Impress

Chapter 4: Appreciation

Besides the terrible news I received that night, I had a lot of fun with my friends. At about midnight, we went outside and played manhunt. We stayed outside until we heard noises and got scared that there was someone there. When we came back inside, we decided to pull an all-nighter. We played truth or dare and then spin the bottle. Then we sleepily played cards. We spent the rest of the night laying in our sleeping bags just chatting while half asleep.

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A week or so had passed since my birthday party and I still hadn't received the ok to tell my friends about the move. I had to tell them soon, though. The move was super last minute. My birthday is towards the end of the school year and we were planning to move towards the end of summer.

As sad and hopeless as I felt, I wasn't holed up in my room. How I saw it, I had to spent every last minute here doing something I couldn't do in Virginia. I spent time with my friends everyday. I was more observant of my surroundings. I had a newfound appreciation for everything around me. There were a lot of trees in my neighborhood. There were a lot of abandoned places that would be good for hanging out with my friends. A lot of restaurants close by, as well.

One day at school, I cracked. I wasn't supposed to tell my friends yet, but as I passed Asher in the hall, I realized that I shouldn't keep anything from my friends. I tapped his shoulder. He turned.

"What's up?" he said.

"I'm moving to Virginia at the end of this summer!" I blurted. I couldn't look Asher in the eyes. I ran down the staircase. I stopped halfway and looked over my shoulder. Asher was still just standing there, looking at nothing. I turned and kept running. When I got home, I got a text from Kade.

Kade: You really did a number on Asher

Me: Oh no... what happened

Kade: He looked super down during math and so I asked him what happened

Kade: It took a while but I finally got him to talk

Me: was it because of what I said on the staircase

Kade: yup

Me: so you know, then

Kade: yeah

At that point two of my friends knew, so I had to tell the rest. I broke the news to them at lunch the next day. After that, we spent time with each other every day, even if it meant we had to stay up late to finish our homework afterwards.

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I couldn't believe it. It was the last day of school. My last day ever at that school. Since we were doing nothing in class, I asked the teacher whose class I was in if I could go visit all of my other teachers one last time. At that point, everyone who knew me knew I was moving, so she said yes. As I walked down the hallway, I got a lot of waves and "I'll miss you"s from people I only knew in passing.

I visited all of my teachers, for most of them it was a simple, "Hey, I'm gonna miss you next year. Thanks for teaching me well!" But I was headed to my choir teacher next. He was an old guy, kind of grumpy, but he was the teacher I looked up to most. He stuck with us even when our behavior was... less than satisfactory. He was also on broadway! I opened his door.

"Tina?" he asked. I hated that nickname, but he called me that just to tease me.

"Yeah, it's Kris" I replied.

"I heard a rumor" he said.

"It's probably true..."

"So, you are leaving?" He had a sad look in his eyes.

"Yeah, I- I am" It was hard to get the words out without wanting to cry.

"I wish we had just one more year, Kris." He called me Kris. No teasing, he was being absolutely sincere. I hugged him. He hugged me back. I wanted to stay there forever, but I stepped away and said I had to go back to class. I walked out the door. That was the last time I ever saw him.

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I didn't waste a second of my summer. If one friend wasn't available, another was. I didn't get to go to camp with Asher and some of my other friends that year. I was too busy packing, plus the dates conflicted.

It was the day before Asher was going to leave for camp and I was going to leave for good. We had planned to sneak out that night to spend every last minute hanging out. Only one of our other friends decided to go with us. The rest of them didn't have the guts. It was going to be Asher, Rose, and me. We were going to leave our houses at about 1:00 AM. It was almost time. I was on a video chat with Asher and texting Rose. We were all set. I left a note on my dresser explaining that I wasn't kidnapped or anything so that my parents wouldn't worry if they found my empty room. I then tiptoed down the stairs. Every little squeak made me worry that I would be caught. The garage made a lot of noise, so I had already wheeled my bike out into the driveway. I was out the door and hopping onto my bike when my phone buzzed.

Rose: I'm gonna be a little late

Me: Why? Did something happen?

Rose: No. Just double checking my parents are asleep.

Me: k, see ya

I pushed off and headed towards our meeting place, the train station. It was a small station and it was about halfway between all of our houses. I got there and waited for a bit. I saw a light in the distance. Asher's flashlight. He approached and got off of his bike. We sat down to wait for Rose.

"I this your first time sneaking out?" I asked.

"Yeah" he replied.

"Me too. It's a rush, isn't it?"

"Hell yeah it is!" he said excitedly. He then looked up at the sky and shouted, "WOOHOO!" I laughed.

"Hey, can I get serious for a second?" I asked.
"Uh, sure, okay." he responded.

"What am I going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if I don't make any friends? What if I never see you again?"

"You will see me again. At camp, right? And you'll visit sometimes." he reassured me. He looked me dead in the eyes, "Kris, I know you. Here's a piece of advice: Don't try to impress anybody."

Rose's flashlight appeared in the distance.