Miles Apart

Chapter 1 - Saying Goodbye

EMILY

"I'm off to see Sam and Jack!" I call out as I grab my jacket off the coat rack by the door.

"Say hi to them for me!" My mom replies from the kitchen. "And no longer than an hour! We need to leave for the airport at four."

"Oh yeah, I wouldn't even dream of missing my flight." I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

"Emily we talked about this." She says as she emerges from the kitchen. "It's not easy for me either."

I shove my hands in my pockets and sigh. "Yeah. I know. It's just... Look I'm heading over to the twins house okay?" I lean over and give her a hug "I'll be back in an hour." I say as I disappear down the front steps.

It takes all of six and a half minutes to get to the twins house. I approach the house, taking it all in.

This will be my last time seeing this place. I think to myself. For the next year at least.

When my parents divorced last year, they made a deal. I would live with my mom for a year, and then move in with my dad for the next. For my senior year in high school, I would get to choose. This all sounded like a perfectly fine idea. My dad had only moved a few cities over. An hour or two drive. Max. And them my father had to go and ruin it all by moving to Florida.

I open the front door. This place was practically my second home. When I was younger, I spent hours on end running around the backyard, or playing inside. The twins and me may as well have all be born to the same parents. We've never been separated for more than a week. "Hi Emmy!" I hear a small voice say. I turn around and see Jack and Sam's little sister Jenny running towards me. I smile. That little girl was the most adorable human on the planet. "Hey Jenny!" I reply, kneeling to give her a hug. "How have you been?" I ask her. "Good! Jack brought a girl home yesterday!!!" She exclaims. I raise an eyebrow. Jack hadn't said anything about a girl to me. "They're in Sam's room!" Jenny points to the stairs. I thank Jenny and head towards Sam's room. The boys had some explaining to do.

Forty minutes later, I had found out the girl's name was Olivia, and that she had only come over with the intentions to make out with Jack and then tell him he wasn't her type. Luck for him, Jenny had demanded that Jack make her lunch and Olivia left, angry that Jack paid more attention to his little sister than her. "Dodged a bullet if you're asking me." Jack had said. "Yeah, only for it to narrowly miss me." Sam added. "Olivia needs to chill."

The three of us had just finished an intense round of MarioKart. "YOU WILL NEVER BEAT SAM THE MARIOKART MASTER!!!" Sam yells jumping up and down.

"Alright Sammy." I reply, knowing fully that it would piss him off. He hates the name.

"Don't call me Sammy. Only Jenny can call me that." He glares at me. I meet his gaze with an equal intensity.

"Aw why not Sammy?" I say in a whiny voice.

"You know perfectly well Emmy." He smirks, leaning towards me. When Jenny did it, it was cute. When anyone else did it we both agreed that the names were strange and childish. I push him away and stand up.

"Where are you going Em? I still have to beat you at least five more times." He asks.

"Yeah more like you get beat by us Sam." Jack says.

"I told my mom I would be back in an hour to... Help her with dinner..." I answer, realizing I still hadn't told them I was leaving. Or rather, I couldn't tell them I was leaving. They're my best friends. I couldn't just spring this on them. They would kill me.

"Alright well we'll see you tomorrow." Jack says, giving me a quick hug.

"See you guys." I wave as I leave.

When I arrive home, I see my mom loading my suitcase and backpack into the car. I hadn't packed much. Mostly just some clothes, my laptop, and a few other things I couldn't bear to leave behind. My dad had sent an email telling me I wouldn't have to worry about bringing everything. He had decided that it would be easier to just buy me everything I needed.

We got in the car and drove to the airport in silence. There wasn't anything we could really talk about. We both knew what was about to happen.

When we arrived at the airport, I took my suitcase out of the trunk and gave my mom a tight hug. "Call me if you need anything." She says sadly. "Call me even if you don't need anything. In fact, call me everyday."

I laugh sadly. I really don't want to leave. I'll miss my hometown, the twins, my mom... My mom. I couldn't just leave her alone. Everything had been so great this last year. Just the two of us. She's been so much happier without dad. I can't just leave her alone.

"You have to go." My mom says, practically reading my mind. "You know you have to." I nod and give her a small smile. She places her hands on my shoulders before pulling me into a tight hug.

"I'll miss you so much Emily." She says.

"I'll miss you too mom." I reply.

"It's just a year. And then you can come right back home." She releases me from the hug.

"A year is way too long."

"Have fun darling." She pats me on the shoulder as I turn towards the gate. It's time for me to go.

I walk through the airport as slow as humanly possible. Or at least as slow as I can without missing my flight.

I arrive at the gate just as they call out my section. Perfect Timing! I think to myself. I board the plane along with all the happy families, bursting with excitement. "I'm so excited I think I'm going to burst! I can't wait to meet Mickey!" I overhear a little girl exclaim to her parents. I sigh. If only I had something to look forward to on the flight.

My dad was never really around for me when I was younger. He was always busy with work. When my parents split, he moved across the country on a job offer, without asking what I thought, even though he knew I would have to come live with him for a year.

I find my seat easily and stow my backpack under the chair in front of me. Window seat. Score! I open my book and put in my ear buds, preparing myself for the flight. This might not be so bad. But just then, a young couple sits down in the seats adjacent to mine. One of those couples that are way too into one another. You know the type. Great. Just Great. I roll my eyes.

"Welcome to flight 472, to Southwest Florida. I'm your captain John, here to ensure you a safe, comfortable flight."

It was time to go.

After the usual safety precautions demonstrated by the way-too-happy flight attendants, we began to take off. I looked out the window as we left the ground and watched as my hometown disappeared beneath us. Everything I knew and loved was down there. And I would do anything to go back to it.------------------------

Welcome to Miles Apart! I really hope you enjoyed the first chapter! It's a bit of a short one, as it is mostly an introduction to the whole plot idea.

Don't forget to give the story a vote if you're enjoying, and leave a comment if you have any input! I'm all ears!! 

See you next time!

TheGirlWithAnIdea