Aberrant

Chapter 6 - Heartbreak

The night of Maggie's party arrived unusually quickly, it must be from all the fun I've had this week; Ash has been civil towards Cree, well as civil as Ash can be. I still catch the occasional glare or not-so-nice comments under his breath, but other than that everything has been perfect. However, the nights have seemed to become longer, I can't stop thinking about how I'm going to be leaving everything behind. I shouldn't have dove at the chance I was given, I should have allowed myself to think about it, allowed myself to give everyone the proper goodbyes they needed.

Excitement had always ruined everything I did, when I'm excited about something I'll react without a second thought, that usually ended up with me not being able to do what I was excited about in the first place. So when I acted on the excitement of discovering who I am, I never took into consideration what I was leaving behind. I had jumped at the chance to move to an isolated community that would probably never allow me to see my family or friends again and on Sunday night I'll be gone forever; I kind of wonder what will happen, will my family cry? Will my friends miss me beyond belief? Will they assume that the worse has happened?

For the past few nights I've been staring at a blank sheet of paper, trying to come up with something, anything, to say to my family. I need to explain to them that it's not their fault for my disappearance, I need to explain how much they mean to me and how they could never be replaced. Joel, my only sibling, he was the one that used to catch me crying when I realised how different I was to everyone else, he never asked questions; he'd just sit with me, watch Disney movies with me and steal food from downstairs for me.

My dad is the funniest person alive, he used to make me laugh even in the worst of times, he's the cook of the house and makes all the right food when I need it. He used to always be the one to pick me up when I fell over, He'd patch me up, let me stay up later, and buy me my favourite ice cream. I always wanted to be just like him, he's the kindest man, he respected and accepted everyone without a second thought. Thinking about this made me want to change my mind so badly, but one thing my dad had said was, "Take all the chances you can because it might be what helps you discover happiness."

My dad had only said that once, but it has stuck in my mind since then. It was back when I was just twelve, there had been a presentation in school that had given us the chance to join a maths program for a year, but there was only one place from each school, which meant that I would be up against year elevens. I knew I was advanced in maths, but it definitely knocked my confidence knowing that people with more experience than me were participating. When I explained the problem to my dad he said exactly that, so I took the chance, and in the end I was placed on the program and was even given the chance to enter for my maths GCSE's early - which I happily declined. I mean who wants to be the only twelve year old doing college work?

Now I'm waiting in the living room for Ash to pick me up, I'm slightly more dressed up than usual, just a skater skirt and dark, red jumper. I'm wearing Converse because if I wore heels (not that I would want to for a party like this) Ash wouldn't be too fond of me tonight; when your boyfriend is only an inch taller than you, it is frustrating when the smallest heel makes you taller than them. At 5'8 I consider myself pretty tall, but Ash has always said that my height was the only disadvantage to dating me. Which is why all of my outfits consist of no-heeled shoes, with preferably thin soles. I hate to embarrass Ash, even if it is over stupid things, but I do put him in his place when he needs it.

A horn blares outside and I jump from the sofa in a hurry, I grab my backpack and call out a 'bye' to my dad and Joel - my mum isn't home as usual - before slamming the door closed.

Before I'm even up the small path a voice is calling out, "Hey, Asha!" My dad's voice is slightly angered, "Don't leave without giving me a kiss goodbye." He's in his tattered jeans and old Shrek T-shirt from Blackpool (don't ask).