"Ember, hurry up! You have ten minutes!" My mom yelled from downstairs. I ran around my room gathering all of my last minute things; making sure that I remembered my laptop, phone, and most importantly my headphones. Being the terrible packer that I am, I found that I had packed my whole closet to bring to school with me. Who knew what I was going to need? I didn't even know where I was going, just that it was my dad's school. Double checking that I had everything, I trudged out the front door.
Looking up to see where the rest of my boxes were, my jaw dropped. There, waiting in the driveway of our rundown home, was a huge stretch limo.
"Whoa," I muttered begrudgingly under my breath.
"Yeah, it sure is nice," my mom said, goggling at the ostentatious display of wealth. Here my dad was, obviously living a life of luxury, while we were struggling to get by. My growing disgust for my so-called dad had reached an alltime high. While I continued to stare at the limo, a chauffeur popped out of nowhere and started to move my bags from my side into the massive vehicle. I saw the poor man wince as he lifted my bags.
"What did you put in those bags? Rocks?" My mom asked as she watched him struggle more and more with each bag.
I shrugged, "Just my whole wardrobe."
"Maybe you should help the poor man out," Mom sighed. I nodded in agreement and started to drag my last bag over. If the chauffeur had been wincing at moving the rest of the bags, I was scared to see what would happen if he had lifted this one.
"Thank you Madame ," he said with a slight british accent, gratitude evident on his face.
"No problem, I certainly didn't make this easy for you. And it is my stuff after all, the least I could do is help, even if I don't want to be going," I responded.
"It's a beautiful school. I am sure you will love it once you settle in," he said with a smile as he turned back to the limo to make sure everything was all set.
"Is that a limo? Are they in the right part of town?" I heard Kai ask my mom in astonishment. She had a habit of showing up out of nowhere. It was something that I was certainly going to miss.
"Apparently this is my dad's way of trying to win me over, sending a limo to collect me," I cringed as I joined them.
"Miss? Are you ready, all of your belongings have been loaded up," the chauffeur asked as he made his way over to us.
"But I just got here!" Kai yelled out, stomping her foot on the ground like a three year old. Turning to my mom I saw tears already streaming down her face.
"Mom?" I asked uncertainly. She never cried, she was always the strong one. Seeing her so distraught broke my heart.
"It's ok hun, it's just hard to see you go," she cried.
"That's it! I can't let you go! Nope. No way. Not happening! You're staying forever and that's final!" Kai exclaimed. I enveloped them both in a huge hug, at which point all three of us were bawling. I'm sure our outburst made the chauffeur quite uncomfortable.
"I don't really have to leave you know," I whispered in defeat, knowing she wouldn't cave.
"Yes, you really do need to go. I want a better life for you, and I believe that this will give you that chance. Plus, you need a paternal figure in your life. It's been too long since you've seen your father," she said blankly, trying to block all emotion from her voice.
"Some father," I muttered quiet enough that my mom wouldn't hear... or so I thought.
"It's not his fault, he has an important job Ember. Things... things just didn't work out how we had wished. Your name may be Ember, but don't let your fiery temper get the best of you. I'm sure things will be trying at times, and you're going to be out of your element, but I know you can do this. Please do your best for me," she pleaded.
