✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

Act I: 1. A Plan

"You think... I can meet a new Chloe? A new Kim? People who care?"

"Of course! You're still young, and friends will always–"

"And a new Spike?"

"Of–" This time she didn't need to interrupt. The single word was barely more than a grunt, and her father stopped. After a long pause, he tried again: "Look, you need to be objective. You'll have to move around a lot in your life. When you have a job of your own, or if you go to college out of town you'll have to move anyway. You and... Spike... you don't have all the same interests do you? You're not the same person. So sooner or later there'll be something dragging you apart. There's no sense hoping you can stay together forever, not at your age. You can't hold yourself back just because he... he..."

"You don't understand," she sobbed. "Maybe some day, but not right now. Not when we only just... I never get a chance to get to know people properly, we're always moving on. Well maybe you need to move, but why me? Go do your job, Dad. Go to this San Lorenzo place, sure. I can look after myself, I can..."

"Tess–" he interrupted, but she didn't stop. The emotion in the girl's voice now was clear, and she kept on talking over him.

"–cooking and cleaning for a week when you went on that ski trip with Mr Draper. You can leave me here until I finish my exams. I'll be moving away when I go to college anyway, right? So it's only a year and a bit. I'll finish off without having to get used to a new syllabus, and by then I'll know if Spike is going to get bored with me. Maybe we'll go different directions, maybe we'll go the same way. I might stay with you over the break, or go straight to college, and I'll already have practice looking after myself so you don't need to worry. Why do you have to treat me like a little kid? I can finish school where I want to, I don't need you to be here."

Now she was glaring at him, but the tears were still running down her face, which probably softened the defiant image she wanted to create.

"Tess, that's a brave thing to say, but–"

"But you still think I'm a baby who needs you to hold my hand?"

"I think you're growing into a strong young woman, but you still need someone to pay the mortgage, and ensure the bills are paid. I did talk about it with your mother, if your plan could be possible. We thought hard, but... San Lorenzo is a nice country, but immigration there is mostly on retirement plans. The Marble Quarter is practically a golden parachute drop zone, so moving there is expensive. EGR helps us out, of course. But we don't have enough money to keep the lights on here as well."

"I..." Tess mumbled, her rage running out of steam. She hadn't even thought about that, and she hadn't stopped to listen. She hated the situation, hated that she had to leave behind her school, that she would need to start over rather than using the projects she'd half completed, that she would need to make new friends again, that she would need to find a new way to get a whole new set of bullies off her back. And perhaps most of all, a problem that she was only just grown up enough to deal with, she would have to say goodbye to her almost-maybe-boyfriend. She didn't think she could cope with that. But as much as she hated knowing all that, she couldn't hate her father.

"You really talked about..."

"We did. You said could you stay here, and I wanted to know if there was any way. But the boiler here is old and expensive to run, the pipes will need replacing in six months, we'd need to find new insurance for you if we're out of the country. It's just more expensive to live by yourself. We even looked at other options. If you got one of those little apartments in the block opposite your school, perhaps we could have afforded that, got one of your teachers to check in occasionally in case you need help. But..."

"But?" Tess raised an eyebrow, seeing the unexpected ray of hope vanishing again.

"But it's illegal. Buying or renting a house, you have to make a declaration for utility taxes. Who lives there, which tax bands they're in, and all that jazz. The law says the tax certification needs to be signed every year by an adult with a financial stake in the upkeep of the property. And whoever signs it can't be absent for more than ten weeks, three times per tax year."

"You could–" Tess cut herself short. She wasn't going to suggest he lie; he was important enough that cheating his taxes could create a scandal. "How do they do holiday homes? Or like timeshares?"

"There's separate legislation. That's actually a good thought, but I suspect it wouldn't work for a whole year. You could only register with the doctors as a temporary resident, like you're on holiday here, so anything non-emergency they'd tell you to see our doctor when you got 'home'. And I'm not sure, but I think you wouldn't be eligible for the school, either. They need a permanent address within the district for your parent or guardian."

"Then I... I have to go?"

"I'm afraid so. I'm sorry, I don't want to do this to you again. But I don't see any other option. I'll keep on thinking about it, if there's any way we can let you stay. If you really don't want to come with us, I'll try to find a way. But you have to understand that you can't always get what you want."

He held her tightly then, and Tess wept on his shoulder, just like she was still a little kid. She wanted more than anything to stay here, but it seemed the whole world had turned against her. She just had to keep on hoping that something else would come up.