The Neighbor Who Changed Everything (fralachi)

Chapter 1

I zipped my suitcase shut with a sigh and sat down on the edge of my bed.

The room was almost empty now.

The fairy lights I'd begged my dad to put up when I was twelve had already been taken down. The posters that once covered my walls had left faint outlines behind, making the room feel unfamiliar.

It didn't even look like mine anymore.

I glanced out the window.

The streets of London were exactly the same as they had always been. A light rain had started to fall, coating the sidewalks in a shimmer that reflected the streetlights. The little café across the road was beginning to fill with people escaping the weather.

I'd walked those streets my whole life.

Now I was leaving them behind.

Leaving my friends.

My school.

My home.

And worst of all...

My dad.

Just because my parents couldn't stay together.

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

How could two people who once loved each other so much suddenly decide they couldn't anymore?

I used to believe love lasted forever.

Now...

I wasn't sure it even existed.

A knock interrupted my thoughts.

"Come in."

The door slowly opened.

My dad.

He leaned against the doorway with a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"So..." he said quietly. "All packed?"

I looked around the room.

"I guess."

He stepped inside and sat beside me on the bed.

For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.

The silence hurt more than any words ever could.

"You know," he finally said, "when you were little, you used to hide under this bed whenever you got upset."

I laughed softly through my tears.

"I remember."

"I'd spend half an hour looking for you before you'd start giggling."

"I wasn't very good at hiding."

"No." He smiled. "You really weren't."

The smile faded just as quickly.

"I'm going to miss you, Freya."

That was all it took.

The tears I'd been holding back all morning spilled down my cheeks.

"I'm going to miss you too."

He pulled me into a hug.

It was the kind of hug that made you wish time would stop.

"I don't want to go," I whispered.

"I know."

"I don't want to leave you here."

"I know, Sweet Pea."

His voice cracked.

"But sometimes life doesn't go the way we planned."