take back » de la cruz

i. when she moved into town

elizabeth valentine stood in the middle of her empty, new room. with her arms folded over her chest, she shook her head.

"mom!" she called out, and her mother came into her room. melissa valentine stared at her daughter, who was staring at the white walls of her room.

"what is it, elle?" the valentine matriarch asked.
"this room doesn't feel like home. the house doesn't feel like home!" elizabeth insisted.

"elizabeth, you have to settle in your stuff first. make the room yours, then it'll feel like home," elizabeth's mother said, and she wrapped her arm around her daughter. "it'll feel like home soon, i promise." she smiled.

elizabeth pulled away from her mother and looked to the floor, seeing boxes of her stuff. as her mom exited the room, she began to pull her stuff out of the boxes, not really having a plan on how to move her stuff in.

"mom! this school is going to suck!" elizabeth heard este, her older sister, complain.
"well great thing you only have one year left." elizabeth's mom said to este, which stopped her complaining.

elizabeth was starting her sophmore year in the middle of the school year. este, on the other hand, was a senior that would be finishing her high school years. both of the girls were going to school at liberty high.

elizabeth was nervous about starting at a new school. new schools meant finding new friends, which she was not particularly good at. elizabeth always managed to cling to the shy kids. mostly because she was a shy kid herself.

this year, she only wanted to focus on her academics. she wanted to go off to a good college. she felt pressured to go to a good college since her sister planned to go to the university of pennsylvania.

at their old school, este was ranked second in her class, so elizabeth had some pretty big shoes to fill.

before she left chicago, elizabeth made a promise to herself.

no parties. no boys. no distractions, period.

--
words of the chapter: home, stuff