FicWad

Thanks again for the last comments! You'll figure out what Lisa tells her mom in this chapter. :) Please rate and review!


"Well, when I realized I was late, I ran all the way home," I told my mom, trying not to blink, look away from her, or cringe. Those were the three obvious signs of lying. Then I added, "I got the cut on my knee when I tripped running down the stairs." I figured I could tell the truth about that.

"What were you doing running in Mandy's house?" my mom frowned, scrutinizing me even closer as she stepped forward to take an even closer look at my knee. Gulping, I tried to come up with a quick excuse. When my brain failed, I muttered, "Uh...I dunno. I was in a hurry or something I guess."

Suddenly, mom's fierce expression disappeared and was replaced by one that was mixed with sadness and concern. She put a hand on my shoulder and looked deep into my eyes with a knowing look, "Lisa, I know you weren't at Mandy's house all last night. I ran into Mandy and her mom shopping this morning while I was stopping to get some duct tape."

My heart nearly stopped and my eyes bugged out. So my mom knew I hadn't been at Mandy's! What was I suppose to do now? Tell another lie? I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out. I just stood in front of my mom opening and closing my mouth like a completely idiot that is lost for words.

Mom closed her eyes for a second and then continued on, "You know that I trust you to make good decisions, Lisa. I've given you a lot of freedom. Something tells me that whatever you did last night is none of my business, so I won't ask you about it." I exhaled loudly with relief and leaned against the door. I was going to get away with all this after all!

"But," my mom cut off my thoughts with a sharp look, "that doesn't mean that I don't care about what you do. I want you to be in charge of yourself and learn how to make good choices. I just hope that whatever you did last night isn't going to influence you too much in the future. Also, I don't really appreciate you lying to me about going to Mandy's. You knew all along you weren't going to stay at Mandy's overnight, didn't you?"

Gulping, I looked at my feet and nodded ever so slightly. Mom nodded at my confirmation and then said briskly, "Anyways, enough of this lecture. Why don't you go and get all your stuff packed up? I've put some boxes in your room for you to put your stuff in. Remember that we can't take any furniture, just small stuff."

"Okay," I answered, grabbing my bags from the floor and running up the stairs two at a time. I wanted to get away from my mom as soon as possible before she decided to punish me for lying and being late. As soon as I was in my bedroom, I flopped down on my back on my bed and stared at my familiar room.

Several thoughts swirled in my head as I lay in bed and took a few deep breaths. First of all, my mom had to have known that I had been at Joe's last night. Both of us knew that Joe was my only other friend besides for Mandy. And secondly, I had a really bad feeling that somehow my mom knew I had given my virginity up to Joe last night. But if she did know, she hadn't told me and it didn't seem like she planned to talk to me about it. That was all for the best...right?

~ ~ ~ ~

Beep, beep, beep! My annoying alarm clock rang incessantly from my nightstand, telling me to get up. I sleepily rolled over in bed and flicked the off button on it. Yawning, my head fell back against the pillow and I decided to go back to sleep. Having my alarm set for six am must've been a mistake. After all, it was just a normal day. Why would I want to get up so early?

Just as I felt myself drifting off back to sleep, I remembered that it certainly was not a normal day at all! Actually, it was far from it. It was probably the least normal day in my life because today was our moving day! Now wide awake, I jumped out of bed and ran out of my room and to the bathroom to do my hair and makeup. I had slept in my clothes to save time since we had to leave in a half hour.

I smeared on some light lip gloss and shimmery eyeshadow before rushing downstairs to see my parents already fully dressed and ready to go by the doorway. Suddenly, I froze right where I was standing and looked all around me. Everything had started to swirl and blur together and my legs felt like jelly underneath me.

"Uh, Lisa?" my mom called from the doorway. "Are you okay?" I closed my eyes for second until the world had stopped spinning. Then I reopened them and took a tentative step forward. Surprisingly enough, I felt much better now. It was as if symptoms had come and gone in a flash.

Not quick sure what exactly had just occurred, I shrugged and joined my parents by the doorway, "I'm fine. I'm not quite sure what came over me exactly. Just dizzy I guess." My dad nodded understandingly and pushed the door open. My mom seemed more concerned though. She was biting her lip as she followed my dad out the door.

I quickly shot one last look all around the living room before following my parents outside. This was the last time I would ever stand inside this living room again. As a matter of fact, it was the last time I would ever see this house again. If it hadn't been so early, I would've been crying. But in the morning, my body reacted slowly and the tears just wouldn't come.

I shuffled into the back of our large van as my dad revved up the engine and slapped my mom on the back, saying, "New York, here we come! Let's start a brand new life here and make it better than the last!" I frowned at my dad's words. My new life at New York was so not going to be better than my live here in Vermont.

"Dad, nothing is as good as Vermont," I corrected him irritably as we backed out of the driveway. "You know that as well as I do, so there's no need to make excuses. I mean, I'm leaving all my friends and everything I love back here. How am I suppose to have a better life in New York when I'm doing that, hm?"

I saw my dad's jaw stiffen as I peered at him from the front mirror of our car. My mom rested a hand on his shoulder and whispered in a voice just loud enough for me to hear, "Don't mind Lisa, honey. She's just really upset. She'll get over it eventually though. Besides, she'll probably make new friends her first day at school."

I didn't even bother replying to that. I didn't want to have to explain that I already had the best friends there were and that I wasn't in need of more. Glancing out the window at our neighborhood for the very last time, I reminded my dad, "Remember that we're gonna stop at Joe's house before we hit the highway."

My dad groaned and slammed on his brakes as he make a hard left turn, "Are you sure you need to stop at Joe's? He's just a boy, Lisa. You're going to have forgotten about him as soon as you meet some other good looking guy from New York."

"He's not 'just a boy'! He's my soul mate." I retorted indignantly to my dad as we rounded the corner and pulled into the Perry's driveway. As my came parked the car, he rolled his eyes at me and said, "Lisa, you can't say you know who your soul mate is at such a young age. You're just fourteen for god's sake! Besides, I haven't even seen you and Joe kiss or anything. Not like I'm saying you should, I'm just saying that you have a lot more to experience with a guy than you have before you go deciding whether of not he's your soul mate or whatever."

"Um, excuse me?" I shot back. "Joe and I have kissed more times than I can even count! Just because I'm fourteen doesn't mean anything. Besides, I've experienced everything with Joe that I can-"

I stopped my sentence as I saw my dad exchange a nervous look with my mom. I hastily covered up my error by pulling the car door open and sliding out, "Uh, I'm gonna go say goodbye to Joe." Without a backwards glance, I jogged up the driveway and knocked loudly on the Perry's front door, willing Joe to open the door.

Ironically, Mrs. Perry opened the door. She smiled down at me and then looked towards our van that was parked in the middle of the driveway. As soon as she saw the van, her smile faded and she exclaimed, "Oh my god, I forgot your family was leaving today! I can't believe it slipped my mind."

Mrs. Perry quickly hurried down the driveway towards the van to say goodbye to my parents, calling over her shoulder, "Oh, Joe's in his room if you want to talk to him, Lisa dear." I nodded and eagerly stepped inside the doorway, shoved off my shoes, and quickly climbed the stairs up to Joe's room.

Without knocking, I burst through his door and into his bedroom. Joe, who had been sitting on the corner of the bed looking out of the window, turned around to look at me. A sad smile curved his lips as he ran his gaze over me. For the first time today, I felt like crying. Knowing that this was the last time I'd see Joe for a very long time was almost too much for me to comprehend. My lip trembled spontaneously as I stared at Joe, taking in his dark brown gaze, beautiful brunette locks of hair, his smooth ivory skin, and his gorgeous body.

"Aw, don't cry," Joe said, patting the spot next to him on the bed. "Come sit by me. Please?" I nodded without saying anything. Once had I crossed the room and sat on the bed, Joe took me in his arms and pulled my head against his chest. My vision was starting to blur from unshed tears, but I had to force them back. I had to be strong for both of us. Suddenly, I knew there was something I had to say. It wasn't something I wanted to say, but it had to be said for Joe's own good. It was the selfless thing to do. But the truth was, did I have the strength to say what needed to be said?