nothing stays the same

one

hi. i'm lucy martinez. i'm fifteen years old and i'm a sophomore at cloverman high school. i'll tell you a little bit about myself. when i was little, i had an easy, yet hard life. my dad was in the army, so we had to move. a lot. when he got back from vietnam, he and my mom got into a really bad argument. that argument resulted in my dad leaving the house. he divorced my mom and voluntarily gave full custody of me to my mom. he didn't even try to fight for me. he just, let me go. the last thing he said to my mom before he left the house was this:
"remember marie? from the army 'get together' dinner? i've been cheating on you with her for the past seven months. and she's pregnant."
he walked out and slammed the door. ever since he left, everything's been breaking apart. but here we are, ten years later, and everything seems to be falling back into place. after my dad left, we lost the house, so we had to move into my grandparents' house. last year, my mom got a new job, a well-paying job. over the past year, she's made a good amount of money. she's looking at houses and furniture, going to open houses next week, she's never been happier. we already started packing our stuff to move out of my grandparents' house. my entire room is full of boxes, so i've had to sleep on the couch. it's okay, it's just kinda hard to sleep on. it's been stressful lately, but in the end, i know it'll be okay.

*ten years earlier*
"daddy!"
i ran up to him as he walked toward us in the airport. i hugged him like never before and was crying more than ever.
"how's my little princess been?"
between sobs, all i could say was
"i missed you."
he kissed my cheek and carried me toward my mom.
when we got home, my dad didn't really acknowledge my mom ot me, he just stayed on his phone. when my mom decided to confront him about it, he told her that it was a friend from the base. a little while later, he got into the shower, making the foolish mistake of leaving his phone on the nightstand. my mom picked up his phone, shocking herself with the fact that she remembered his password.
"ten new messages: baby♡"
my mom was confused because she hadn't texted him at all. she opened the chat, only to see flirting and plans of divorce so they could be together, putting my mom into tears. when he got out of the shower, my mom confronted him, yet again. he admitted to everything, as if nothing was happening. he packed his things without a care in the world, and started walking toward the door. he turned back when he got to the door.
"i'm not on leave, i'm discharged from the army. all because of this affair. maria, from the 'get-together dinner', it's her. she's pregnant." he walked out the door, leaving the impression to me that he was cold hearted. after he left, he wasn't to be seen by my mother or me, for a long, long, time.