AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Unlocking my phone, I open up our group chat and type out a quick message.
Me:If I'm not at school tomorrow, I'm either dead or I’ve committed murder. Don't come looking for me.
I slip my phone into my side pocket and make my way toward our front steps. The wooden steps barely squeak or groan as I walk up them. I watch as my mom's feet press into the porch, stopping her rocking. She pats the spot next to her, and I slip my backpack off my shoulder, dropping it to the ground with a thud. I tuck my hands into the front pocket of my sweatshirt and sit down. She pushes off, letting us rock a little while we both stare off into the distance.
I can feel her hand hovering before her fingers curl around mine. The pads of her fingers brush my nails, half blackened, and half swiped away in my hurry to flee earlier. "I know this isn't what you want, and I'm sorry if you feel ambushed by it."
"Where are we going?" I ask, keeping my face forward.
"Castle Pointe."
I look over at her, confusion lining my face. I've never heard of Castle Pointe before, and that only means one thing. It's far away from here.
She can read my face, and she tries to cover her wince, but it's clearly readable in her worried eyes. "A small town, just north of Duluth."
My eyes widen. "Duluth? Duluth—as in, all the way on the other side of Minnesota?"
She nods, nibbling on the corner of her lip.
I slouch, my spine slamming against the back of the bench. It shakes and rocks us back and forth for a second. Anger, so much anger, fills me. Defeat does as well, because I feel like I have no options.
"Can't I stay here?"
She shakes her head. "No, Vera. Shara is putting the house on the market tomorrow." Shara is her longtime realtor and one of her greatest friends.
Tears cloud my vision. I feel like she is betraying everything I've ever known. Our life here, she's throwing it away like it's never meant anything to her.
"How could you?" I whisper, pain crippling my voice. I want to curl over, the tightness in my stomach agonizing. It's like she's backstabbing me. Like she's backstabbinghim.
Her eyes water, and she brings her perfectly manicured finger up to her cheek. She wipes the tear before it can fall, catching it on her knuckle, then settles her hand in her lap, her tear still clinging to her skin. "Vera, it's hard to understand. I know it must be painful for you… but… it's time we all started to live again. We can't be stuck in this bubble forever. It was very hard, but I had to learn how to breathe again. And I found someone who helped me do that."
It feels like my entire world tips on its axis.
"How long has this been going on?"
She stares at me, her lips scrunching up as she decides whether to be truthful or not. "We've been seeing each other for about six months."
Her eyes search mine, the pale blue the same shade as my own. Like a perfect quartz crystal. Our features are fairly similar as well. We both have large eyes and slender noses with pouty lips. My mom's hair is a sandy brown, but mine is a dark chocolate, just like my father's.
Though, through the years I've dyed it so many times, I'm not quite sure what the natural color is anymore. I keep it nearly black, and the other week Sacha helped me dye the side of my hair an icy blonde.
"Why are you just telling me about this now? It's obviously serious."
Her face turns to the distance, the yellow streetlamp glowing in her eyes. There’s a guilt darkening the blue, so much that she can’t look at me directly. "I didn't think it was necessary to say anything until it was serious."
"Well, clearly it's fucking serious."
Her head whips toward me, her eyes irritated. "Seriously? Language."
My head tilts back, my jaw cracking open and an evil laugh barking out. "Right now? You're going to reprimand me right now? Come on, Mother, you know me better than that."
She takes a deep breath, her blouse-covered chest lifting with irritation before shaking to a settle.
"His name is Samuel Myers."
The name rolls around in my brain, ping-ponging within my memory to see if I recall hearing of him anywhere.
"Where'd you meet him?"
