The Country Girl From the City

Goodbye to the City

I didn't know it would be the last time I walked through my high school hallways. When I got home, Father broke the news to me. First, he said that he lost all the money... truth be told, Father had a bad gambling habit. He continued to say that he purchased a small town in Tennessee when he lost a bet years ago, before I was born; he added that the town made him little income. We had to leave the city before we went completely bankrupt. He would never admit it but the gambling finally beat him, that's why we were going broke.

I called my best friend, Athena. She didn't understand me sometimes, her family had less money that us. Now it was us with less money. Turns out, she was only my friend to make herself look better. Athena seemed happy she wouldn't have to keep up the act of pretending to be my friend. Then I called my boyfriend, Christopher, told him I was leaving the city and that Athena was garbage. But he was just like her... he had been waiting for Athena to tell me off. He was cheating on me with her for the past 3 months. I told him I faked my finished during the times we had danced in the dark, and it wasn't a lie, I never really did.

Completely heartbroken, I still had to pack my things. Father told me I could only pack what I needed, since we could buy more things when we arrived. I was torn... I was losing everything I had ever known in a day. I missed Ace so much. My big brother was everything to me.

It was only us, Mother never had any more. Ace was 8 when I was born. He tells me it was one of the happiest days of his life. When he turned 18, he enlisted into the army, never looking back. He hated the rich lifestyle. With that, our parents didn't raise us. We had a disposal of nannies and butlers to do what my parents couldn't.

Father called for me, I held in my tears. Father would be mad if he seen me crying. I dried my face off, hoping my eyes wouldn't be too puffy. Father announced to me that this would be our last time on our private jet. The pilot would take it to the new owner after dropping us off in Lilac, Tennessee.

At least I was done packing. There was so many things we were leaving behind. The jet was loaded and we would file into the cabin early that next morning. During the final night, I didn't think I would fall asleep. So many things ran through my mind...

When we arrived in Lilac, you could smell the dirt. Yet it was fresh, cleaner air than in the city. I didn't know whether to love it or not. I missed my home, Tennessee was far from New York. The jet had stirred up a small crowd. The people of Lilac were curious. They were cautious, I was too. I looked upon the crowd, and there were many faces, but this girl with golden blonde hair and forest green eyes, she looked different compared to everyone else. She stood out to me. But what was thinking, these people are nobodies... My father looked at the few people and told them he bought their town 27 years ago and decided it was time for him to live in his town.

We had a new car there for us waiting. We loaded up with what we had and drove off leaving the small crowd unsure of how they felt about us. I looked back before Mother got onto me. A proper lady doesn't look back the way I did. Every comment from my parents made me happy that I was a high school senior and next year, I would be in college, far away from them.

I wasn't sure who I could trust from my school anymore. There was so much going on, I just wanted to hear Ace's voice. I needed to hear it. He probably doesn't even know yet that we left the city.

The car was heading towards this hill. I looked up from my phone to see the two-story, pastel yellow house that had a large front porch. It looked like something from a fairytale. I asked Father if that was our new house. "Yes, Charity," he replied. I rolled my eyes but wore a smile on my face.

With the wind lightly blowing, the weeds in the yard waved. A picket white fence was a little sad looking but it squared the front yard off. The windows on the house had white borders and they looked like checkerboards. There was no garage or port to park the new car under. It looked different than anything I had ever seen before.

Father unlocked the front door, it made a creek. The foyer was small, and had stairs to the right. I walked further in. Beyond the arch that was by the stairs, I seen a small dinning room with 6 chairs on a wooden table. There was a cabinet full of glass chinaware. I walked through there leaving my parents in the foyer. There was a kitchen connected to the dinning room. The walls everywhere were white and had the prettiest hardwood floors I had ever seen. I seen the washer and dryer in the corner. The room was themed with a light teal accents. That was Mother's favorite color scheme.

I walked back into the foyer. On the other side of the staircase, there was an open space with a formal living room. The walls were still white and there was still the beautiful hardwood flooring. I assumed it was through the whole house. The was a fireplace, a couple of armchairs, and two black couches that felt like they were wrapping paper to the wooden, square coffee table. There were fresh roses on that table. Above the fireplace hung a family portrait of us before Ace left for the army.

Arch ways were opened to both sides of the fire place. I walked through the first one and I was met with a very small hallway and a single wooden door with a glass panel. It was locked, but I peaked through the door's window and seen a desk, some chairs, and a loveseat. It gave me principle's office vibes. I shuttered and walked back into the formal living room.

The arch on the left of the fireplace opened to a bigger, less formal dining room. There was a flatscreen television, at least 60 inches wide. There was movie theater type chairs, an L-shaped couch, and small round side tables. The coffee table in this room also had fresh roses but was round instead of square. There was a door to the side that had a bathroom sign on it. I felt no need to investigate it.

How could I almost have forgotten? I headed upstairs. There were 4 doors. One door to my left had a letter "A" on it, I assumed for Ace. The door next to it had a "C" which I guessed was my room. I'm pretty sure the other rooms were the master bedroom and another bathroom. I headed towards the "C" room.

I opened the door to see light peach walls, white carpet, a canopy bed, and a vanity. I had many things in my room in New York but every step felt more like a fairytale. I understood why Ace rarely came around. This simplicity is so peaceful. The closet had some clothes in it already. No wonder there were some clothes missing from my closet at home... wait, this is home now. New York is not. Anyways, the canopy bed had a silver bed frame, a pastel pink comforter that matched the peach walls perfectly, and plenty of fluffy pillows. The vanity had some of my favorite perfumes and makeup products already set up.

Lost and happy were opposite emotions for me, but I felt both. I kept picturing that blonde with green eyes from the crowd. I don't know why I kept seeing her. I never felt this way about any of the guys I had been with. But the feeling was slightly familiar, I couldn't tell from where.

Father called me downstairs. I closed my bedroom door behind me. Father told me I started school on Monday. It was Saturday. I had a day to prepare the first impression. I had to make sure it was perfect. I had the clothes to draw the right attention to make people realize I am the queen.

I, Charity Brown, was friendless, heartbroken, and so over this shit. I will run this place like that never happened, like I was born and raised here. New York Charity was dead. I would run this town like never done before.