Catch Me If You Can

Kaleigh Winters

"You cannot be serious right now," I dead panned.

"I'm sorry Kaleigh, but we're moving to LA and that's final," my father had told me.

"But Dad! My life is here. My friends are here. Everything that matters to me is here!" I argued.

"I'm sorry Kaleigh but it will just be so much easier being in California. Your grand parents are there to help me and the business is so much easier being coordinated in California," he had told me with a sigh. "I know you love it here, and it's so much more peaceful here – but we need to go. It's getting more and more difficult for me to be here."

"When are we leaving?" I asked dejectedly. I couldn't argue with my father after everything we've been through in the past year.

"Two days," he told me. I closed my eyes and wished that he was joking and hoped that when I opened the, he would tell me he was playing on a prank. No such thing happened. "I know, I'm sorry."

"I guess I'm going to start packing," I said to him. He gave me a sad smile and hugged me, and kissed the top of my head before walking away putting his phone to his ear.

I walked up the stairs and took my phone out of my pocket looking for my bestfriend's name.

"Who did you kill and where are we hiding the body?" the voice answered.

"Nobody this time, just my own," I groaned.

"What's going on? Did you get caught? Do I need to bail you out?" she asked me.

"No, but can you kidnap me? I'm moving," I groaned and jumped on my bed face down.

There was silence on the other end. "I'm coming over," she said before hanging up. I turned over to my back and looked up at my ceiling – trying to figure out what I was going to do.

California? I didn't know how to feel about moving to a new place. California was so different from Colorado. I lived right outside of Denver. It was close enough to the city to enjoy the accessibility, but far enough to stay anonymous and live quietly.

"911, what's your emergency," Skye said as she walked through the door and sat on my bed.

"I'm gonna die out there," I told her.

"You're moving."

"That, I am."

"You're gonna die out there."

"Thanks for the comfort," I said sarcastically as I sat up and glared at her.

"You're the hidden gem of Holden Industries, California is going to eat you alive. The media will be all over you. Your life is going to turn around."

"Skye! You're not helping me!" I groaned and hit my forehead with my pillow. Skye stayed silent and I sighed. Colorado was my entire life. I didn't know how to leave everything behind. Every time I went to travel, I knew I was coming back. I knew that I was coming back to the house that I grew up in, the mountain I first learned to snowboard in and the friends I've had my entire life. I didn't know how I felt about living somewhere else.

"Have you told your cousin yet?" Skye asked me.

Skye had started dating my cousin Eric a couple of years ago. We all grew up together and I pretty much knew that they would somehow end up together.

"Not yet," I sighed and sat up to text Eric to come over.

"Maybe it will be good for you," she said to me. "You could start over with a clean slate. Maybe it will help you move on," she said cautiously.

I nodded at her. "Yeah, and I know that it will be good for Dad as well. He needs a fresh start. I just don't know if California is the answer."

Eric knocked on my door and Skye and I both told him to come in.

"What's going on?" he asked me.

"I'm moving to California," I said to him.

His face paled. "Shit."

Skye scolded him for his language and he muttered a soft sorry before sitting on the other side of me.

"Are you ready to leave?" he asked me and I just shook my head no. "Are you going to Holden Private?" I shrugged, and we both knew that it was highly likely.

"I'm a Holden, Eric. Everyone's going to know the moment a Holden steps into California. The media will be all over it. You know I hate the publicity and love my privacy." Everybody was quiet. They knew that – that was exactly what was going to happen.

"What if you weren't a Holden?" Skye suddenly said.

"Well it wouldn't be a big deal then," I shrugged.

"That's it! We'll just have you go to California and not be a Holden," she said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "Think about it, the world hasn't seen you since you were nine. You don't have to fly in the jet with your dad, you don't have to live in Holden Towers – you have that place in the hills. It's isolated and still close to Holden Private. And you don't have to enroll as Kaleigh Holden. Say you're a scholar!"

"If I'm not going to be Kaleigh Holden, who am I going to be?" I rolled my eyes at her. She looked at me, looked at Eric and back at me. Eric looked worried, knowing what his girlfriend was going to say.

"Kaleigh Winters."

My breath caught in my throat.

Winters. That's my mother's maiden name.

"I think this could work," I said as I looked at them.

I rushed downstairs and knocked on my father's office to bring up the idea to him.

"Dad, this could work. We get the best of both worlds! I'm going to be responsible, I'll check in with you every day. I'll be good and I won't get in trouble."

"Who brought this idea up? Was it Skye again?" he sighed as he put down his pen. I bit my lip. "Skye, I know you're listening!" he said a bit louder and both Eric and Skye stepped into the room.

"Uncle, it could really work," Eric defended.

My dad sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're going to check in with me every day," he said slowly.

"Yes!" I assured him and jumped behind his desk to hug him.

"You will stay out of trouble," he continued.

"I will!"

"You will need to be at the office for training Mondays through Thursdays," he said.

"Yes, yes, yes!" I agreed and smiled at the two from across the room. "I'll start packing now," I grinned and was about to leave his office when he stopped me.

"One more thing Kaleigh," he started. I looked up at him, and he had a serious look on his face. "Don't get caught racing."

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Hi! This is a new story that I thought about recently. It's been jogging in my mind for awhile. Let me know what you think!