Prologue

"I can't believe you're leaving me."

"I can't believe I'm leaving. I'm so mad that my mom won't let me live with you guys. I mean, come on, she thinks of you as a second daughter to her! Our families have been close as long as I can remember,"

I glance down at my watch. 6 AM. It's too early to be awake. I am glad that Mom let me sleep at Deb's house for my last night in Ohio.

"Well, I better get going. Mom said she'd be here at exactly 6."

I reach down for one suitcase and one carry-on. The rest has already been shipped to my new home. Before I get to them, Deb grabs them and smiles sincerely to me.

I open the door for us, letting Deb go before me. Before shutting her door, I look around her house. Who knows when I'll be back. This is going to be so hard.

Deb sets my luggage down briefly and I pull her into a hug. I don't know who starts to cry first. How does my mom expect me to live without my best friend? I've never been so close to anybody in my life. The only reason Mom's making me go with them is because she'll "miss me too much". How selfish is that! If she really loved me, she'd let me stay. My home my whole life. Living with my best friend and her family who is like a family to me.

Eventually we let go, tears in each of our eyes.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Spencer."

"I'm going to miss you more than you can ever imagine. I'll write to you, I'll text you, and I'll call you all the time. It's going to be just like we're together... except we're not." I finish my sentence not as happy as I had started it.

"I'll try to visit you and you can try to visit me lots."

"Bye, Deb."

"Bye, Spence."

I place my bags in the trunk of our SUV and hop in the back with Clay and Glen. We wave as we begin our drive to the airport. I look at my mom as she's waving with a grin on her face. How can she smile? How can she act so polite? This is cruel. She's taking me away from my home, my best friend, Ohio. I don't want to go to a new school. I don't want to make new friends. I don't want to start over. I love it here. Mom is taking everything away from me.