The Tipping Point

Un

Harper-Lee^^
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2 Years Later
"And that's the last box." Holland says as he passes me a small smile as I return it with gratefulness. He had just helped me set the last box of my things with the word 'Books' scrawled across it in my careful hand writing into my new room.

"Thanks Hol, I don't think I could've gotten this all done without you." I say looking around at the stacks of boxes.

"Hey, it's no problem. I know you're weak." He starts laughing. I punch his arm in return. I smile in satisfaction as he winces rubbing his arm.

"Do you want me to help you unpack?" He asks. I shake my head.

"No, I think I'm good here. Thanks though." He nods and leaves me to decide what to do with my room.

I sit down on my bed and start rifling through my boxes.

I opened the box marked 'Books' first and start putting them on my shelf, checking to make sure they didn't get damaged during the trip.

'A Tale of Two Cities', 'Pride and Prejudice', 'The Great Gatsby', 'To Kill a Mockingbird '. I loved the classics. They were inspirational in my eyes. Heck, I was even named after a famous author.

An hour and a half later I was still not even halfway done taking everything out. I laid down on my bed and plugged in my earbuds. I put them in my ears, turned on my music, and closed my eyes, letting the lyrics sink into my skin. The words washed over me and I let myself be taken into another world.

Oh yes I'm the great pretender
Pretending I'm doing well
My need is such I pretend too much
I'm lonely but no one can tell...

Just then I heard a soft knock on my door in the distance. I slowly reopen my eyes as if resurfacing from being underwater for a long time.

"Come in." I call as I sit up and pull my knees to my chest. I lean back against the wall at the head of my bed.

The door opens slightly and Hanson pokes his head in. "Your room looks good, so far." he says.

I smile at him. "Thanks."

He walks over to my bed and sits at the foot of it and stares down at his hands. Hanson has always been the one to confide in me about anything and everything. "What's wrong?" I ask him.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing so far. Are you ready for tomorrow?" he questions me, his blue eyes round in curiosity.

"Honestly, no. Not at all. It's just weird being a new sophomore at a new school that's thousands of miles away from our old home." I tell him. He nods and looks down again. "What about you?"

He sighs and puts his head in his hands. "Harp, we left everything behind. Our friends, our lives. Everything. And I don't know what to do anymore. I wanted to spend my last two years with my friends, but instead, dad had to move us to this stupid town in the middle of nowhere." He looks up at me. He was right though. We moved to a small town in Oklahoma named Winchester when all our lives we knew the big roaring city of Los Angeles, California and our school we'd been to, Aster Academy. It was a huge change for us, and none of us knew how to take it in with the small town and small school life.

"You should be fine Hanson. You're a likable guy, you'll make new friends and join the baseball team just like back at Aster." I reassure him. He smiles at me.

"Thanks sis, I needed this." He tells me. I smile back at him and hug him.

"Any time bro." I say.

We hear a knock at the door. "Come in!" Hanson and I say simultaneously. The door opens wide. Hayes walks in with Holland trailing behind him holding little Harley.

"We were gonna go out and get something to eat, do you guys want to come?" Hayes asks us. Holland walks over to the bed and hands Harley over to me. I ruffle his black hair and hug him close.

"Where are we going?" I ask. Hayes shrugs his shoulder.

"I saw a café on the drive into town. Maybe we should check it out?" Holland says as he sits down next to Hanson.

"I'm down." Hanson says and stands up to stretch. I nod in agreement.

"Just give me a second to run a brush through my hair." I say as the boys head out the room. "Wait!" I yelled after them and give Harley over to Hayes. "I'll be out in a minute."

I sit down in front of my vanity and brush through my long, blonde hair. I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I look like my mother.

It has been two years since she died and I still felt like I was missing a huge part of my life. It was like trying to put a band aid over a huge hole in a sinking ship.

I clutch the puzzle piece necklace around my throat. Because I knew that someday that bandage would come off, and there was nothing I could do to stop the flood that was to come my way.
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Dear Readers, thank you for reading my book so far for starters. I should be posting regularly every Monday. Thank you all, love you all ♥️