Finally done!

Packing had never been my forte. In fact, I absolutely detested packing. Maybe it was because the amount of books and other things I possess seemed impossible to place in tons of boxes.

Slapping duct tape across the box, I picked up a marker and marked it as Theia’s Books #3.

When the box was pushed aside carefully, I finally let out a sigh of relief as I wiped away a layer of sweat that had accumulated on my

forehead. I lived in the warm state of California. It was summer. So naturally, the heat was killing me.

A single thing one should always know about me — I am not much for heat.

When my dad came home one afternoon and declared that we were

moving from California to a cold city just near the outskirts of Seattle called Piedmont, I was actually very excited.

Well, that was until I realized that I had to attend a new high school in the middle of the year and leave my best friend, Casey, behind. And since

it was senior year, with prom and all, well, it sucked.

Had I been in my old school, Stinson High, I would have at least had my best friend to accompany me. The thought of being home, all alone on prom, only helped me sweat more.

We were a small family — my dad, Arthur Anderson, a professor of History and Literature; my mom, Maia Anderson, is a designer and

entrepreneur, and I, Theia, currently a senior student in high school, and hoping to become a criminologist or psychologist, whichever comes first. I also have a very strange fascination with history.

I guess dad’s genes rubbed off on me that way.

Another soft huff of sigh escaped me as I lazily picked myself off the floor and dragged myself towards the bathroom. I only had two hours

before we were to load everything and leave, and I knew, in this heat, I would need every minute of it.

Minutes later, as I stood under my cool shower and slowly observed my bathroom for the last time, I let a few stray tears flow with the water as I washed the tiny ache in my chest away.

It seemed like a day had passed when I found myself scrubbed and fresh, walking out into my bedroom in a towel.

A loud yelp left my lips when I suddenly found myself on the floor

and a heavy weight on me.

“Don’t go!” Casey cried hysterically against me. I would have cried too, but the fact that I was currently sprawled on the floor with a towel on and my hundred-something-pound best friend was on top of me was a little… suffocating. Especially on my part, I was merely five feet after all.

“Need… to… breathe, Casey!” I managed to gasp as I writhed under her, trying to escape her deadly grip. Immediately, Casey stilled

above me.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” she apologized hurriedly, blushing beet red as she

got off of me, and stood. She gave me her hand and helped me stand up.

On my feet, I sighed as I brought her in for a hug, “We will talk

every night on Skype or FaceTime, and then there is Messenger! We will always talk. It’ll be like I’m not even away, I promise,” I assured her as I

pulled away. Losing my towel, I pulled on my clothes.

Casey sighed heavily, looking a little scared. “What if we don’t?”

I smiled a small, broken smile. My hand found Casey’s again, and I gave it a comforting squeeze. “No matter what happens, whether we talk

every day or not at all for months, when we do talk or meet, we will always be the same best friends.”

A small tear dropped down Casey’s cheeks, and she nodded, chuckling against the moisture on her face.

“You better tell me everything when you get there!” she blurted out, smiling a bit as she folded and placed my towel inside a plastic bag before packing it into my suitcase. My room was nearly empty. It was literally stripped bare except for the built-in bookshelves and a few boxes, and

suitcases that were still lying around waiting to be hurled into the moving

truck.

Smiling, I nodded and pulled Casey in for a final hug. “We’ll visit each other during breaks. I’ll miss you, you know.”

Casey nodded. “I’ll miss you too, Thi.”

The loud stomping noises alerted us both of someone coming up the stairs, and soon enough, there was a knock on the door. “Theia, are you

done?”

“Yeah, Dad, come in!” I replied as I picked up my jacket — just in case it got cold — and slipped into my flip-flops, which seemed like an

irrational choice considering the two contrasted each other, but I wouldn’t need my shoes in the car, anyway. I’d probably just tuck them under me

throughout the ride.

The door opened instantly, and in walked my dad with two bulky

men. Smiling at me softly, they strode towards the boxes and picked them up.

Again, Casey and I stood in my empty room — a room we had had

dozens of sleepovers, a room we played dolls in, a room we gossiped, planned, and plotted in, and a room we did our homework and fangirling in.

I sighed.

“I think we should go now…”

“Uh-huh.”

Casey and I walked downstairs hand in hand. I took a deep breath as

I stood in the living room.

The place had a lot of my memories. I grew up in this area. Well, that was until I turned sixteen and got the television set up in my own room.

My eyes are closed. I let out a deep breath and whispered, “I’ll miss you, home. Goodbye.”

“Theia, sweetie!”

My Mom’s voice rang out to me like a fire truck’s siren. I instantly opened my eyes and walked out of the threshold, letting Dad lock the door and hand over the keys to our real estate agent, who had managed to sell our home for a very, very reasonable amount.

The day outside was bright and happy, vibrant and warm, yet the heat suddenly didn’t bother me anymore. I looked around my neighborhood and smiled. I would be taking all the good memories as I went. But as much

as I was sad, truth be told, I was also secretly excited.

I didn’t know what it was, but I felt like something was waiting for me in Piedmont.

An adventure was waiting to be lived; maybe, a mystery waiting to be unraveled.

The little knowledge about the new feeling in me was all the more alluring, and somehow, secretly, I couldn’t wait to reach Piedmont.