New Kid (a teenage fiction)

Chapter 1 "The Car"

My name is Sophie, and this is the story of how I wanted to run away from my fears. It all started when I was ten, my parents fought, and that's normal for couples. But they would always be yelling at each other. If my mom accidentally forgot to run to the store she would get hit. If my dad was late from work he would sleep on the couch. When I broke my dad's new briefcase he wanted to hit me, but my mom stood in the way. Her arm was broken, she had a black eye, and bruises everywhere. That was when she filed for the divorce. My dad got most of the money and everyone knew about it. She wanted to get a new job but we lived in a small town in California. No one would take her. They thought she was a gold digging pain who couldn't listen to anyone. Even if her life depended on it.

She wasn't the best mom either. She didn't listen, she thought that everything was fine, when it wasn't. We're moving to Arizona. I hate her for it. Why couldn't she just marry another man and steal all of his money? She did that to dad, why couldn't she do it again? I'm in the car on route ten. I see all of the dead trees and bushes. The mountains covered with tall green cacti, kiss the sky. My mom looks over at me, making sure to stay in her lane, and says,"I think your going to like your new school. It's big and everyone is very nice. Did you know that your school is one of the best schools in the district?" I looked at her, "How are you going to afford that, did you already find another rich man to steal from?" My mom just looked forward and said nothing. It was silent for about ten minutes, then she said, "I got a job. I am working at a bank." I shake my head. "A bank! Wow I knew you could steal, but this is over the top." She jolted her head towards me, giving me a death glare that looked like I told her that she killed someone and the body was in the back. "Sophie!" my mother exclaimed. "How dare you say that. Yes I had a bad past but that is all behind me. We are going to start a new life and your going to like it." I reached for my phone and said "Why couldn't I stay with dad?" She looked like she was going to cry and said, "Don't forget what your father was going to do to you, he was going to hurt you. I helped you, I took the pain for you." "Yah yah I know." I said slouching on my chair. I felt guilty. I know this is hard for her too. It's funny, most people don't just shrug away the memory of their father about to beat them.

We had to stop for gas. My mom gave me ten dollars and I walked inside. It was cold and dim. The cashier man was reading a comic book and looked at me like I was about to rob him. I picked up some gummy worms, beef jerky, and a Gatorade for myself. Then I got jolly ranchers, starbursts, and a Coca-Cola for my mom. I payed and left the store without a word. The man stared at me the whole time, his beady grey eyes had a look of coldness as he watched my ever move. It reminded me of my dad by the way he was making me feel like he was going to hurt me. When I got back to the car my mom was flirting with the gas guy. Her "no guy" streak sure lasted long. When she was done I handed her the snacks she asked for and turned on my music. She pulled my headphones out of my ear and said, "What is the matter?" I looked at her, full of disgust and spat, "You promised that you would stay away from guys until we settled down." She looked at me like she didn't do anything wrong. Did she forget what just happened? "All he was doing was helping me with the gas pump, it got stuck in the car." I put my headphones back in and just ate my gummy worms. For some reason after having that conversation with my mom I felt so distant. I felt like I have no one to talk to, seeing that my dad is always "busy" with work, and my mom doesn't care. I am fourteen, I have five more years until I can go back to California for college. I don't like my mom, or my dad. I don't think I have any aunts or uncles. Even if I did I wouldn't know what to say. I've lived in California my entire life, all of my friends are there. Sydney is probably my closest friend. She has been my friend since preschool, I trust her with my life.

I had a boyfriend at my old school, his name was Justin. It wasn't serious or anything but when I told him about my parents and all the fighting he was there. He comforted me. That's why I hate my mom so much, she took away my only comfort. Justin would walk me home from school, I would stay at his house on Fridays until my curfew, and he would tell me that it was ok. My parents never met Justin, I didn't want him to meet them because I was afraid that he would leave me. He met my mother only because one day she picked me up early from school so I could go to a doctors appointment.

When I told him that I was moving he was devastated. That was the first time I ever saw him cry, other then when we were in second grade and a soccer ball hit him in the head. He stopped crying and just held me. He whispered into my ear, "You are the best thing that happened to me, you are mine. I was supposed to protect you." I looked at him, tears staining my cheeks, and said, "It's gonna be ok." He helped me pack, that night. He was the last person that I saw in California.
I decided to text him. Finally pulling up our messages, I smiled when I read the last one saying that he missed me. "My mom and I got into another fight." In an instant was a reply. "That sucks, what happened?". "She was flirting... Again." He waited a couple minutes before responding. "Wow, well just forgive and forget it was just one guy." I never thought about that. Forgive and forget. I texted him back saying "Thanks my battery is low I'm gonna charge it. Talk to you soon.😊" He never responded after that.

My mom started to sing. That is the worst. Don't get me wrong she can sing, but she feels the need to belt every note in the song. When she started to sing I turned the radio off. She looked at me and said. "Hey! I was listening to that!" I looked at my phone and said, "You weren't listening you were belting." She apologized and said, "Hey why don't we play your favorite game? Catch the worm." I remember that game. We would play it when I was little. It was a way to keep me busy on long car rides. I would take one of my gummy worms and put it on the dashboard of the car, then I would watch it move from the vibrating of the car, when my mom said "catch it!" I would grab it as fast as I could and eat it. I loved that game when I was little. We never played it with dad because he said the sugar got all over the car. We started to play, and even though I wouldn't admit it out loud, I was having a lot of fun. My mom would either wait a long time or say it right after I put it down the worm. When I ran out of gummy worms we just sat there and laughed. I can't remember the last time I had a good moment with my mom. I was so mad at her for moving that It took away all the good memories.

I started to watch a movie on my iPad when we crossed the state border. My mom said "Bye California, hello Arizona!" I just looked back and waved goodbye. Sydney texted me and said, "Where are you?" I texted back saying, "Just crossed the border." She replied saying, "Ok be safe, and we all miss you!" . "I figured, I'll text you when I get to the new house." She replied saying, "Ok bye." I turned on the movie and soon enough I was asleep.

When I woke up we were at the store buying food for the house. The store was big and cold. We got everything from chips to bananas. My mom got these weird vitamin pills to help her. They looked disgusting. I got more gummy worms and a pack of Gatorade. They had pizza there so we each got a slice of pepperoni. The cart was filled with stuff for the house. Mom thought that she should get picture frames, and a welcome sign. When we got back in the car it was filled with groceries. The store was about ten minutes away from the house and the road was dusty and bumpy. I closed my eyes and tried to see if it was a dream. It wasn't.