desiderium- Jasper Hale

pt 1: coming home

desiderium
Latin [ des-i-deer-ee-uh m ]

An ardent desire or longing, as for something lost.

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I had never really been good at sticking around.

When I was 3, I ran away from my mum in the park. It took 6 of the worst hours my Mother has ever experienced to find me.

When I was 6, I decided I wanted to live on the moon. It took me a whole afternoon to create my Rocket in the backyard of my Dad's small house in Forks. That night, he couldn't get me in the house to eat.

When I was 13, I asked to move to a boarding school in Canada. It was a firm no.

When I was 15, I got accepted into a transfer program to go to a top-performing independent girls school in Sussex, England. The Burgess Hill Girls- or "Tomorrow's Women."
How could they say no?

My mum, Renee, was recently married to Phil, a minor league baseball player which often caused him to be out of town. Although I wasn't home, my sister Bella always said that she knew our mum wasn't entirely happy being away from him so often. After much late-night FaceTime calls and guilt-stricken messages, Bella made the decision that it was in Mums best interest to move back to rainy Forks, Washington to live with our dad, Chief Charlie Swan, head of Forks police department.
My 12 months abroad were up and I found myself (and my 130pounds of baggage) on a flight to meet my Dad and sister in Forks.
I would miss Sussex. I would miss the history of the place. I would miss my friends and teachers. I would miss experiencing the world.
But my time is up here, so I'm gonna spend some time with my Charlie and Bella, and this will be a good thing. I think.

With one hand, I quickly grabbed my red hair and tied it into a messy bun as I paid the cab fee.

"Thank you heaps, Dave," I said as he grabbed the last of my bags and placed it on the driveway.
With a smile and a nod, Dave slid back into the driver seat and pulled away.
Forks was a very small town, with a population of 3,100 people. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows everything. It was something I knew I had to get used to.

It took me a moment longer than I thought it would build up the courage to walk the few steps further to the front door.
I don't know why I felt such nerves. I had butterfly's in my stomach and my palms were all sweaty. I couldn't tell whether I was nervous due to excitement or fear.
We used to spend two weeks here almost every summer, but's it's been years.

With a quick breath, I grabbed the handles of my suitcases and backpack, making my way to the door.
Almost immediately after I stepped up the last step, the door to my childhood home, swung open, revealing two of my favourite people in the world, with shocked and excited expressions on their faces.

"Sophia!"

At this exact moment, all fear and anxiety washed away from me as a rare and valuable moment happened, as I was embraced in a hug from the two least touchy people in the whole world.

"Hi, Dad. Hi Belles. I'm home!" My face hurt from the smile it contained and I knew at that moment that I had made the right decision to come home.