When Sam had become old enough, I'd say around eight grade or freshman year of high school, he would request to move out of his mom's house to move in with his dad. This would be the ultimate way to escape his old life, to leave everything behind. The depressing dreariness of constant reminders like a repeated stab. His father was the one who tried to keep Sam out of the court stuff when it was all going on. He would try his best to protect his son's ears from his frantic mother who was dedicating their lives to staying in this hell.
Thomas did whatever he could to keep Sam's mind off everything when they still lived together. So when Sam got old enough, he requested to move in with his dad. Even with the stuff from court being through with, he couldn't be there anymore. He loved his mother, but she was still living in the life that he buried with his brother. And in his hometown, people knew his name, his background, and everything that happened. He couldn't go out in public without the whispers and gossip following him, eyeing him under a microscope. Moving was in his opinion, the only option.
Daphne is saddened to hear this, but ultimately lets him go, knowing it's in his best interest. Sam would of course visit her for the holidays and random weekends despite how hard he found it to be. The holidays would've been the worst part.
Sam opts to wearing long sleeves only to keep his arms covered and grew his hair out a bit. He's much older now and the news of the crash has calmed way down, especially now that he is in a new state with new people.
In this whole story, its him trying - trying to find balance in life without Eric, trying to live it like his twin never existed and the events of the island never happened. He moved schools and states in hopes of no one recognizing him from the news. In this new school and town, he feels free. Refreshed. It's so much easier to act like it all never happened in a brand new setting.
So he goes into high school like normal. He takes classes, joins clubs, keeps up with grades, makes friends, and is finally able to smile. For the first time, he feels somewhat at peace with himself. Eric is never brought up in conversation. Meeting new people, Sam never tells anyone that he ever had a brother. It's all as if it never happened. Sam would never share the date of his birthday with people as its something he no longer acknowledges or celebrates for obvious reasons.
I planned a scene where during his freshman year of high school, He would be sitting down in his father's home on his birthday - no celebration, presents or any special occasion on which he insisted on to his father. All he allowed was his mother to wish him happy birthday over the phone. When he's sitting on the couch by a window during the last hour of his birthday as midnight approaches closer, Sam would say "Happy Birthday, Eric," right before the clock struck midnight.
You know I love pulling heartstrings.
With a new group of friends, and a new life, Sam can have a somewhat sense of normalcy, but at least he's feeling happier. I didn't plan the individual names of the people in his friend group, but I knew they'd play a pretty big part. The only character I had thought of was a girl named Summer. I don't think I intended in thinking of her as Summer nor was I even trying to think of names. I just thought one day while planning the concept that her name would be Summer.
The actress of Sydney Park is sort of who I imagined when I was planning this back then.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
