Life of Leah

I

"Guys, come on! We don't want to miss Mr. Kallem's morning riddle!"

"You're so lame Leah. Wait up!" Kylee laughed as she drug her feet to our classroom.

"Okay, I like riddles. So what?"

"You like school. And that makes you weird" Added Dani.

"Well then I guess I'm lucky I have you weirdos for friends!"

We grew up in a small town called Smithers. Where the summers are cold and the winters are colder. Kylee, Dani, Stella and I have been inseparable since we split an Aero bar in kindergarten ten years ago. Even though we were a lot like, I was the only one excited to be back to school after Thanksgiving long weekend.

I loved everything about Smithers Secondary. The students, teachers, even the principle was pretty easy going! We walked into our classroom to find the other 26 people we had spent the last 10 years getting to know. It was so nice to see everyone again.

"Okay class, settle into your seats. We must begin" Mr. Kallem's riddle was the highlight of my morning. He would write the riddle on the chalkboard, and the first student to figure out the answer would get a bonus point on the next test.

"Psst! Leah!" whispered Stella as she threw a ball of paper towards my feet. I rolled my eyes and picked it up, hiding it in my pocket until Mr. Kallem left the room.

Movie night at my place. Who's in?

Dani ✔

Stella ✔

Leah

♡ Ky

As I almost put a checkmark beside my name, I remembered Dad ordered us all to be home for dinner. I threw the note to Kylee when I deemed it safe to do so. I watched her smile disappear when she read my response. Just as I got back to paying attention to this English lesson, I felt a ball of paper hit the back of my head. When bending down to pick up the paper, Mr. Kallem turned around.

"Are we having troubles, Leah?" he asked as he put down his dry-erase marker.

"No, sir. I dropped my eraser." I took a peek at the paper as our teacher turned his back to the class.

Movie night at my place. Who's in?

Dani ✔

Stella ✔

Leah ㄨ ⇠What the hell! You ALWAYS come!

♡ Ky

I looked at Kylee and mouthed the word "Later". I knew I had some explaining to do once we went out for break.

* * *

"Dinner's ready!" I heard mom call while I dried my hair after a refreshing shower. As we finished up the last bites of our meals, I expected to hear someone talk about whatever it was they were hiding, but no one said a word.

"You called this lame meeting, now get on with it" I had never met a more impatient 11 year old than my brother Kent.

I looked at Mom, who was looking at Dad, who seemed to be avoiding everyone's glance. After a stomp of mom's foot and Kent's comment, Dad finally came out with what he had to say. "You're not going to like what we have to say, but please know that we love you three and we are confident that this is going to work out."

"What the heck is going on? Is somebody dying?" My sister Clara also seemed to have gotten the impatient gene.

"Leah, Clara, Kent... Your mother and I have made the very hard decision to put our home on the market. We have bought a home in Creston and we think you're going to love it!" My parents' smiles couldn't hide the fact that this was not part of their plan. My father, a Hematologist at Bulkley Valley District Hospital, had recently lost his job of 15 years. All thanks to a stupid mistake. I knew this was why we were moving, I didn't even have to ask.

The room stayed quiet until we went separate ways from the dinner table. My silence, Clara's look of disbelief and Kent's unusually reduced appetite reflected our feelings on their big decision. Our home in Smithers is the only one we'd ever known. Twenty two years ago, my parents met in their university Physiology class, got married a year later, and got pregnant with my older sister Clara almost right after their wedding. My father went on to medical school, but my mother quit after she had her firstborn. Once my father finished school, they bought our current home and have been there ever since.

* * *

"There you are! You'll never guess what happened last night... Wait. Are you alright?" Dani noticed my tears and wrapped her arms around me. "I'm here, Leah, whatever it is."

How was I supposed to tell her I wouldn't be going to anymore movie nights because I was moving 15 hours away? I told her to get the girls together, this was an emergency.  Dani had always been a tech-savvy gal, but I had never seen her navigate through her phone THAT fast. While waiting for the girls to meet us in the front lobby, I gave Dani the rundown of the situation.

"Guys, what's the SOS? I have to get to class!" Stella was always so smart. I thought about how much I was going to miss her, and the waterworks began flowing once again.

"She's moving" In that moment I was beyond thankful for Dani's interruptive habits. I don't think I could have gotten the words out from behind the giant lump in my throat.

"This can't be happening... We were supposed to graduate together and all go to UBC in a few years?" Kylee was devastated.

"I couldn't believe it either... We leave next week"

We ended our tough conversation with a hug and sulked all the way to class.

The next week was one full of reminiscing, tears, and everlasting memories. I realized how lucky  I was to have met such amazing friends who have become family. My last day at SS arrived before I knew it. The girls met me at our front door and walked me to school one last time. This may not seem like a big deal, but it was like a final goodbye for us. When we got to school, our persona was so depressing you could mistake us for grievers. The classes were just like any other day, except the teachers would say things like "We bid you farewell, Leah." and "Best of luck in your future endeavors".

And just like that, my last day at SS was over. As I was grabbing the last of my stuff from my locker, I spotted balloons and flowers out the corner of my eye. Not only were my girl friends coming toward me, but so was my entire 10th grade class.

"We're going to miss you, Leah. Thank you for being a great project partner!"

"Thanks Margo, I'm going to miss you all so much"

The last conversation with my classmates was a whirlwind of emotions. I never noticed how fortunate I was to have the life I had.  Boy, was I ever going to miss that place.