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"Are you done packing yet, honey?" Mom asks me gently as she enters my room. She purses her lips in disapproval as she takes in the mess in my room; my clothes are scattered on my bed, my books are all over floor, half open bags sit on top of my bed and I am on top of those bags, reading a novel.
"Keller, you haven't even packed yet and the flight is scheduled for this afternoon"
"Well then, you can go without me" I say simply without looking up from my book. Mom sighs and picks her way carefully among my books, sitting beside me.
"Honey, you have to understand" mom says, looking at me with imploring eyes.
"Why do we even have to move? Last time i checked, you were happy with your job here, mum" I say, finally looking at her and putting my book down.
She looks at me sadly before pulling me close to her. I hate seeing mom like this. But what I hate most is being the one to make her look like that.
"Honey, its complicated but this new job is a offer I cant afford to refuse. Please be considerate, Keller. You know how much we need the money, after... after well, your dad."
I try to force a smile and sigh softly, nodding. "Of course, mom, I understand. I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."
Mom smiles and buries her face in my hair. We sit like that for a while until my door opens. My little sister, Precious enters. She eyes my room disapprovingly before shrugging her shoulders.
"Mom, I think Keller needs to pack her stuff now." She says with a glare at me. I roll my eyes, used to her nagging by now.
"Yeah, okay. Pack up, K. Our ride is soon arriving." Mom stands up, sighing heavily before exiting my room. Precious turns to me.
"She'll be fine." She says.
"I know. But the divorce has really shaken her up and her I was acting like some bratty adoloscent which I am but still..."
"Come on. I'll help you pack"
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"Ladies and gentlemen, your estimated travel time is seventeen hours and fifty five minutes. Please remain seated at all times and wear your seatbelts. The plane is about to take off." A computerized lady's voice vibrates through the confined space of our coach travel plane.
"You okay?" Mom asks from across the aisle as I fix my seatbelt. I nod and she smiles before turning to her phone.
"So, how do you think America will be?" My little sister asks and I shrug nonchalantly. Sensing I don't want to talk, she plugs on her earphones and wears her sleeping mask.
You must probably be wondering why I wouldn't want to travel to the almighty US, right? Well, where I am from, its mostly humans with very few supernatural. But where I am going, it's main population are vampires, witches, werewolves and all sorts of other supernatural. Not that I'm afraid, but I'd rather be with my fellow humans. Like imagine if all those creatures went rogue and started attacking humans... I have always been told I have a wild imagination but I can't help it.
If not for that stupid sperm donor of mine, I'd still be back home with my friends, probably hitting people's mangoes or something. Well girl, get your ass ready for US. There's nothing you can do now.
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"We have arrived, Keller." Mom's voice rouses me from my nap. My whole body feels stiff. I look around and see other passengers stretching, including my sister and brother.
"You okay?" I ask Precious who smiles and nods.
The security checks pass in a blur of metal detectors and commands from the security gaurds and 95 minutes later, we are in a cab heading to our new home mom had purchased online months ago. Everything seems strange and new; the extra cleanliness of the streets, the flashing billboards, white people everywhere... and the wide smile on mom's face. She hasn't smiled like this in forever and I feel my face breaking into a similar grin at her joy. I can give this a try. For mom, I can.
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"What do you think?" Mom asks me as we sit on top of the boxes in the house. We are just from touring it and I must say, it's not a bad house. Three bedrooms, one large living room, two bathrooms, a fairly large kitchen, a basement, a porch and a small back garden.
"It's better than what I expected, so it's nice." I say, smiling. The back door opens and my siblings run in, giggling
"Mom, I absolutely love the back garden." Precious, a gardening freak says. Mikel nods enthusiastically, grinning so wide his missing front row teeth show., making us laugh.
The doorbell rings and mom goes to get it. She opens the door to reveal a short plump woman in her mid thirties with short blonde hair, holding a plate of cookies and a large smile on her face.
"Hello." Mom says politely
"Hiiii, my name is Helena and I'm your neighbor next door. You just moved in so I wanted to welcome you and I made chocolate cookies. Freshly baked." She says in one breath. She seems nice, but you can never tell.
"Thanks. Please come in." Mom says and steps out of the doorway and the lady enters. She is wearing a plain white t shirt and plain brown skirt with black flats
"Charlie, come in love" she calls outside and a boy enters in after her. He is about my age with short blone hair, blue eyes and a shy smile on his lips. He is wearing a black shirt and blue jeans
"This is my son, Charlie Diaz. Charlie, say hello."
"Hi." Charlie says quietly
"Hi Charlie. My name is Mikel Granger, that's my elder sister, Precious Granger, my other elder sister, Keller Granger and that's my mother." My eight year old brother, Mikel says confidently and Charlie chuckles at his confidence.
" So miss..." Hellena starts but she doesn't know mom's first name and apparently doesn't want to be formal.
"Call me Fransesca or Franca." Mom says politely
"Franca, have you got schools for the kids?"
"Yes. Keller is joining Crescent Moon High and Mikel and Precious are joining Silver Moon Academy"
"Really, that's awesome. Those schools are great and Charlie and Rosie are at Crescent Moon High." A true smile graces my lips for the first time since the divorce.
"So I won't be alone, huh!" I say "By the way, who's Rosie?"
"My little sister. She's nice but crazy and chaotic"
"Franca, do you need help unpacking? I'm sure Charlie and I have a lot of time to spare. We could help, right, Char?" Helen says and Charlie nods.
So, after about six hours of hard work, the place feels like home, with all my favorite stuff there, especially my teddy bear, Matilda. As a thank you, mom invites Charlie and Helena for dinner, Macaroni and cheese that Charlie and Mikel buy from the grocery near by.
"See you guys soon. Thanks for the dinner, Franca. And you should all come over for lunch with me sometime. I've been told my meatballs are award-winning." Helena says as she and Charlie turn to head back home.
"See you all tomorrow... And Keller, do you have a ride?" He asks quietly.
"Nope"
"Well, I have one. How about I pick you up tomorrow?"
"Thanks." I say smiling. Oh thank gods I'll have someone I know
"Aren't they great here?" Mom asks once the door closes behind the Diazs. I smile and nod my head. I guess not all supernatural are bad. The Diazs are witches by the way.
"It's 11:54pm and you guys have school early tomorrow. Go get some rest. You must be dead tired." Mom tells us, checking the time on her phone.
She's right though. The different time zones are making me dizzy. I kiss her cheek and bid them goodnight before climbing the stairs to my room on the second floor. I push open the door and step into my new room. The walls are blue and white. On one side is my work table having my novels, school bag, laptop and phone. The bed has light blue sheets and the floor is covered by a fluffy pink rug. I quickly change into black PJs before holding my hair in a messy pony tail.
"Hmmmm, what to wear tomorrow... What to wear tomorrow..." I sing to myself while browsing through my wardrobe. I finally settle for a white tee and black jeans.
"With this, I'll just throw on my favorite jacket." I say happily before turning off the lights and getting into bed.
My last thought before I drift off is wondering what I'd be doing in Uganda now if I was still there???
