this town * cullen

chapter one

            

I was in my third year of high school when my mother decided to move us. The school year had already started, even if we weren't too far in. I was a junior, I was settled, and my mother wanted us to leave the only place I had ever known.

"I know y'all have already started school, but I've decided we're moving," she had sat us down, my sister and I. Perhaps I should have thrown a fit, like my sister, but I couldn't find it in me. There was no point in it; I was not the head of household.

"It's far from here, but it's a nice little town and I'm sure y'all will love it there," she smiled. I nodded, unsure of what to do or say. I was never opposed to moving, I had even wanted it in my younger years, but it felt so late into my already developed life.

"It's so unfair, though! We just started school for the year, mom! You can't just move us now! Where are we even going?" Farley outraged towards our mother. I didn't blame her for being so upset, I had finally found good friends and our mother wanted to leave.

"Washington state," she explained, "A little town called Forks, it's quaint and small." She seemed excited about it, the way she began explaining the town. She had found an opening at the hospital there, a perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle our own city had become lately. She even tried telling us she would be home more, as it was so small. I didn't really believe it, as the hospital always needed her around. She was the best thing they had, and now they were losing her to a small town across the country.

I agreed to go, a bit reluctantly. Farley screamed, saying she can't, and never agreed, even up to the point of no return. I mentioned she could always live with our dad, but she just screamed at me instead. I knew she loved him, but neither of us wanted to live with him. He fixed cars for a living, a hard job, but he didn't like doing much else. Our home was with our mother, but moving didn't seem right.

"Fiona, why are you moving our kids across the country?" he had asked, tears in his eyes when we came to say we were planning to leave. I had to keep myself in check from crying, while Farley just stood there with her arms crossed across her chest and a scowl on her face. She was 14 years old, so I couldn't expect much else. Farley had always been a brat.

"Adam, both you and I know this will be good for them. They weren't meant to stay here forever, Alec is already a junior!" my mother explained to him. I truly felt sad for him. They had been divorced since I was six, and Farley was four, but we were still his family. Hell, I was almost sure we were his only family. He, though, had been here his entire life, just like Farley and I. My mother moved often when she was younger, and was surprised she managed to stay put so long.

The day after I found out I was moving was a hard one. I had school, and the drive there felt long and strange, knowing I wouldn't be doing it much longer. Farley was in the passenger seat, quiet the whole way. She was pissed at our mom, and I was surprised she wasn't still screaming.

"I'm moving," I simply stated to my best friend, Noah. I was sitting in front of him, my shoulders dropping automatically as I spoke. We sat together every morning in the library and I was sad this wouldn't finish out our high school years. He stared at me a moment, letting it sink in, his jaw beginning to drop a bit. I looked away, feeling the tear in my heart.

We had been friends for a few years, nothing too long. Still, we had grown up together, even if we didn't really talk in our early years. I was sad to leave him behind. I knew moving would drift us apart, and I didn't want to see him go. He was the closest thing I had to a best friend since I was a child, as being the outcast entails.

"You serious?" he asked, quietly. I could only nod. I wished I wasn't serious.

"Where?" he seemed both curious and upset, hoping it may have been across the street, and I was playing some kind of game with him. We often joked together, and even he could tell I wasn't playing.