"This is what she had become."
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Cleopatra Banks' last week in the small town of New Chelsea is nothing like she would have imagined it, but nothing could have prepared her for the stinging betrayal she's faced with and suddenly the prospect of...
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The road stretches on and all I see is trees, bushes, more road and even more trees.
Mom is driving and Ruby is in the passenger seat now, playing on mom's tablet while dad takes a quick nap in the seat in front of me. My window is rolled down and my head is sticking out as I look on ahead of us. The tired sun bathes everything in bright golden-yellow and for some weird reason I find myself smiling while its warmth kisses my face. It's not that intense because I still have my shades on but either way I close my eyes for a brief second and let myself enjoy the serene moment.
Maybe Victoria Springs won't be as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe this change was what I needed to restart my life and forget about all the awful things that have happened to me, not just this past week, but everything in my past as well. It's like pressing a huge reset button or something.
Suddenly the prospect of starting afresh doesn't seem all that daunting. Nobody in Victoria Springs knows who I am. They don'tknow that I'm weak willed and fragile. They don't know what I've been through and I can just be anyone I want to be. I can be bold, brave and daring if I want to, heck I can be the queen of sass if I so please!
Imagine...a new reinvented, redefined Cleopatra Emilia-Rose Banks! I'll be like Cleo two-point-O, I can even go around telling people my name is Emily or something sexy like that or even Patty if I want to be cute. I'll change my look, read tons of self-help books, start journaling and maybe I can even become one of those athletic weight watching groupies that drink lemon and cucumber water. I can do some epic soul searching and in a few weeks I'd be quoting Oprah and Aristotle or some other deep people like that. I'm going to be active on social media and I'll be posting inspirational crap and bomb selfies of myself with my new cool friends and Max, Nigel and Shanice will regret ever doing me wrong!
OH YEAH!
Just the thought of becoming that girl has my adrenalin spiking and I can't wait to make all of that a reality.
***
"Cleo! Cleo wake up, we're finally here!" my little sister's overly enthusiastic voice pierces through my ears, nearly obliterating my ear drums. I wake up with a start and look around me.
The car is still moving and Ruby is jumping up and down in the seat in front of me with a huge smile plastered on her face. I somehow fell asleep with the shades still on so I quickly remove them and slide them on top of my head before I start to carefully look around me.
Sunset arrived a long time ago and now the moon and stars have replaced the sun and its rays in the sky above us. The car comes to a slow stop and my breath nearly hitches in my throat when I observe the surroundings around me.
The first thing I notice are the beautiful, tall black lamp posts with intricate detailing at the top littering the sides of every street casting a soft light on the near surroundings. The houses are big (a bit obnoxious but in a good way if it makes sense), very modern and tasteful too and I can totally see why my parents would choose this neighborhood. It's so...them.
