Dreams - Dwayne Hoover

prologue

June 27th, 2007

Juliet Fullman was sitting at the kitchen table with her mom and her dad.
"you think now is a good time to tell her?" Maria Fullman said to her husband, who was in the middle of eating.
Juliet fell suspicious, eyeing her parents. "tell me what?"
her mother gave a weary smile
"well your dad got a new job.." she paused looking wearily at her unconcerned husband "in Albuquerque."
Juliet's face changed from suspicious to shocked "fucking albuquerque? are you joking?"
her father lifted his head
"hey watch your language!"
"This is a very good thing for your father, honey. he'll be in a higher position than here and making almost twice as much!" her mother said in a defensive tone
Juliet, still shocked "What about my life here? what about my friends?"
"you'll make more friends" Maria sympathized
Juliet shook her head in disbelief. "so when are we moving?"
she looked up at her parents, her dad wipes his face with a napkin and puts it down on the table
"Well we are in the process of buying a house there and I have to train someone to fill my position when we leave, so maybe a month"
"A MONTH?!" Juliet exclaimed, her eyes darting between her parents, looking for any signs that this was all just some practical joke.
her mother gave her a weak smile.
"I'm sorry this is such short notice, honey"
Her mom got up, grabbed the plates on the table, and moved them to the sink.
Juliet stood up as tears swelled into her eyes. her face began to burn as she rushed up the stairs. Maria looked at her husband who seemed unbothered by his daughter's upset.

Juliet sat on her bed in the room she begged her parents to paint hot pink when she was 8. She hated the color now as a 16-year-old and had been wanting to repaint it. she sighed as she flopped back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. she had traced the design on the plaster ceiling every night for as long as she could remember, she had it memorized and could draw it if asked. she had lived in that house for her whole life and the thought of leaving made her want to cry. She sat up and looked around at her tiny pink room, trying to appreciate all the little details that made it home. She looked at the carpet that was stained from spilled nail polish, most likely from a late-night manicure during some slumber party. The many holes in the walls from nails, skews, and tacks that had held up a decade of wall decorations. She took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh that shook as she began to weep.

July 31, 2007
Juliet wiped the sleep from her eyes and looked around her bare room. Everything was packed into boxes and already on its way to their new home. The time estimate of a month was pretty much correct. The Fullmans had closed on their new home in New Mexico two weeks after announcing their plans to move. She had slept on a blow-up mattress that slowly defeated throughout the night. Her parents were already awake and bringing the last of the family's things to the minivan that would bring them to their new home.

***

It took 17 hours to get there. They didn't stop for the night because her parents wanted to get home as quickly as possible. The moving truck was already there and the movers were bringing boxes into the house. The house was bigger than their previous one and was in a neighborhood with many identical houses. It had stucco siding and a pink tiled roof. Juliet stepped out of the car and into the hot sun. She wasn't used to this level of heat, on the hottest days in Boston it usually got to 90°. Her mother and father got out as well and they all gazed at their new home.
"Well, what do you think Jules?" Mrs.Fullman asked as she put her arm around her daughter.
"It's nice" Juliet replied, smiling to make her mom feel better.
"Welp, we better start getting everything into the house," her father said, walking toward the movers who were hard at work bringing heavy furniture into the house.
Juliet sighed as she walked to the car to retrieve her backpack and other small things she had packed in the car.