Apple of my Eye

It was a quiet winter evening for you. You got all your homework done and now you were sitting at your desk quietly playing Minecraft. You loved evenings like this, they were tranquil, relaxing, and above all, Minecraft was your favorite thing to do. Actually, you loved pretty much everything in general about the internet. You spent all your free time on there in your small apartment you shared with your mom and your dad. Both of them worked long hours, and so they had to give you lots of responsibilities to do in the house since they weren't able to do them all on their own. You did them without complaining, but after they were all done, it was right back to the computer. It was like your home-base. You also were a huge gaming nerd as well. You played games like Pokemon, Prototype, Skyrim, and Batman Arkham City. You didn't care for military games because 1. You sucked majorly at them and 2. The online players were rude and often questionably young. You were in the later years of high school; You made good grades for the most part and your two strongest subjects were science and history. You were good at math too, but you didn't like it. You just learned what you needed to in order to pass. Lately though, you haven't been doing so well in math, and your parents threatened you with a monster grounding if you failed it for the year. You didn't worry, however. You were naturally smart and so you figured you could just procrastinate then ace the final exam like you always did. You took a sip of coke you had by your computer desk as the monitor let out a light hum and gave off a gentle glow in the dark room you were in. The snow had blocked out the roads and the clouds that brought the snow blotted out the sun. Despite this, you had your blinds shut and your door shut but not locked. No light came in save for the natural light streaming in from the teeny cracks in the blinds. You were in the middle of building a house out of brick blocks on Minecraft when your dad suddenly came in, having come home from his job about 20 minutes earlier.

"Son, there's something I have to tell you." He came in with his arms crossed and a warm smile on his face.

Your father was a tall man with a short, precise haircut that stopped just above his ears. He had gray hair (formerly brown) and scruff on his chin from not shaving in a while. His eyes were blue, unlike yours, which were hazel just like your mother's. He had a strong, muscular build that you sadly didn't inherit. You had inherited your dad's broad shoulders, yes. However, you were not very strong and inherited your mother's intellect. Your father had a clear skinned face that was slightly tanned, while your mother had fair skin that was heavily freckled. It was much like your own skin, except you didn't have nearly as many freckles since you barely spent any time outside. Your skin was paler and lightly specked with freckles. You also inherited your mom's lack of acne, which you found pretty sweet. Your mom had rich brown hair which you inherited instead of your father's more light brown hair. She was more of a gentle soul who was less industrious than your father, but she was more meticulous and suited for her job as a wedding planner. She had a sweet stereotypical motherly tone to her voice while your father's voice was deep and rich. He used to be a great singer until he got offered a job as a financial advisor. He was a country singer, and always had a soft spot for the countryside; a trait you and he did NOT share. He took the job as a financial advisor for the higher pay and worked happily as a financial advisor your whole life. You got along with your parents fine, so long as your grades were satisfactory. They both got very high educations and expect nothing less from you as well.

"What is it?" You respond in your quiet raspy teenage voice.

Your father gives you an even bigger smile and says, "You know that I've been a financial advisor for as long as you can remember right?"

"Umm…yeah? What about it?" You turn your chair to him and brush your hair from your eyes, listening intently.

Your father chuckles before answering. "Well, I've just been offered a job as being an investment banker! My salary is going to more than triple now!" The excitement is highly apparent in his tone.

"So…what you're saying is that we're rich now?" You cock an eyebrow up, very interested in this all the sudden.

"Basically." Your father responds before tousling your hair.

You can barely contain your excitement! You jump out of your chair and throw your arms around him. "This is so awesome! When do you start this new job! Oh man, oh man mom's going to be so happy when she hears about this!"

"I've already told your mom. She's just as excited as you are. As for when I start? I'm starting this new job in a week from tomorrow. I'll probably get my first paycheck in 6 weeks." He beams.

You can't help but smile bigger than you ever have for as long as you can remember. Your family is rich! Now they can afford to get you things they couldn't before, like that expensive Skyrim hoodie, or that electric synthesizer! Maybe even your own TV for your room! Your family was able to afford to live in this house before, but now you can thrive in it! This is easily the best thing to ever happen to you.

When your mom returns home, there's a family celebration for your dad's new job. You go out to the fanciest restaurant you've ever been to and have the best meal you've had in ages. At home, your parents pop out champagne and you celebrate on Facebook with your friends. Life just doesn't get any better than this.

Months pass, and your dad is doing great with his new job. He even gets to work from home! You see a lot more of him. You don't mind, seeing as how now you can talk more with him when you're bored. You have a lot more money to spend now that your family is wealthy, and that wealth grows more and more every month. You got that Skyrim hoodie and that synthesizer you wanted. Life's pretty great for you. Sure, you still aren't doing well in math, but still, your parents don't have to know, right?

Late May arrives and it's nearly the last day of school. You've been busting your ass studying for the final. You've failed every six weeks prior and you've been doing your best to hide it from your parents. They don't bother finding out for themselves though, they're too busy working their jobs. You've had a harder time paying attention in math class ever since your father got that new job. It's just so distracting, thinking what you could do with all that money. Nontheless, you're determined to ace the final and redeem yourself at the last minute…just like always.

One day, you finished all your homework and exam reviews for the night and you were derping around on tumblr when your dad comes into your room and tells you to meet him in the den. He has another surprise for you; and sounds almost as excited as he did when he first got his new job.

Happy to oblige, you exit out of your tabs and join your family in the den. One you're all there, your father speaks up.

"Son, I have an important announcement to make." He beams. Your mother is beside him, indicating that she's known about the surprise beforehand and wants to see your reaction.

"Tell me, dad, what's so newsworthy that it requires I leave my computer?" You add jokingly. Your mom gives a mild chuckle at your joke while your dad smiles politely.

"I've just bought a mansion over in the countryside! It's more than twice as big as our house now and it's close to a good school district! We are moving in about a month!" Your dad gives you the biggest grin and awaits your happy cheers and praises.

Oh god.

No.

No.

No.

NO!

THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO ME!

You are a city boy, obviously. Living in a spacious, humid, all-the-outdoors-you-can-eat countryside mansion is one of the worst things that could happen to you. And what's worse is that you're moving in a month! That means that you won't even get to enjoy your summer here! School ends in three weeks and you'll have to say goodbye to your friends and everything you've ever known. You can't just say all of this to your dad though, he obviously worked so hard to make this possible for you. Best to pretend to be excited, for now.

"Uhh…that's great dad! Can't wait!" You smile politely.

Your dad senses your lack of enthusiasm, but doesn't think much of it. "Well I'm glad you're happy. Best start packing, a month isn't a very long time, you know." He tousles your hair again.

Ohh boy…

The end of the month rolls around. All your friends are real bummed out that you're leaving the city. You'll sure miss having them over and playing video games together. You took all your finals and passed all of them. Unfortunately, you didn't do well enough on your math final to pass the class overall. Your parents don't know yet, and you plan to keep it that way for as long as possible. All your belongings are packed as well as your parent's belongings. Now the only thing left to do is head on out. As your family drives away from the apartment complex you used to live in, you press your face against the window of the car and sigh longingly.

I'm going to miss you, old room. I don't regret any of the hours I wasted inside you fapping to porn and playing glorious GLORIOUS online games…I also don't regret having my friends over and trashing you up then spending the entire next day cleaning up their shit…Lastly, I don't regret wiping all my boogers on your walls when I was little. Goodbye…goodbye…goodbye…

6 and a half hours later…

You must've fallen asleep sometime during the trip because your mom was waking you up, telling you that they had arrived at the new house. You stretched slowly and arched your back, then rubbed your eyes and swung your legs out of the car. Your eyes fell upon the new mansion you were staying in. By Gandalf's beard, it was worse than you imagined. It was red brick with white finishings and stepping stones that led to the front door. Around the side you could see the yard that was bordered by a white picket fence and when you walked towards the fence for a closer look, you saw that the backyard was enormous! Heck, the backyard alone might've been bigger than your old house. To anyone else, it was a beautiful and well built home. But to you, it was an end to your whole life that you loved so much. You now regret your dad getting that job in the first place. Why didn't he get fired? Why not save all that money for something else? But there was nothing you could do at this point; this was your new life. You had to either adapt, or perish. You weren't sure which one you'd rather do.

The moving people unpack everything in your house to the appropriate rooms. All that you had to do was go to your new room and unpack all your things. You walked up the stairs leading to the front door and walked inside. It was spacious with luxurious tile floors and marble decorations. There was soft cream colored carpet that covered the living room floor and a smooth marble floor covering the kitchen. The countertops were granite and the dining room table, which was connected to the kitchen, was covered in a scarlet red tablecloth. It looked very pretty; even you had to admit that. Nonetheless, you still resented this house with every bone in your body. You walked upstairs to see your new room. You walked inside where all your boxes were and found a carpeted room with white walls and your bed and desk already set up. It was okay. You didn't hate your room since it was much bigger than your previous one, but it lacked character. That was something your room had that you loved more than anything. You figured you should unpack your stuff at least. Perhaps your room would look better that way. You started with your clothes and filled up your closet with all your various shirts, hoodies, jeans, shorts, and the like. You didn't have many clothes for hot weather, something that would definitely come to bite you in the ass later this summer. You were going to have to go shopping later with your mom. Next thing you unpacked were your personal belongings such as your pictures, old toys, gaming systems, awesome synthesizer. and finally your beloved computer. You set up the computer and powered it on. The connection was very shitty, not to your surprise. You were in the country for god's sake. Of course there's poor reception here. At least it worked, and you were able to surf the web. You started to mess around on tumblr for a little bit before getting back to your unpacking. After a while, you could hear your mother cooking dinner downstairs.

They must've finished unpacking the kitchen stuff… you muse to yourself.

You finish unpacking everything. Your new room looks much better now, but it still feels weird being in it. You're just going to have to get used to it. You go downstairs and see that your mom has fixed teriyaki stir-fry for dinner. It's one of your favorite foods. You see that there are still many many boxes that need unpacking, but you and your family would get to that tomorrow. For now, it was time to eat.

After an awkward conversation at dinner you regret participating in, you head on off to bed to mope yourself to sleep. You shut the door of your room and look out your window. You see something big and red… upon squinting your eyes you focus in and see a large red barn that's partially blocked by trees. What kind of trees? You couldn't tell. Your experience tells you that they're some kind of fruit tree, but you don't know which. It's obviously not one that blooms in summer. You wonder who lives there…probably some weirdo farmers that don't know what the internet is. You lay your head down on your pillow and slowly drift off into an un-restful slumber…