𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬

Two

Dear Amie,

I have been sent hundreds of requests for your presence at Hansen Falls Academy from Odette Blaise—she is a woman highly respected at the academy given her ownership of the school. Your attendance is needed on September 1st, the day academics start if you shall accept this invitation. Again it is highly recommended that your response is a guarantee that you will be attending the academy.

Sincerely, Valentina Cadman

I've read the letter twenty times and my kind still spins at the words. The more I read it, the more I see that they basically already decided my answer for me. I want a choice in the matter. Instead of writing back my reply, I stuff it in the darkest part of my desk drawer.

"Amie!" Mom's voice calls from the hallway. "Come out here and eat."

I reluctantly drag myself downstairs to see my mom and dad sitting across from each other at our dark, wood dining room table. The smell of pasta fills the air when I take a step closer into the room and I can tell something's off. My parents never have homemade dinners unless they want something from me or they're celebrating. I really hope it's the latter for my headaches sake.

"Sit down," Dad insists, not even looking up from his plate of already half eaten pasta that's covered in way too much tomato sauce. "We have some news."

I squash down a face of relief while I get my plate and take a seat at the end of the table. Our table only has three chairs and is quite small. Dad has told me he built it the day I was born.

There's a long moment of painful silence before my mother finally finds her voice. "I think you know that your father has been looking for a higher paying job these days, right Amie?"

I completely forgot about that but I nod anyway. My father got laid off his job of ten years because of some local publicity stunt that turned into secrets being revealed about the company he was working for. They never told me what it was about.

"And you realize that the jobs he's looking for are out of state?" Her voice becomes slower with every word as if I'm a toddler struggling to understand.

I nod slowly this time because I did not know that.

"Well, he found a job in Texas that pays much higher than his last, so we're moving there next week."

Next week? Why so soon?

"I understand if this is a lot," Dad speaks up, a sympathetic smile on his face when I meet his eyes.

He tries to reach for my hand but I snatch it away. I'm not letting them play nice after all this time. I don't even care about moving away anymore, this was bound to happen with my luck.

"Is that all?" I ask tersely. I want to leave this room and try to forget everything that has happened since the moment I sat down.

My parents exchange a look of frustration that I've seen them use many times in my life.

"We have one more piece of news before you leave," Dad drops his sympathetic act and locks his fingers with my mom's. "Once we move, far away from here, we're going to adopt a baby."