When I'm Gone

Chapter 10

The next day, as I'm ready to leave the house to see how the school drama unfolds, I notice that the house is unnaturally quiet.

Uh oh.

Where's Victoria?

If something bad happened to her, I'm telling you, I would never forgive myself for it. I run up the stairs to Victoria's room, only to find it empty. Thankfully, the bed looks slept in, and all her things are still here. However, there is no sign of her anywhere. Suddenly, I notice that there is something different about the room.

It's full of paintings. New paintings. And not just the usual dark and dreary paintings. Victoria has taken up an entirely new style of paintings.

Sunrises and sunsets. The most beautiful ones beyond imagination.

The walls have paintings pinned up all over them. Papers filled with her drafts are scattered across the floor. Suddenly, I hear the door open. I run downstairs, only to see Victoria on the phone, carrying art supplies in one hand and holding her phone in the other.

"Yes, I'm home now, ready for a few more hours of painting. Of course, I'll remember that. I can go in... how long? Two weeks? Three? It's not like I have much to pack around here anyway. It's about time I let go of the memories here, don't you think?" she rambles into the phone.

Wait, what?

She's... moving out?

But then I won't have anywhere to stay! And all my stuff is here! Why is she moving, anyway? Does this have something to do with her new style of art? And she sure does look a lot happier than she was the last time I saw her.

She hangs up the phone call, and then dials another number and starts talking again.

"Hello? Yes, it's me, Vic. Yeah, I'm doing fine. Why do people keep asking me if I'm okay? Anyway, I'm finally moving out. It's a long story. D'you think you can help me with the moving process? And the selling of my house, and all those nitty-gritty details? You know I'm terrible at these. I'll be packed by the end of this week. I'm moving in two to three weeks. Where to? I'm moving in with a friend of mine, above her art gallery. It's a nice change from this damn house. I'll text you more details later. Bye."

Art gallery? Victoria's paintings are... being displayed? Well, now it all makes sense. Now, I can only hope that Victoria being surrounded by what she loves most, otherwise known as art, will help her cheer up and give her a fresh start in life.

I look at the time. Oh crap, I'm gonna be late for school. Wait, I can't be late. I'm not even a student. What am I even talking about anyway? Guess I need to hurry.

***

When I get to school, I see that Alisa has already ditched Natalie and Wendy. Not surprising, really. Everyone in the school either a) is jealous of her, or b) wants to be her, and most guys c) want to fuck her, and a minority of the people here d) hate her.

Alisa's now standing at her locker along with some other cool-kid-wannabes, and a bunch of guys who want in her expensive designer skinny ripped jeans. It's easy for her to make friends in this school, but it's not long before her new friends start to realise what a bitch she is. However, most of those friends still stick with her because they think being friends with her makes them 'cool'. Which is pretty stupid, once you think about it. I mean, you're friends with people because you enjoy their company and they're always there for you. Not because you want to earn popularity points, or because you have some evil scheme going on in your head. Unfortunately, most people at this school don't know what true friendship is, which is one of the reasons why I really hate this school.