One Interesting Summer

Chapter 1

“What do you mean by ‘Your father and I have to settle things’?” I asked loudly. My ears felt as if they were deceiving me. My mind raced with the words this cannot be happening, this cannot be happening

“Well,” My mom started, “We just need to straighten out whether or not we’re going to move,” She gave a look at my dad who then nodded. This was going to be a tag-team argument. Both of them, against lonely old me.

“We both understand this is weird, but you just have to trust us on this one,” My dad added.

“Oh, so now I’m a burden?” I asked staring blankly at the two of them. They just decided to dump this whole thing on me the day of my flight that I was going to fight tooth and nail not to go on.

“We just need to know whether or not we’re going to move,” My Mom said quickly, obviously trying to keep the situation as calm as possible. Sadly, I was already angry beyond the point of normal.

“I already told you how I felt! Don’t I have a say in this? It’s my life too!” I screamed. I refused to move from New York to Los Angeles like it was no big deal.

“It’s not something you need to worry about. It’s just between your father and me,” My mom snapped. You could tell by her face that she was fed up with the whole entire thing. My jaw dropped. “In the meantime, you’ll be staying with your Aunt Kim,” She just said it so smoothly, so lightly. This wasn’t a big deal to her, you could tell.

“So let me get this straight,” I began as I started to pace. “You want me to stay in LA, the city I want to avoid, to see an aunt whose daughter HATES me?” They nodded. They just NODDED! Like, yes dear you’ve got if perfectly, hope you enjoy yourself on this torture trip!

“Livy is a very nice girl!” My mom exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration, “She doesn’t hate you!”

“Mom, the last time we saw her and Aunt Kate, she slammed the door in my face. Then she opened it again to say ‘I hate you’,” I questioned. You could practically see the wheels turning in my mom’s head.

“You’re still going,” She said briskly, turning around towards the kitchen. I groaned as I stomped obnoxiously up the stairs. I turned into the bright green doorway of my room. Slamming my fist into the wall, a tears left my eyes. It was crazy that I would probably never see this place again. I took my luggage cases out of the closet and began filling it with random cloths and other stuff that I would totally miss if I didn’t bring. My face was masked with a pout as soon as I left my house. I was planning on wearing for as long as I was with my parents. I grabbed my phone and ran out the door. Our car lay in the driveway, and my parents were already inside. As I slowly opened up the door, I was handed back a ticket which I took into my folded arms.

“I know you don’t like this,” My Mom replied softly. I resisted the urge to say ‘No, Duh’ as I sank down in my seat. I decided to go with a slow nod instead.

“Be safe,” My dad added louder than my Mom, but still not loud enough. It made the atmosphere as if they were shipping me off, never to return. After a long, silent car ride we finally made it to the airport. My parents asked if a needed help, but I denied it. I would be fine, I could do it. I pulled the suitcase out of the back and rolled it out to the revolving door. The monotonous thump of the wheels meeting a seam in cement kept me calm. I went up to the front desk and talked to the lady there about my ticket before she led me up to the long line for security. I checked my phone for texts. There weren’t any. Not even a final good-bye from my parents. At that moment I could have been at the mercy of a smiley emoji. I placed my cell back in my pocket and shuffled along with the other people waiting. After the methodical security check I was off to the flight waiting area. I pulled out my phone once more and plugged in my head phones to get caught up on the last few Pretty Little Liars episodes I had missed over the last few weeks. I turned the volume down so that I could hear if the flight was called. “What is Jenna's deal," I silently said to myself. I'll never understand her, I thought as I looked up at the clock. It was ten minutes until the flight was about to leave. I pulled the head phones out and just sat there for a while so I could have at least ten minutes of silence before having to go on a noisy plane and sitting next people you don't know and will end up being on the 'people I most despise list' by the end of the trip. After a while the lady at the front desk said that the plane was ready for boarding. I then slung one bag over my shoulder and slowly dragged the other behind me. I then thrust my ticket at the desk lady and waited.

“Thank you…….,” She paused, her face relaxed as she turned over the ticket. “Tara! I hope you have a nice flight Tara!” I moved on. I knew from that point it was going to be a long flight and a very long summer.