Every second

1. Goodbye

My room has always been my special place, within these four walls I have been through a lot. The desk in front of the window reminds me of hours of endless homework, the bed is my fortress, where no one can hurt me, not to mention the posters attached to the walls which are signs of my old foolish passions, and finally the photos hanging from the LED lights remind me of all the people who have been close to me, each colour representing someone important to me. I hear Mum's voice calling me and I wipe away the tear that has fallen without realising it.
I am about to leave the place where I lived most of my childhood, and not only that, along with it I am also leaving all my friends, my school and even a piece of my family. Today's date has been on the calendar, circled in red for a long time, but I have always seen it as far away in my head. 

I walk down the stairs towards the big hall where my family is waiting for me with all my suitcases. My father and mother are hugging each other with their eyes full of melancholy while Jaden, my brother, looks almost bored, I don't understand his indifference to moving, he is the one whose life is perfect, in Santa Barbara: he is the quarterback of the school football team, he has high grades and is constantly surrounded by girls rubbing up against him. I, on the other hand, have always been the loser of the family: my grades leave something to be desired because I've almost always got away with a pass, sport has always been my enemy, as a child I did a year of basketball but I finished it all when I sprained my ankle jumping and then I never wanted to hold any kind of ball in my hands, apart from volleyball, not to mention the love situation because I'm really, really behind in that, for a 16 year old girl, I'm a real catastrophe, I've only kissed one boy and that was for playing bottle game (by the way, it was really shitty because my lip accidentally got caught in the guy's braces so I looked like shit) and the only 'relationships' I've heard of are in books.

I come back to reality when my mother comes to hug me and gives me a kiss on the head, I grab my suitcase and follow my brother out the door.
In our driveway is my dad's Range Rover and next to him I'm not surprised to see Ellie and Jason; I run to them and in a hug I can't resist anymore and the tears start to flow in abundance. I break away from Ellie and hug Jason too until the latter separates us by getting in the middle and joining in the hug in turn.
I don't speak, we have said far too many words to each other in the last few weeks. I separate from them and get into the car. I lean my head on the window and watch the car drive away, leaving behind my friends, my home and my city.

This is the first chapter of 'Every Second' and I hope you enjoyed it.
It is my first story so don't be too cruel.
Thanks for reading and apologies for any mistakes there may be. <3
-Haru💙🫀