Entangling Hearts 💞

Prologue

13 days ago

16 Pear Tree Avenue, West Atlanta, GA

In West Atlanta, life was good.

Despite the fact we lived in a small town, life was still good. Me and my parents lived in a two-story house on the far side of West Atlanta, aka the smaller part of the town. I liked living there because it was peaceful and quiet, and I love quiet. I wish it were quiet all the time. We also lived in a pretty small neighborhood, which I liked because that meant I could take walks alone at night.

Alongside the town being peaceful and quiet, I also got to hang out every day with my best friend, Symone Green. We became best friends in the first grade, and we have been inseparable ever since. We enjoyed walking to school together, riding our bikes around town, and staying at each other's houses, either watching Netflix or just messing around and being goofy together. Even though I was quiet and Symone was loud and outgoing, we still became pretty good friends. Besides, Symone was the only person who could keep me talking. Our friendship was so good that our parents even called us twins.

"You and Symone clicked so fast." my mom would always say, "I sometimes wonder if you two were long-lost twins."

I enjoyed my life. So what if we lived in a small town? I was able to take late-night walks and I had the best friend in the world. What more could I possibly want?

Life was good until The Day happened.

The Day when everything changed.

The Day when I had to leave everything behind and start a new life.

It all started during summer 13 days ago when me and Symone were walking home from school.

"I can't believe it's the last day of school," said Symone as she sipped the grape soda she got from the vending machine.

"I know, right?" I replied, "I didn't think that it would end this quickly."

"For real." she said. "Did you find any cute boys this year?'

"Um... I don't know." I replied.

Symone smiled and gave me a look. "Come on, Imani," she said in a whiny voice. "You obviously like someone."

I rolled my eyes jokingly. Of course, Symone could tell whether or not I was hiding something. "Ok, fine," I whined. "I like Alex Roman."

Symone spat out her drink. "Alex Roman??! As in the Alex Roman?" 

I nodded my head.

"Imani." she said in a frustrated tone, "You will never stand a chance with Alex Roman."

"Really?"

"Yes," said Symone. "Alex is the most popular guy in school. He's got a line full of girls who are also in love with him. And he will probably choose the most popular girl in the whole school: Crystal West."

"Well, tell Crystal to head west after Alex chooses me to be his date for homecoming." I joked.

Symone laughs. "Oh, Imani," she says after taking a huge breath.

We talked a bit more about boys, homecoming, and other girly stuff until we reached my house. "We're at your house now," said Symone, as if I didn't know that.

"Yeah, I know," I replied.

We entered through the front door, and that's when I saw something so horrifying that my jaw dropped to the floor.

I saw boxes, lots and lots of boxes.

"What's going on?" I said.

"I don't know." said Symone, "but you guys better not be moving."

"I will cry if I have to move," I said.

"Me too. How am I going to survive the next school year without my best friend?" Symone said in a sad tone.

Just as she said that, my mom came out of the office in our house. "Hi girls!" she said. "How was school."

"Hi, Mrs. Carter!" exclaimed Symone. She loved my mom as much as I did. "School was great. I'm so glad it ended."

"Me too," I replied.

"I'm glad school ended for you guys. That means we can do some fun things this summer," replied my mom. She paused for a few seconds and then looked at me. "Speaking of, Imani, I wanted to talk to you about something today. But, since Symone is here, I guess I can talk to you now."

I felt a sense of nervousness. My mom had never wanted to talk to me about something so urgently unless that meant something serious was going on. "What is it?" I said nervously.

"This might be a bit hard to take in, and I wanted to wait until tonight to tell you this," she responded.

"Yes?"

"Remember that job offer that your dad got in Westbrook, New York?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"Well, I talked with him last night and we're going to be moving there. We're going to be driving to Westbrook tonight."

My jaw dropped. "WHAT?!!" I yelled. "But-- but-- we can't move! What about our neighborhood? What about my friends? What about Symone?"

"Yes, I know moving can be stressful. But we're going to live in the best part of New York! Also, you will make new friends. Plus, you can FaceTime and text Symone."

WHAT?? This cannot be happening.

I was going to leave all my friends, leave this town. Everything that I loved about my life was going to be gone.

Symone was sitting on the couch, playing Minecraft on the Xbox. "You're moving??!"

"Yes," I said. Tears started entering my eyes. The thought of leaving everything behind made me want to cry.

Symone also started tearing up. "Don't leave me, Mani," she said. "How am I going to survive without you?"

"I know," I said, tears streaming down my face. "I don't wanna leave."

"I'm sorry, Imani," said Mom. "I don't wanna leave either. But, we really need this job. Plus, we're going to be in the best part of New York! And this job your father got us is so great. Can you believe it? Our family will officially be property owners of the estates of North Westbrook!"

"I don't care," I said. "I'd rather stay in West Atlanta,"

"Me too," said Mom, "but things will get better. Trust me. You might even make new friends."

"I don't want new friends," I argued. "I want Symone."

"Don't worry, Imani. You will still be able to be friends with Symone. Now, come on. Help me load the rest of the boxes into the car. Symone's parents are here to pick her up."

"Bye, Imani. I'm gonna miss you!" Symone cried.

"Bye, Symone. I'll miss you too." I replied.

We hugged each other and gave each other kisses on the cheek before my mom dragged me out of the house. "Come on, we're gonna be late!" she shrieked. "Get in the car!"

So we drove away from the beautiful home of 911 Birch Wood Avenue in West Atlanta, Georgia. Tears streaming down my face, staring at the window, looking at the lovely, exquisite town that we were gonna leave behind for the crowded, elitist city of Westbrook, New York.