A Twist of Fate (ON HOLD)

Chapter 1

I hate change. It's one of those things that really irritate me. For me, change is never good, and always brings terrible ordeals that we have to deal with, and leaves awful memories that we think back on saying, "Well, that's unfortunate . Lets try to never have to endure that again."

'But dad, I don't wanna move!' I try pleading with my dad for what feels like the billionth time. 'I'll miss all my friends!'

'Avery, it's not like its my choice. If I don't take this job offer I'll be fired. You know how it is. Now, go to your room and pack your things. If you're quick enough you'll have about an hour to meet up with your friends and say goodbye, but then we'll

really have to leave or we'll miss our flight.'

I sigh, but do as my father tells me to do. As I go up the stairs, I catch sight of the old picture of me, my older brother Nick and my parents on holidays a few years ago. Back before everything got...messy.

I wince, remembering my mom, Laura Matthews. At 5'7, she was just a couple of inches taller than I am now, with silky black hair, slightly greying at the temples and bright blue eyes. She had smile crinkles around her eyes. She always knew how to make me feel happy, and good about myself.

I was devastated when she died after a van struck her.

I shake my head, and stop thinking about Mom and start concentrating on the task at hand: packing. I'm not exactly the neatest person in the world and, as usual, I end up just throwing pretty much all the clothes I own into my huge purple suitcase.

It's awful trying to decide what to keep and what to sell. We'd be selling this house, so anything we didn't bring would be thrown away. I sigh as I put my old dolls and some clothes that I've outgrown but kept for memory's sake into the large blue bin bag with 'Trash' written on it in thick black marker.

When I'm done, I straighten up, stretching my back and trying to get some feeling back into my hands. In reality, I've only been packing for 30 minutes, but it feels as if I've been doing this for hours on end.

I start to get ready to go out to say goodbye to my friends, but then realise that I've packed away all of my make up and decent looking clothes.

'Damn...' I mutter under my breath.

I look at myself in the mirror, and grimace. Tired, big, blue eyes look out at me, and the bags under my eyes make me wince. Lets just say, I haven't been sleeping properly as the day of the big move drew nearer and nearer. My hair is a curly blond mess as usual. I get my hair from my dad, and my mum always loved it. Me... not so much. Of course, the one detail of my face that I hated so much really stood out; my pale, pale skin. Not uncommon for Ireland, but when all your friends look like tanned models you do get sick of being so deathly pale. I don't even freckle! Frankly, it's just irritating.

Knowing that there's nothing I can do to make my appearance look any better, unless some old fat fairy screaming 'I'm your fairy godmother!' appears, I just give up and leave my room. I go outside and breathe in the cold air. It stings a little, but I'm used to it by now and relish the cool breeze.

I walk to town, a journey that takes barely 15 minutes and quickly see my friends hanging outside the cinema. I watch them for a moment, thinking that this may be the last time we'll ever all hang out together. The thought depresses me. They're messing and hanging around and I wish that I could stay with them forever, but I only have an hour now until I have to go home.

'Hey, look who's here! Avery, yoohoo!'

I look over at my best friend, Ella, blushing at being caught staring at my friends yet not going over to them.