Chambers,+Megan

“The Move” Kelly was a star on her soccer team. Everyone liked her, because she was so Bubbly and astute. She had a good family, good grades, and a great best friend. She was literally a living California stereotype; blond hair, tan skin, and loves to spend her time at the beach. Little did she know everything in her life was going to turn upside-down. Kelly dropped her soccer bag and shut the door. “Hey Mom, I’m home from soccer practice,” Kelly announced. “Where are you?” “I’m in the kitchen,” her mother replied. When Kelly walked through the fancy living room no one used and into the kitchen, she knew something was wrong. Her mom had a fake smile on, like she was hiding something. “How was your day?” Mom asked, with a tone of anxiousness. “My day was okay. I got an A on the science quiz, and at practice we worked on our dribbling skills. We even had time to play a scrimmage,” Kelly replied casually. Just then, Kelly’s dad walked in through the backdoor. Dad gave Kelly a big bear hug, and asked in his deep, booming voice, “Hi, Kelly. How are you?” Kelly looked up at her tall father and replied, “I was just telling Mom how I got an A on my science quiz, and about soccer practice, too. By the way, you might not want to hug me, because I’m all sweaty.” Dad laughed. “That’s nice to hear. How was your day, Cheryl?” “Oh, it was okay. I took Goldie out for a walk, and went to lunch with some of our neighbors,” Mom answered, a little too fast. Kelly observed that her mom was wringing her hands. She knew he only did that when he was really anxious, so she asked “Is anything wrong?” Mom and Dad shared a look, and Mom replied, “We will discuss this at dinner. Why don’t you go do your homework?” Kelly was about to tell her mother she didn’t have homework; it was Friday. But, Kelly could take a hint. She inferred that her Mom and Dad wanted to discuss something important, //in private//. “Okay, I guess I do have some homework I’ve got to do. And I should probably take a shower, too. See you at dinner.” Before turning around to walk upstairs, Kelly saw that her father was running his big, tanned hands through his buzzed-cut blond hair, then started to absentmindedly pace. She was starting to feel troubled, because it meant her dad was really stressed about something. After her shower, Kelly walked upstairs and into her room, with its green and blue polka-dotted comforter and bright green walls. She sat down at her desk, thoughts racing through her mind. //“What happened?”// she fretted. //“Does Grandma have cancer? Did I not make the travel soccer team?”// Whatever was going on, Kelly knew she shouldn’t obsess over it. She reached into her backpack, grabbed her library book, and began to read. *****   Around seven, Kelly’s mom called Kelly down for dinner. Before Kelly even got downstairs, she was hit with the intoxicating smell of brownies, her favorite dessert. She also saw veggie pizza from the place on the corner that she loved. Kelly raced to the table and began to eat the pizza with green peppers, black olives, and onions shredded onto warm, melted cheese. “So what were you going to tell me at dinner?” Kelly asked. “Well, we have good and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?” Dad replied. “I’ll hear the bad news first,” Kelly decided between bites of pizza. “Honey, we’re moving to Costa Rica. Our jobs are being relocated there to study the sea turtles,” her mom stated in a hushed tone. Suddenly, Kelly felt like she was about to puke. Her eyes, naturally big, had gotten even wider. “Your kidding right? Please say this is a joke.” Kelly pleaded. “No, we aren’t kidding. We are actually moving there.” Her father stated. “When. When are we moving?” Kelly was starting to feel the anger rushing through her; face turning redder than a tomato. “M-Monday,” Mom stammered. “We know this will be hard for you, but we didn’t find out until a week ago. We thought it would be best to tell you this weekend, so you can say goodbye to your soccer team and Jo.” “I can’t believe this!” Kelly seethed, barely getting the words out of her mouth. “You knew for a whole week but didn’t tell me? Do my teachers even know I’m leaving?” “We sent the principal, Mr. Williams, an email an hour ago. He replied, saying that the school will miss one of their best students,” Dad soothed. “The good news is that there is a great soccer program around where we will live, and we are going to live right on the beach. You could surf every morning!” Mom exclaimed. “Well, I don’t want to move to Costa Rica! I want to stay here, and you can’t make me go.” The tension in the room hung there in quietness. “Actually, we can. We are your parents, so we can do what we want with you,” Dad spoke out, breaking the tomb-like silence. “This is so unfair! I’m going to Jo’s. Don’t plan on seeing me for the rest of the weekend!” Kelly yelled. Kelly stormed up to her room, grabbed the first clothes that she could find, and slammed the backdoor. She hopped on her bike, and pedaled as fast as she could to Jo’s. //Ding-dong.// Jo opened the door; surprised to see Kelly stooped on the doorstep. Kelly was looking down, showing her glowing blond hair. Jo noticed that Kelly’s blue eyes were red, and the skin around the eyes was really puffy, like she had been crying. “Hey. I hope you don’t mind I came,” Kelly said nervously. “Can I sleep over?” “Um, sure, I guess. I was just watching TV,” Jo stated. “Come on in.” Kelly walked into Jo’s house, feeling a little less angry. Even though Kelly had been over to Jo’s house a thousand times, she was always amazed how clean their house was. It was just so different from her mess of a house that she had to keep herself from gasping every time she walked into Jo’s house. “Hi Kelly. How are you?” Mrs. Bauer greeted Kelly. Kelly winced softly, then replied, “I’m fine, how are you?” “Oh, I’m great. Are you and Joann going to have a sleepover?” “//Mom,//” Jo groaned. “Please call me Jo. I don’t like the name Joann. And yes, Kelly is going to sleep over tonight.” “Okay, //Jo,// I won’t embarrass you,” Mrs. Bauer sighed. “Kelly, you are welcome to anything in our home, just clean up afterwards, okay?” “Sounds good to me,” Kelly told Mrs. Bauer. “Come on, Jo, let’s go upstairs.” Jo and Kelly went up to Jo’s room and sat on the multicolored zigzag bedspread. Kelly studied Jo’s familiar face; the freckles, the green eyes behind her glasses, and wondered if she would ever see this face again. After a while, Kelly spoke up. “Jo, I have something to tell you. This isn’t easy for me to say, but my family is moving to Costa Rica on Monday.” “What?” Jo gasped. “But… why?” “Because Mom and Dad are being relocated to study sea turtles there. I found out at dinner.” Kelly had tried so hard not to cry, but the warm tears ran down her face anyway. “Kelly, I’m so sorry. I will miss you so much. But, this is a great opportunity for you. You’ll get to surf a lot, and go to the beach,” Jo’s voice trailed off. “But I still will miss you more than anything.” She started to twist her curly long brunette hair. “Me too,” Kelly agreed. “This is the worst.” “No, we can still video chat and stuff,” Jo reasoned. “We can still be best friends.” “I know,” Kelly whimpered, “but this is hard for me. You and I both know very well that n my perfect world, everything would stay the same. I don’t want my life to change so suddenly.” “Hey, stop crying,” Jo soothed, starting to braid Kelly’s blond hair. “Let’s just relax and watch a movie. I know Mom just got some chocolate ice cream, and we can have super buttery popcorn.” Kelly smiled, showing her dimples. “Okay, but the movie has to be a comedy. I’ve had enough drama for the day.” *****   The weekend went by too fast for Kelly. Packing took a lot of hard work, even for her strong muscles. She was exhausted. Monday morning came around way too quickly, and at 7:30 am, the taxi came to take Kelly’s family to the airport. Kelly hopped into the bright yellow car, and once they started moving, Kelly apologized to her parents. “Hey Mom, Dad, I’m really sorry about the way I’ve acted this weekend. I know hat this move has been hard for you guys too. I’m ready to start fresh. Does that sound okay with you?” Kelly’s mom smiled. “A clean slate sounds like a great idea. Here’s another one: how about that the first thing that we do is grab our surfboards and run out to the beach?” “That sounds like an amazing idea! I can’t wait!” Kelly gushed, anticipating the awesome waves that she could surf. Kelly new that she was ready for a new beginning. //Clickety-clack. Clickety-clack.// Kelly was checking to see if Jo was on her email. To her surprise, Jo was online. Kelly clicked on the video chat button, and instantly, Jo’s smiling face appeared on the computer monitor. “Hi!” Jo cheerfully exclaimed. “How are you?” “I’m great, how about you?” Kelly replied. “I’m super, just really glad to see you,” Jo chirped. “Have you gone to the beach? Your hair has gotten even more blond!” “I live on the beach, literally,” Kelly laughed. “Our house is 80 yards away from the water, a full-ocean view. And during Christmas break, you’ll see what I mean.” “What are you talking about?” Jo asked; eyebrows furrowed together. “You get to visit for Winter Break! My parents talked to your mom, and they agreed that you could visit. Isn’t that great?” “Yea, I’m so excited!” Jo yelled, jumping up and down. “Hey, stop jumping,” Kelly teased, “or your computer’s going to fall off of your desk.” “Kelly, dinnertime,” Mom called from the kitchen. “Oops, but I have to go. It’s time for dinner. Mom is making spaghetti with meatballs. Talk to you later, Jo!” “Bye!” Jo sang. Kelly closed the chat window. She walked into the kitchen, looking forward to what lay for her ahead.