Chapter 7 – The Magic in Goodbyes

I sat across from my aunt in our lounge room which had been filled with my friends just moments ago. She had just finished telling me about how James and my mother had moved from this country called Aldrose and that James refused to let me know anything about my mother’s family. I was downright outraged at my father. How dare he refuse my mother to even tell me!

“You’re angry. I shouldn’t have told you, James will not like it, but you must come back with me,” Ingrid said, breaking to my thoughts.

“What? Back to where? I can’t leave my friends and I just started my last year of high school! I can’t just leave now!”

“To Aldrose, your home…. Oh, please, Liss, er, Lisa. You have to come with me. I can teach you all that you need to know about being part…” she trailed off.

“Part what? What do you mean? Ingrid, you’re not helping with my decision.”

“You are not completely human. Aldrose isn’t just another country, it’s another world, another dimension.” I must have looked blank because she lowered her voice and asked a different question.

“Lisa, do you believe in….faeries?” she asked and I almost scoffed. What sort of question is that? I thought but I didn’t say that. Instead I answered her question.

“Yes...”

“Vampires?”

“Yes,”

“Werewolves, shape shifters, witches, goblins, elves, trolls, Dragons?”

“And unicorns and pixie dust? Ingrid, you’re talking about fairy tale stuff.” I said starting to feel stupid.

“They aren’t fairy tales, Lissa Pheobe Wilson.” She snapped, insulted.

“What?” I gasped. “What did you just call me?”

“Your name, Lissa. Your birth name was Lissa Phoebe Wilson but your insolent father needed his name in it too. He refused to have you know about Aldrose, about us. Phoebe didn’t like it, she wanted you to know and embrace it but she claimed to love your father and I knew she would do anything to keep him happy.” Ingrid’s voice had gone bitter and harsh as she spoke about James and I decided that I sort of liked her.

“Ingrideliah, I can’t….. I mean, I don’t like living with James or Maria, but Amy, I can handle and I can’t just leave my family!”

“Your family… you keep saying that, but I thought James and Maria were your family?”

“Biologically, yeah, James is and Maria is by law, but there are people in my life that I can’t live without and they are practically my family. Mikki, Kya, Jamie, Jasmine, Emily, Jake, Matt… I can’t leave them. Why do think I’ve lasted so long without my mum? They’ve stuck by me and I’ve stuck by them!” I stood as I started to get worked up.

“Lissa, I understand that it’s going to be hard for you to leave everyone you love here but you have to come to Aldrose!”

“Ingrid! If I go, I can’t come back, and if I do, I’ll die of the Aldrose disease just like mum!” I fell to my knees and hung my head.

“There is no proof of that.” Ingrid said and I looked up.

“What? How can you say that? Everyone that has come to earth from Aldrose has died!”

“No. Not everyone. Lissa, you’re not thinking properly.”

“Well, explain it then! Help me understand because if I don’t I won’t go!”

“You were born, here on Earth, right?”

“Yeah, and? Where are you going with this Ingrid?” I asked irritably.

“James was born on Earth and he went to Aldrose.” Ingrid said simply and I was still confused.

“What does my dad have to do with any of this?”

“Lissa, stop for a minute. You’re still not thinking clearly. Your...father,” Ingrid struggled with the word, “he was born here, and went to Aldrose, right?” I nodded but rolled my eyes, “and he came back and is still alive. Well, where were you born?”

“Earth, but….OH!” it suddenly dawned on me and I felt like an idiot. “You’re saying that if I go to Aldrose, I can still come back and live on Earth and won’t die nineteen years later?”

“That’s the theory, yes.”

“Theory?”

“Well, the only difference is you have Aldrose blood so it is unclear whether the disease will affect you or not. Chances are low, but they’re still there.”

We both sat in silence for a while. I was processing this information. I had never really belonged to Earth, but to Aldrose. That was when something else Ingrid had said really processed in my head.

“I’m part what?” I asked her.

“Well, we don’t really know because you’ve grown up on Earth. You haven’t been raised learning your abilities like the other teens have. You’re mother was a light faerie we think.”

“You think?”

Ingrideliah opened her mouth to reply but just then I heard a familiar sound that made rage blast through my veins. I heard my father’s car bump up the driveway and I heard James fumbling for his keys.

“Can you turn invisible?” I asked her and she looked at me curiously. “If you can, please. I just want to talk to my dad for a minute without him knowing that you’re here.” She nodded and moved down the hall quickly, I heard a door close and quickly turned on the television and curled up on the couch as the front door opened.

“Hey dad,” I said innocently as he shut the door behind him.

“So…your friends are gone?” he asked and I nodded before turning back to the TV; glad that Better Homes and Gardens was on and it was the cooking part of the show. Anything else and my dad would have gotten suspicious. “Since when do you watch Better homes and Gardens?” he asked me and I shrugged.

“I always watch it; I just watch it in my room. Since no-one was home, I didn’t think it would be an issue if I watched it down here.” James frowned and went to put his work bag away. He kicked off his shoes and I heard the fridge open.

“Where’s all my beer?” he asked, storming into the lounge and blocking my view of the sticky date pudding the chef was making.

“You drank it all last night, dad.” I said looking up at him, resisting the urge to glare. I wanted to get some answers and I couldn’t do that if I made him unnecessarily angry.

“I did not! Besides, I’d remember and there were two left and they are gone!”

“Dad, both Maria and I were in the fridge last night and they were all gone.”

“No they weren’t! You and your little friends drank them, didn’t you!?” he roared.

“No, we didn’t I swear!” I began creeping back on the couch, getting ready to run because I could see his eyes narrow as he believed I was lying. “Dad, trust me, I swear we didn’t drink your beers! I don’t even like the smell of beer let alone the taste!”

“How do you know it tastes like if you didn’t drink it, you lying little b***h!” he reached out to grab me but I jumped back on the couch. He then thundered closer and I jumped off the couch and bolted to my room, narrowly missing being caught in his vice like grip. I slammed and locked my door before putting a chair in front of it to give extra protection. Not much, but enough. It was when I heard my dad coming towards my room, thundering down the hall, that my decision was made.

“Looks like I’m going to Aldrose,” I muttered as I pulled out a sports bag that I had never used. Into it I threw everything I thought I’d need. My birthday presents, iPod, phone, a couple of pairs of shoes as well as my converse sneakers which I managed to pull on as I hopped around my room. I also threw in some of my favourite clothes, which were my other skinny jeans, my hoodies, my favourite band shirts, my black dress that I had worn two nights ago and some underwear. From my dressing table, I grabbed my eyeliners, lipsticks, deodorant, bobby pins and hair ties then I zipped up the big bag and grabbed a hand bag which was fairly big but wouldn’t be hard to carry. I was about to go into the bathroom when I remembered who was outside my door, currently banging and yelling at me to open up.

“Dad, stop it! I know everything!” I cried, slamming my body against the door to stop him coming in. Tears welled in my eyes, threatening to spill over. “I know about mum, I know about Aunt Ingrideliah, I know about Aldrose!” I shouted and the banging stopped immediately. I looked through the gap under my door and saw my dad’s steel cap boots frozen in place.

“What did you say?” my dad’s voice was almost like a growl. I unlocked my door to find him looking at me; wait, correction, glaring at me.

“I know. I know why mum died, I know about her family, I know about Aldrose and I know where I’m going now.” I pushed past him and into the bathroom, the bag in my hand. There were two things I wanted out of here; my toothbrush and my shampoo and conditioner. I grabbed the items and threw them into my bag before turning to go back into my room. As I passed my father, who hadn’t moved, he gripped my arm and I almost cried out as his hand retraced the exact bruise of where he had grabbed me the other day. I was spun towards him and my face was so close to his, I could smell him, stale sweat and alcohol, and smoke. I struggled not to cough as he spoke, his breath filling my nostrils.

“You won’t leave,” he said menacingly. “You wouldn’t dare.” Fear began to slice through my heart but then I caught a glimpse of the charm bracelet on my wrist and I remembered the necklace around my neck, with the picture of my mother and family in there. Those gifts from my family gave me hope and courage. I looked squarely and evenly into my father’s eyes and spoke.

“Watch me.” his dark eyes went from anger to shock back to anger in the span of three seconds.

“If you leave, I will find you and kill you.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Yes I would,” James replied but then he stopped, realising that I hadn’t spoken. James’s face was quite priceless as he saw Ingrideliah behind me; coming from god knows where and looking at my father, making him scared. 

“You wouldn’t.” she repeated. “Now let go of the girl, James Krintah.”

“She’s my daughter,” he gripped my arm tighter and I felt tears of pain well in my eyes.

“She was more Phoebe’s daughter than yours, now get your hands off her, or so help me, James Krintah, I will wipe you from the face of the Earth so darn quickly you wouldn’t be able to even say, ‘oops’.” She made a pitiful face when she said ‘oops’ and I would have laughed under any other circumstance but James’s grip went tighter and I cried out this time.

“Let go of me!”I screamed and just like that he did. Shocked, I turned around, rubbing my arm, to see him locked in a glaring match with Ingrid.

I rushed into my room and grabbed a couple of books, threw them into my handbag and then grabbed the bigger bag, slung it over my shoulder, picked up my school bag as well and left my bedroom, hopefully not for the last time. I hurried along the hall and dumped my stuff on the floor by the front door, nearly falling flat on my face as I stopped. I searched the lounge quickly to see if I had forgotten anything from my party. I wanted to go into the attic, but looked like I wouldn’t have the chance today.

Or ever… I added silently but I didn’t want to think about that.

I looked out the front of my bedroom door and Dad and Ingrid were still locked in a glaring contest but their lips were moving, so they were probably threatening each other. I wanted to stop them, but something inside me, warned me not to. Instead, I went into the closet in the hallway and grabbed my mother’s old trench coat. It was black and made of velvet and was probably full of moth balls but I didn’t care. I hadn’t worn it before, my mother had given it to me, but it had been too big at the time and now it was only just big enough. With a small half smile, I slipped it on and heard something go clunk. I looked around and saw a small box on the floor. I picked it up and played with it. The box was wrapped in orange, yellow and pink, swirly paper. There was no tag but something inside of me, told me I should have gotten it long ago. I turned to the bottom of the box and put my finger under the tape that held the paper together.

“Lissa! We’re leaving now!” Ingrid’s voice slammed me out of my reverie, making me jump. I managed to catch the gift before I dropped it and shoved it back into the pocket of the coat where it had fallen out before.

“Coming!” I shut the door of the closet and walked towards my stuff but only my black handbag was left. I looked around and saw that Ingrid was outside putting my suitcase into the boot of a black hummer. I picked up my remaining bag and pulled out my phone, I went into my room and snapped a couple of photos, so I could remember, because I didn’t know how long I was going for, or if I would ever be back. I snapped a photo of the backyard too and even Amy’s room. The few places I would actually miss here. As I went to walk out the front door, I heard my father’s voice.

“Lisa?”

“Surely my ears deceive me,” I muttered, sounding like an old fashioned character in a mystery novel. Does my father actually sound…heartbroken? I wondered.

I retraced my steps down the hall and stood out the front of my father’s room. The room I had not been in, had not been allowed in since my mother had died when I was eight. The room had changed. New bed, new paint, no photos… everything I did not stand for, that my father did, was represented in that room. In the corner, two bassinets for the babies were placed, both with light blue blankets and pale yellow mattresses. I grimaced as I took all these in, my mind suddenly filled with images for Maria and my father crooning over the two tiny people in the bassinets in a few months time. I was glad I wouldn’t be here.

“Lisa, don’t go.” My father pleaded me. I saw him sitting on the edge of his bed, clutching his heart as if it was breaking. Part of me flooded with guilt and another part of me was glad that he finally felt some of the pain I had been feeling, and then there was another part of me…that didn’t feel anything for him, knowing he didn’t deserve any feeling, no guilt, or remorse, no revenge, nothing. The small part of me knew that he wasn’t worth it and that nothing could change what had happened.

“Why not?” I asked softly, my voice portraying no emotion. That seemed to be a talent I had developed since becoming neglected. James’s face almost contorted with pain but he tried to hide it, unsuccessfully. I tried not to let that get to me, tried to feel numb… too bad that numb was only fiction and that no matter how hard I tried, I would always feel.

“You belong here, Lissa!” he said quietly but his voice was still powerful. I almost flinched as he said my real name. Only mum had ever called me Lissa; James had called me Lisa and I always thought that my mother, just added the extra ‘s’. “You don’t belong there! With those….freaks and magic! You need to keep your head on the ground! Why do you think I cut all ties to them when Ph- when she died?”

Oh, so now mum’s a She? Not even worth her actual name? I bit my lip to stop myself screaming or reacting and took a deep breath.

“James,” I began, not calling him dad. “You have no idea what cutting out mum’s family has done to me. I don’t really want to go to Aldrose, not because of you, or…or Maria, or the babies. Amy is the only one in this household I actually care about. No, the actual reason I don’t want to go, is because of my best friends. The people who treated me like family and made me feel accepted when you neglected me. When you abused me, who did I turn to? Not the school councillors, my best friends. When I started struggling at school because I wanted my mum, who was there? Mikki, Kya, Jamie and Jasmine. Not you.

“They’re the reason I don’t want to go, because they make me feel like life is worth living! All you have done, is weave a web of lies to keep me from remembering mum. You’ve brought Maria into my life, to ‘help’ me, but all you’ve done is make my life worse!” my control of my emotionless façade slipped and I was shouting now. I watched as each word seemed to slice him and how each sentence brought back unwanted memories that I had tried to forget; when he had drowned me, when he locked me in the closet, left me at the shops after telling me I could walk home because I went to the toilet without telling him…

“When you married Maria, and she told me that she would be my mum, I hated her for trying to replace mum and I hated you even more because you brought her into my life. It’s all your fault, James. You ruined my life with your lies and now, I’ve found the truth and I want out.” I sounded like a really bad limerick in a song, but I didn’t care. I turned and paused at the door, just before I left. “Look on the bright side, now the babies will have their own room.”

Biting my lip, I shut his bedroom door and left the house I had called home for the entire nineteen years of my life. I turned to get into the backseat of the Hummer as I pulled out my phone and snapped one photo of the house that been both my sanctuary and my hell.

“Where are we going?” I asked as I did up my seat belt.

“Depends. I’m assuming you have some people that you want to say goodbye to?” Ingrid’s voice was kind as she looked at me. “You don’t need your seatbelt,” she told me but I shook my head.

“Safety first,” I muttered as my aunt nodded to the chauffeur. I felt the car roar to life and we pulled out of the drive way. I picked up my phone from my lap and sent a text to each member of my family, asking them to all meet me at Mikki’s house and then I sent the same text to Amy, wondering if she would come. Once the messages were sent, I leant back in the seat put my head against the dark-tinted window. Ingrideliah grabbed my hand and squeezed as a tear ran down my cheek.

 

*****

 

Amy was the first to arrive, surprisingly and Mikki, whilst curious and almost scared, let the step-sister in to her house. A quick look down the road only proved to her that Jasmine was in her mother’s small Toyota two houses away. With a small wave, Mikki left the door open and went inside to get drinks organised.

Lissa sat in the lounge with her hands in the pockets of her trench coat. The fingers on her left hand kept playing with the gift and she wanted to pull it out and open it, but she wouldn’t. Not yet. She would save it for that night, when she was in Aldrose, when she was alone and cut off from her family. Amy sat on the seat next to Lissa’s, nervously flipping her phone or playing with her hair, or biting her fingernails.

Jasmine waved good bye to her mother and stood in the doorway of her friends’ house. An icy feeling filled her stomach and she almost didn’t want to move. She wanted to turn and run and nearly every instinct was screaming at her to do so. It was that one instinct that stopped her. The one that told her how important Lissa was and how this news would be huge, and it was that small instinct with the tiny voice of reason that pushed her through the front door and onto the couch across from her cheerless friend. Jamie arrived a few minutes later and sat with his back against the wall next to the turtle tank across from the couch.

Kya walked through the door last and when she saw, Lissa curled up on her chair, hands around her knees, next to Amy and Mikki, Jamie on the floor and Jasmine on the couch looking at Lissa with a concerned face, the new arrival immediately leapt to Lissa.

“Hey,” Lissa said quietly; “take a seat.” She straightened up in her chair, sounding distressed and her eyes began to water. Frustrated, Lissa turned her head and furiously blinked them away. This was going to be harder than she thought.

“So, you know how you guys left my house, not even...wow, three hours ago?” she said as she looked up at the clock. Had it really only been that long? She wondered.

“What happened, Liss?” Jamie asked quietly.

“M-my aunt came over, my mum’s sister,” Lissa turned her gaze to her black painted fingernails that Mikki had gotten to the night before.

“I thought your mum never had any family, or that if she did, they didn’t want anything to do with you?” Kya burst out.

“Kya, shut up and let her tell the story!” Jasmine  snapped and Kya went quiet.

“Yes, she is my mum’s sister and both her and her parents, my grandparents, hadn’t been able to contact me until I turned nineteen. Turns out that James cut all ties with them after mum died because they didn’t like him. So anyway, she told me about her and her family and then said that I could go live with her; that I had to go live with her and my grandparents for a few years.” They all gasped except Jamie and Amy. Instead, Amy sat, curled up and silent, her mind reeling with this news plus the news that she had received only an hour before. Jamie, on the other hand, was wondering what Lissa could possibly be getting too. Why was she telling them this news? “My real name is Lissa, not Lisa and the Wilson Family want me to move and live with them.”

“This is great, Liss!” Mikki cried as she got up and hugged her unrelated sister. “You can get away from James, and start anew!”

“Yeah, why are you so upset?” Kya asked.

“Guys…. There is more to this ‘moving’ concept, I’m guessing…” Jasmine murmured, all doom and gloom like.

“Jasmine’s right. Um, the whole moving thing….It’s to another country. Not just to another neighbourhood, another country,” another world, Lissa added silently.

Inside, Amy screamed and Jasmine flinched.

“Jazie, what’s wrong?” Kya asked but Jasmine only got up and went over to Amy, hugging her tightly. Lissa disentangled herself from Mikki before moving closer to Amy. Jasmine let go, so that Lissa could hug her sister tightly and that’s exactly what happened. Amy began to cry into Lissa’s chest and Lissa just looked pleadingly at her friends.

“Take care of her, please.” It wasn’t a question, it was her request. All of her friends nodded and she turned back to the small blonde haired girl. “It’ll be okay, Amy. I promise.”

 

*****

As Amy cried into my chest, I began to hate my decision to leave. I already hated the thought of leaving my family, and now…now I was actually considering just staying here and not going to Aldrose. When Amy had calmed down enough, I got her to drink some lemonade and then she sat there and hiccupped silently but considerably a bit more calm now.

I got up to refill my own drink and Kya followed me.

“You’re leaving aren’t you? Like, for real. Not coming back, right?” she asked staring straight into my eyes. I put my glass in the sink and turned to her. Her green eyes were so depressed and I struggled not to blurt everything out to her, to all of the people I loved in the next room.

“Kai,” I began as I reached out hug her, but she cut me off and stepped back.

“No, do not Kai me, Lissa. Tell me the truth.” Her hands were on her hips and her lips set into a stubborn line. I hung my head and sighed.

“The truth is…I don’t know, Kya.” I wrapped my arms around my waist to try and hold myself together when I was falling apart inside. “I don’t know where I’m going, who I’m meeting…nothing. In all honesty, I don’t know anything. I don’t know if this is the right decision, or if I’m going to be strong enough to even walk out this door when Ingrid comes back.” I slumped against the pantry door and slid to the floor, my head in my hands. I didn’t open my eyes or look up for a while and when I had taken lots of deep breaths, and managed to gather my strength to open my eyes and remove my hands, I was looking into five pairs of eyes.

I flinched, preparing for the hurt, judgement and sadness that would fill the eyes and yet… nothing. I looked into each pair of eyes and found…nothing. Nothing except trust and love and I felt guilt wash over me. They trusted me and I was lying to them. I wasn’t telling them the truth about where I was going.

Family never kept secrets…but then...that meant that I had never known family. My mother and father kept the rest of my family hidden from me, I was never told about Aldrose until now, James cut all ties with the Wilson family and how many times had I lied to these guys? About the abuse I had faced, the nightmares I had, the sleepless nights, cutting myself, and now where I was going and what I was… How many lies were our relationships…our lives, based on?

I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t take their love knowing I was lying to them.

“I-I’m sorry,” I said and I got up and walked out the house, just like that. Running away wasn’t the answer, but it was an option that I had taken without realising. I don’t know what I was expecting to happen next but when I saw Ingrid get out of the Hummer and march me straight back inside, I was shocked to say the least.

“Hello. I am Ingrideliah, Lissa’s Aunt. It’s very nice to meet you all. You must be Jasmine, Kya, Mikki, Jamie and…Amy, right?” she asked and they each nodded in turn. Their eyes were wide as they took in Ingrid’s appearance. Well, I guess she was a quite a sight. She wore a peasant style light brown dress with a light grey cardigan and she wore black and white striped tights with black sandals. She looked like Alice in Wonderland, if Alice was rounder, with longer black hair with streaks of grey and had hot pink eyes.  So basically if she looked like a gypsy with pink eyes.

“So, shall we take a seat? I can answer some questions about where I’m from and where Lissa is going if you’d like?” my aunt put her arm around my waist and lead me to the couch where I curled up and was surrounded by my friends. The all seemed to not want to let go of me. Jamie sat at my feet, almost on my feet; Amy and Kya on my right side and Mikki and Jasmine to my left. I felt like the inside of a human sandwich.

Ingrideliah took the seat opposite us and crossed her legs like a child before smiling brightly. “So, who has the first question?” She asked and for a moment no one spoke.

“Where are you taking Lisa?” Jasmine asked, her voice was so calm considering she was gripping me so tightly I could feel my veins want to burst.

“To Alaska.” Ingrid said. Quick thinking I thought to myself, the not the least bit sarcastic. “We live in Alaska and Lissa is coming with us for a while, isn’t that right?” she asked and I nodded, griping Amy’s and Mikki’s hands tighter.

“We will be able to keep in contact with Lisa, right?” Kya asked and Ingrid nodded.

“We don’t have phone reception of any kind but you can send letters.” My mouth dropped open. No phone reception in Aldrose? What? And I was meant to survive how?

I quickly shut my mouth, realising how typically teenage I sounded. I was moving to another world, where I would have to learn…what? Magic? And I was worried about no phone reception. I took a deep breath and pushed all thoughts out of my mind and focused on Jamie’s voice now.

“So with the letters, how often are we allowed to send them?”

“Anytime you like. Whenever you send them, Lissa will get them within three days,” Ingrid said calmly.

We all jumped when Mikki jumped up and shouted, “Three days?”

I looked at her and she looked like she was about to cry. Then I looked at the others. They had tears in their eyes too. Amy’s face was red and blotchy as well as tearstained and marked with brown lines from her makeup and Jamie…Jamie was sitting on the floor just plain sad. No tears, but I didn’t really expect them from him. For as long as I’d known him, he’d always been strong and was never really upset. I had a sinking feeling my stomach as I realised just how little time I had actually spent getting to know him over the past four years.

 I hadn’t exactly won the best friend award…with any of them, I realised as I looked around. I shoved back more tears and curled up tighter, making myself smaller, hoping that maybe, if I closed my eyes, all this pain and hurt I was causing would all just disappear.

“Lissa…” Amy whispered in my ear and I almost jumped. As I looked at her, she hugged me tightly. “It’ll be okay. You’ll be okay, we’ll be okay and everything will turn out okay.”

 

*****

 

I stood on the front step of Mikki’s house, everyone I loved were huddled together as I took a photo with my phone which I would not need in a few hours. It made me a bit sad that I wouldn’t be able to use it but I was more concerned about the people in the photo.

I wanted to leave. Leave my dad, my step-mum, the babies… I needed to go but I couldn’t tell them, my ‘real’ family, where I was going. I wanted to leave but I wanted them with me.

This was the hardest decision I had ever had to make. My choices were the life I had known forever and had grown to hate; the one that had all been a lie, but held the most important people in my life? Or did I choose the life that I was meant to have?

I had to make the right decision. But what was right? Was it what was naturally right or what I believed to be right? What even was the difference?

I took a deep breath right before I spoke to my family. “Guys, I’ve thought about this and I’ve decided that going to Al-aska is going to be the turning point in my life. I’m going to make my life better so when I see you all next, everything will be different, but in a good way,” I told them as I hugged each of them good bye.

Now all the girls were sobbing almost uncontrollably, including me. Jamie was still silent and sad, and Mikki and Jasmine were hugging each other and crying. Amy and Kya waved at me before crying so much they had to go inside.

“Here. This is the address you can send any letters to and they will get to Lissa. I promise you.” Ingrideliah gave them all pieces of paper with what I could only assume was that fake Alaskan address. How would the letters actually get to me, I wondered. I’d have to ask Ingrid when we left.

“Mistress Ingrid? The plane leaves in an hour.” The chauffer said, as he got out of the hummer and held to door open for her.

“Of course. Lissa?” she gestured to me and I nodded. My aunt walked and climbed into the car and sat waiting for me to do my thing.

I clutched my phone in my hand and hugged them all for one last time. I didn’t like not knowing where I would be in twenty-four hours, where my family would be, what they would be doing, without me… I swallowed the lump in my throat but did nothing to stop the tears brimming over in my eyes. After I hugged Mikk and Jasmine, I turned to Jamie. I wasn’t sure if a hug would be qualified considering our not-so-close relationship. As I hesitated, he stepped forward and hugged me before pressing something into my hand.

“Happy late birthday,” he whispered and I pulled away to find a small parcel in my hand. Judging by the looks on everyone else’s faces, they hadn’t known about this. “Don’t open it now or you’ll be late. And stop crying or I’ll have to b***h slap you,” he joked and I laughed.

“Bye guys. I’ll write as soon as I can. I could try email too! I love you guys! Bye Amy, Bye Kya!” I shouted to the girls in the house as I climbed into the Hummer. The hummer started and I leant out the window to wave to my family, shouting good bye and blowing kisses before we sped down the road. Ingrid had an almost sly-like smile on her face that made me curious. “What?”

“Nothing, nothing,” She said quickly but I could tell something was up. I opened the parcel and found an envelope.

Typical Jamie, give me a box and inside it, put another box, I thought but I smiled. I tore open the envelope and a stack of photos fell onto my lap. I began looking through them. There were some school photos, then there were photos of us all hanging out at the shops, or the beach, or a sleepover, my birthday the day before and other birthdays of us the years before and then there were ones of us after school in our uniforms being idiots at the park. I stopped on that one, my favourite photo.

The five of us were at the park around the corner from my house after school late last year. It was summer, so we were in the sunshine on the hot play equipment acting like twelve year olds rather than the seventeen and eighteen year olds we were. We were all in our uniforms and posed as a stranger had taken the photo for us. I smiled as I saw Mikki licking Kya’s cheek and Jamie putting his two fingers up like ears behind their heads. To Mikki’s left, I stood at the end of the group, hugging a very reluctant Jasmine. Another tear ran down my cheek.

No, I told myself. Going to Aldrose was a chance for me to find my true self and meet my flesh and blood family. This would make my life better.

What if this decision only makes your life worse, though Lissa? A small voice in my head asked and for once, I had no answer. That’s what I thought. It said smugly.

“Shut up,” I muttered and I turned my head to stare at the trees that were blurring past.