Ad Lib

4 | @thefabulousbeings

"W-what!?"stuttered Amy. "W-we have to... to move? Where?"

Jemma and Amy's mother glanced over at their father and then back to Amy.

"Oklahoma."

"We're moving next month, like we told you, which should give you both about a month to process it all and say goodbye to your friends, " her father added in a reassuring tone.

To Jemma and Amy however, this was all but reassuring. The two girls couldn't believe what they'd just heard. Not only was Jemma's best friend missing, but the entire family was moving to Oklahoma in little over a month. Just great.

Both girls carried the same sarcastic thoughts: today just couldn't get any better, could it?

Jemma opened her mouth to speak. "But—"

"What's so important about your new job that we all have to move to Oklahoma next month?" Amy blurted out.

Their mother gave her a stern look. "I have been waiting for this job opportunity for a long time, girls. If anything, you should be proud."

Jemma opened her mouth to protest but quickly closed it again in the decision that it wouldn't be the best idea she'd had all day.

Amy spoke instead, whispering,"We are proud, Mom. But we're also being forced to move away from a place where we have friends and actually know people. A place where we call home – the only home we've ever known, even."

"You can both make new friends. You're good at making friends," whispered their mother, not quite looking either daughter in the eye. She unclasped her hands to move a stray strand of hair behind her ear, then returned them to their place on her lap, where her knee bounced up and down ever so slightly.

"Yeah, kinda, but not many people share the same enjoyment I have with the shows I watch," Amy said, shaking her head.

Jemma sighed. Just when Amy was starting to make some sense, finally. "You mean those pony videos you watch all the time in your room on YouTube? What's it called, Friendship Power Horses? Magical Singing Ponies?" Amy gave her a stern look, but Jemma had already decided to continue for her. She needed to take matters into her own hands. "Anyway, the point is that we're moving all the way to Oklahoma. We're leaving behind our friends, our home, our whole life!"

Jemma's mother nodded absently, her dark curls once again falling across her face. It wasn't as frizzy as Jemma's hair, but you could certainly tell they were related just by looking at them and it was just as uncontrollable. She reached up to try and move them out of her way.

Her mother let out a sigh, "I'll let you two figure out how you're going to break it to your friends. But for now, please don't argue with me... or each other." The girls nodded and got up, quickly and quietly zooming off to their rooms to do whatever they normally did, as if it was a normal evening.

Jemma had homework, and lots of it. Which was probably good for once in her life – tonight, it would distract her. She called Grace while wrestling her backpack in order to get her heavy textbooks out.

After three tries, Grace answered. "Yes? This is Grace. I'm not an intergalactic alien. Please state your name, or my alarm will sound."

Jemma chuckled. "It's me. Did you find anything about where Luke might be?"

There was a pause, wherein she visualised Grace shaking her head. Her straight black hair moving across her face, and her putting it up in a low ponytail like she always did when she needed to focus.

Grace sighed. "Not yet. So far he hasn't answered any of my texts or calls. And his mom still says he went to school in the morning. That's all she knows."

Jemma smiled weakly as she was finally able to wrench her homework out of her crowded book bag. She quickly pulled her locks into a very frizzy ponytail, still holding the phone to her ear. "Same here, and my mom just told me something you aren't gonna like at all."

"What is it?"asked Grace curiously.

"Well, she uh, she got a new job."

"A new job! That's cool!" A pause. "Why should I be worried about that?"

"Because it means we'll be moving."

"Well, that's not the worst thing that could happen, is it. Sure, maybe we won't be so close anymore, but—"

"We're moving to Oklahoma."

There was a long silence, and then the words started tumbling out of Grace's mouth. "You're joking, right? It's just a big joke. Where are the cameras? I'm waiting for someone to jump out and yell, 'We're just joking. You're on a prank show!' Oh, please, Jemma, please tell me that's what's happening right now." she babbled.

Jemma shook her head, as if Grace could see her through the phone's plastic screen, or as if Grace was beside her right at that exact moment. "No, unfortunately, I'm not joking, and it's kinda sorta happening next month."

Grace managed to stutter out finally, "B-but... t-that means Luke and I... we... we won't be able to see you. And what about Cameron? How are you going to tell him that you're moving? He won't be able to make it without your homework answers, or you reminding him about the homework."

Jemma chuckled. At least Grace could still make the situation at least a little funny. "You could remind him, and I still don't know how I'm going to tell him about me moving and... my crush on him." Jemma confessed.

"I don't know either, but that one's your problem, not mine," Grace stated matter-of-factly. "And what about Luke? We still don't know what's happened to him. All we know is that his Mom saw him off to school today, and we haven't even seen him since yesterday afternoon," she concluded.

The pencil in Jemma's hand began to twirl a little around her fingers as she stared at the work in front of her, unable to take any of it in. "I don't know what's happened to him, Grace, but we have to find out. It's our duty as his friend to help him out in any situation," she murmured eventually.

She heard someone's voice yelling her friend's name in the background. Grace spoke quickly. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, and don't forget that Luke can take care of himself. Maybe he... has a reason for avoiding us? But see you at school Jemma. My parents are calling me, and I have a ton of homework to do as well."

"Okay, TTYL," replied Jemma with a faint giggle.

Grace hung up, and the phone flashed Call Ended. Jemma sighed.

What was she to do? They were moving in less than a month's time, Luke was either avoiding her or actually missing, and how was she going to tell her crush that she liked him? And that she was moving. And she'd have tell Luke, too, if they ever ended up finding him.

It seemed that particular day had just been cursed to be terrible. Like a witch had put a spell on it, like in the books that Grace would read and then tell her and Luke about, or the stories that Amy reads with pony princesses and princes and evil unicorn wizards. Or maybe the curse wasn't on the day itself, but on Jemma in general.

She finished her homework and then laid down to try and get some sleep, but the impending thoughts about tomorrow, Luke, and moving state kept cycling in figure-eights around her mind, causing chaos that kept her wide awake.

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Edited for clarity and heightened tension.