride.

The goodbyes were loud and teary, and Karma and Dani hung onto Jo, with no intention of letting her go. Jo smiled and patted their backs and softly pushed them away.

They burst into giggles, looking at Karma covered in snot and tears.

As Jo sat in the car and waved her friends and neighbours goodbye, she felt her chest getting heavy, like a warning to not leave the small town tucked away behind gigantic eucalyptus trees and surrounded by the lonely howls of wolves at night. 

The town that was Jo and her mother's safe haven.

xoxo

Hey Humans!!! 
Thank you so much for reading !!!

<3

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