Wolf Creek Woods

I stare completely dumbfounded at my mother, who is grinning like a total idiot, thinking she's just told me the best news ever.

"We're what?!" I exclaim, my eyes bugging out of my head.

"We're moving. To Forks, Washington, to be exact." My mother replies cheerfully, her ginormous smile still intact. "I'm getting transferred to the police department there, so we're moving there. Isn't that great?"

I stand there with my mouth hanging open and my eyes protruding out of my face, probably looking like a complete moron.

"No! It is not 'great'!" I shout, using finger quotations on the word great. "Why would I think it's great to move?! I'm in my Junior year of high school! Moving now would mean I'd have to start in the middle of the semester at a new school and that's not something I want to do. Plus, all my friends are here."

"You can make new friends." She assures me, her stupid grin still in place.

"I don't want to make new friends! I've known my friends since freaking Kindergarten. And now you want me to just up and leave them?!"

"Honey, I know this is really sudden, but-"

"This is about Dad. Isn't it?"

For the first time today, her smile falls her eyes growing dark. For a brief second, I almost feel bad for bringing it up. Almost.

"No, Morgan. This is not about what happened to your father." She replies strongly, but her eyes are still dark, proving that she's lying.

"It is. You can't stand the idea I staying in the city where he died." I retort, pushing for the truth.

"Enough, Morgan." She scolds.

"No. You think that you're the only one who's hurting. That you're the only one having a hard time dealing with it."

"Morgan, I said that's enough."

I ignore her and continue. "Well, guess what! You're not the only one hurting! Dad's dead!! And running away doesn't change that! It never will!"

"Morgan!"

I don't even stick around to hear the rest. I turn around and bolt up the stairs, tears burning in the back of my throat. I open my bedroom door and race inside, slamming it behind me. I can still hear my mother yelling at me to come back down, but I ignore her. I flop onto my bed and curl up into a tiny ball, still holding back my tears. I look over at my nightstand and see a picture of me and Dad. It was taken when he was first teaching me how to swim. I pick up the picture, staring into my Dad's deep blue eyes.

"Daddy, why'd you leave us? You always knew how to handle everything. But, now you're gone. All Mom and I ever do now is fight. And now Mom wants to leave. But, I don't want to leave you. I don't want to leave, Daddy."

I close my eyes, hugging the picture frame to my chest as the tears start to fall. A choked sob escapes me as more and more tears fall, leaving me a blubbering mess.