Us

Chapter 3

I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. I hadn't spoken to my parents in over a month. Not even once. I've basically had to rely on myself for everything I needed and wanted.
"The school called us last week" my mom began without looking at me.
"They told us you haven't been to any of your classes since the school year began" she said finally looking at me.
"We need to tell you something Lauren" my dad said.
"We think it would be in the whole family's best interest to move. Me and your mother can't take this anymore, we need a fresh start" he said.
I thought about it and began to smile. A fresh start is what I needed, and maybe I could even make up with my parents. After all it's not like I was loosing anything anyway.
"Where are we uhm moving to?" I asked nervously.
"Me and your dad have been planning for about and month and we decided Omaha. Both our jobs were able to transfer us there." She said
You nodded and started walking upstairs.
"Lauren" my mom stopped me.
"We love you" she said.
It was the first time I've heard her say that in months. Although she probably didn't mean it, I still felt loved for even the smallest of seconds. And I haven't felt that in forever.

A whole 18 hours away. Away from everything I've ever known. Everything I've ever had.

3 weeks have passed and we were planning on leaving within the next week. I had already packed everything besides my essentials. I heard little footsteps outside my door.
"Lauren im sad" I heard Alex say from the doorway.
"Come here" I said as I picked him up and set him on my bed.
"I don't want to leave my friends" he said.
My heart broke at the thought. I guess I was too selfish to realize that he actually had a life and he was leaving it all.
"I'm sorry Alex, but you'll make new friends and stuff it'll be fun" I said hoping he would understand.

The night it happened I came home and Alex was just standing there waiting for me. It was 5 am, my parents were both out with the cops looking for me. And there was my little brother all alone waiting. I always thought he was too young to understand, but the way he looked at me that night I realized maybe he understood a lot more than my family thought he did.

"You promise?" He said taking me out of my thoughts.
"I promise" I said.

I kissed his head as I tucked him into bed. He's already seen so much bad in the world, and he's only 7. It broke my heart into pieces every time I thought about it. Alex was such an amazing kid, he didn't deserve what I had put him through during those almost 8 months.

I took one last look at my small room. From the cracks in the wall that my dad attempted to cover up, to the broken closet door that stood against the wall. I've never felt safe in my room after him. This room is basically where it happened every single time. The walls were white, after my dad was forced to paint over my light blue walls due to all the writing me and Mike had left. The room was soulless and cold. And I was glad to be leaving it.

I walked downstairs with my suitcases and boxes.
"Ready?" My mom said to me.
"Yeah" I said with a smile.
We walked outside and got in the car.

And we were off, off to a new life, off to a new start.