Worth It

Saying Goodbye

And we have Ava's new friend up, who you will meet later in this chapter.

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I was supposed to have a good-bye party on the twenty-ninth, but that didn't happen. My friends were all too busy or...not able to come. It wasn't their fault, they had lives that didn't revolve around me, but I needed somebody to blame, so I blamed them.

I spent the day tearing down the rest of my room instead, and not in a rage kind of way. My posters and pictures went into boxes and my trinkets and random things I didn't even know I still had, went with them. My room didn't look like my room. When I was done, it could have been just another empty room in our too-big house. It was downright depressing.

But, like any good heroine from my books, I was part of a bigger story and I had to be strong even if it was difficult. So, as my family loaded my boxes into my dad's truck the next day, I kept a smile on.

Vic had tear-stained cheeks and her eyes were swollen and red from crying and getting almost no sleep. My younger sisters didn't look bad but even they were smart enough to know it wasn't a time to smile. My dad had bags under his eyes too, but they were probably from working late. And my mom...well, you could guess.

My smile must not have been as forced as I thought because my mom thought I was happy to go. She was so off, but I didn't want to get into another shouting match with her right before I left.

We drove to the airport a family. All six of us in a cramped vehicle with the tension filling up the empty spaces. My dad's truck wasn't meant to carry so much weight.

"Hey girls!" I got my sisters attention. "I'll send you all a postcard when I'm tanning on the warm beaches of Cali! Suckers!" I tried to cheer them up but all I got was one long sigh from each of them. "Never mind."

I looked back out the front window and took a few long glances at the place I'd grown up. There was plenty of commercial action going on that Friday, and not to mention; plenty of bad drivers. Home sweet home.

"Oh dad, did you call my friends? They're going to meet us at the airport right?"

"Yes, yes. I wouldn't make you leave without being able to say goodbye to your friends. Nobody is that cruel." I had a funny feeling that my mom would have done just that if my dad hadn't called.

We drove in silence the rest of the way to the airport. It was the longest drive I'd ever had, maybe because time seemed to slow down. Everyone was sighing and wiping away stray tears except my mom. She wasn't smiling, but she wasn't about to go regretting anything either.

My dad steered us into the airport's huge parking lot and pulled into a spot near the doors.

"Okay everyone, grab a box, a bag or whatever you can carry and help bring it in." My dad said. My mom was still quiet as she grabbed some stuff and started leading my sisters in the direction of the doors.

"Thanks for helping dad." I said. "And I'm sorry for my attitude towards you." I grabbed my carry-on stuff and jumped out of the truck. My dad grabbed the last two boxes and followed me into the gray building that had seen more emotions than a church.

"Its all right honey. I know that your mother's been...what's the word?"

"Selfish, snobby, inconsiderate...any one of those work."

"I was going to say difficult." I snorted. "I know you're not on good terms right now and..."

"I know what you're going to say. Try to be nice to her, she's doing this for your own good, blah, blah, blah."