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Chapter I

Tick, tock, tick, tock. I'm sitting right by the clock hanging on the wall in the algebra classroom. Nobody is paying any attention to Mrs. Summers as she goes on and on about exponential numbers and the like. It's a warm September afternoon in 1965. Even though school started only a few weeks ago, everyone has already lost interest in algebra and is much more interested in their own thoughts. Half of the students are asleep or have their heads resting on their desks. My parents expect me to get a decent grade in algebra, so I half-heartedly scribble down a few notes every few minutes.

I've gone to West Creek Middle and High School for several years now. It's not very far away from where I live in Hopedale, Massachusetts. I've lived in Hopedale my whole life and I like it here. It's a small, simple town but the people are friendly and this is home to me. I live with my parents, Ray and Jan Watson. My parents are nice. They're not overly strict, but they do care about what I do to some extent. I think they're great most of the time. You know how it is, every teenage daughter has a few arguments with her parents from time to time. It would be unnatural not to have arguments with them!

I attend school with my best friend, Amanda White. She's a really awesome girl. I've known her since...hm...I think it was since I was ten. So it's been six whole years that she's stuck with me through the thick and thin. Unlike my parents though, Amanda's parents are pretty strict. She's only allowed to come over to my house once she's finished her homework and she's not allowed to watch TV. I think it would suck to have her parents, but Amanda stays in good spirits.

The real love of my life, however, is Joe Perry. The Perrys live right down the street from my house. My parents and Mr. and Mrs. Perry are really good friends. That's how I first met Joe. Our friendship began when we were really small. We grew up together and what started out as shy conversations turned into the excited chatter of two best friends.

Joe and I were best friends until two years ago when I was fourteen. A girl in my history class had been talking about how her first boyfriend had asked her out. Call me slow, but I had never really thought much about a boyfriend before. However, that girl put the idea of a boyfriend into my head and I approached Joe about it later that day. I think our conversation went something like this:

"Hey Joe," I said after school when the two of us were walking to the bus together. "Mary was talking about how Peter asked her out earlier. I guess he's her boyfriend now."

Joe, not always the most responsive, just nodded to what I said and replied, "Cool for her, I guess."

"Yeah. I guess it's a normal thing for girls my age to have boyfriends," I said, trying to give Joe the hint. I glanced over at Joe, but it was kind of hard to tell what he was thinking since his long dark bangs covered his eyes. Seeing that it was going to be up to me to tackle the subject, I asked, "Joe, will you be my boyfriend?"

Joe's pale cheeks flushed slightly and he finally shook his dark bangs out of his eyes as he looked up at me and replied, "Um, I never thought about it before. Sure, I guess. Do you want me to be?"

"Yes!" I replied enthusiastically, throwing my arms around poor Joe and practically suffocating him as I gave him a tight hug.

That was basically the beginning of my relationship with Joe. From there, things just got better really. Joe and I spent more time together and he grew from an awkward adolescent to a really good looking teenager. I think most of the girls at school drool over Joe, but thankfully, Joe is probably the most loyal guy at school. I'm really lucky to have him. Actually, Joe is mainly the reason why I'm in such a hurry for algebra class to end. The sooner it's over, the sooner I get to ride the bus back home with him.

Mrs. Summers drones on and on for another three minutes. I try and take another note, but when I look down at my piece of paper, I see I've doodled a heart on it instead. So much for taking notes. Thankfully, the bell dings right at that very moment and I practically fly out of my chair and shove my notebook paper into my bag.

"You're all dismissed. Make sure you study chapter five!" Mrs. Summers calls after the tenth graders as we all try to be the first one out of the room.

I'm third out of the classroom door. Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I wave at a group of girls who attend my history class. They wave back to me and smile in a friendly way. That's something I really love about this school; everyone here is always so friendly! It's a rare thing to meet a bully around here.

A bit on the hyper side, I run through the hallway and outside into the bright, sunny September afternoon. Wind softly brushes against my face and I'm in a really good mood today. Of course, if I can find Joe, I'll be in an even better mood. I search the sidewalk for him, but see no Joe. Hm, where could he be?

"Hey," a quiet voice says from behind me. "How are you?"

Whirling around, I see Joe giving me his cute, lopsided smile. Grinning at him, I stand on my toes and give him a light kiss on the cheek as I say, "Even better than earlier now that I've found you. How was your day? Everyone was falling asleep during Mrs. Summers' algebra lecture."

"Everyone always falls asleep during Mrs. Summers' lectures," Joe corrects me with a wry smile as the two of us walk up to the bus and tramp inside it. We find an empty booth to sit side by side in. Joe goes on, "I have a project I have to do for history, but it shouldn't be too difficult. What are you up to tonight?"

"Well, Amanda was going to come over, but then she had a church thing or something, I guess," I reply to Joe, rolling my eyes. I don't see why Amanda is so dedicated to all her church stuff. I've been agnostic for as long as I can remember. It's a simple view on religion and at least you don't have to do anything for it, you know? There are no weird church groups or anything I have to attend. Realizing I haven't fully answered Joe's question, I go on, "So really, I'm not doing anything tonight. You?"

"I should start the history project and after that I'm going to practice my guitar for a bit. You wanna come over and study together for a while? I'd like your opinion on something I learned on the guitar the other day," Joe tells me earnestly.

I think it's cute how Joe likes to hear my opinion on his guitar playing because I really don't know a damn about music. Don't get me wrong, I love music, but I just don't know anything about instruments. Regardless, I still love to listen to Joe play the guitar. Unfortunately, there's one problem with that tonight.

"I'd really like to, but I can't," I tell Joe with a frown. "My mom told me to come home straight after school. She said she had to tell me something important."

"Something important?" Joe echoes me, raising an eyebrow at me curiously. "Any idea what could be so important?"

I think for a moment, but my mind comes up blank. Shaking my head dubiously, I say, "No, I really have no idea. It's weird, you know? Mother usually tells me if something big is happening right away. I wonder what could be wrong. What's something big that she could want to tell me?"

"Um, I dunno," Joe shrugs. We both think for a moment before Joe suggests, "Maybe she's having another kid?"

"I guess that's a possibility. Mom told me once that she didn't want any more kids, but who knows?" I shrug as the bus squeaks to a sudden stop. I glance out the window and see our familiar bus stop. Taking Joe's hand, I pull him along with me as I get to my feet and say, "Oh look, here we are."

Joe and I make our way through the narrow isle in the bus and then step back outside onto the sidewalk. Joe goes right here and I go left to get to my house, so we pause and just talk for a moment. Frowning, I say worriedly, "I hope it's not something awful like that my dad has cancer or something."

"Aw, don't worry, Lace. I'm sure it's nothing like that," Joe says, squeezing my hand optimistically. "You can call me afterwards if you want, you know. I'm just a phone call away."

Joe manages to bring a smile back onto my face and I tug on his long dark hair affectionately as I say, "Thanks, Joe. You know, you sound like one of those TV commercials. You know, those ones that are always saying stuff like 'Help is just a phone call away!'"

Joe and I laugh and then Joe says, "Well, you should probably get home just in case there is something important going on. I'll talk to you soon, alright?"

"Okay," I say, reaching up and putting my arms around Joe's neck as I gently brush my lips against his. "See you soon. I love you."

"I love you too," Joe waves to me before turning and disappearing around the corner. I sigh happily and start towards my house. My life is pretty good right now. I have nice parents, a great friend, the perfect boyfriend, and I'm managing to do a pretty decent job in school. What more could a girl want? Little do I know that my perfect life is going to be shattered very soon.

I skip home since I'm in such a good mood and approach our small gray house only five minutes later. Without a second thought, I hurry to the doorway and toss open the door. Stepping inside the house, I throw my schoolbag to the side and call out, "I'm home!"

As I shut the heavy door behind me, I see mother and father both sitting in the living room on the couch. They have very stern expressions on their faces. I gulp. This can't be good. The two of them never wait for me to get home like this. Mother is usually busy in the kitchen and father is at work. Why isn't he at work right now?

"Hello Lacey," my mother greets me as I stand motionless in the doorway. "We've been waiting for you. Please sit down for a minute."

At this point, I'm not so sure I want to sit down! I'm getting a very bad feeling about this. Tugging on a strand of my long brown hair nervously, I timidly step into the living room and glance at my parents one more time. I try to read into their expressions, but find that it's about an impossible thing to do. Chewing my lip, I sit on a tattered burgundy chair that we've had for years and wait for mother to explain to me just what in the world is going on here.

"You're probably wondering what this is all about," mother starts out slowly. I lean forwards and wait impatiently. Of course I'm wondering what's going on! Can't she just get on with it already? Mother finally goes on after what seems like an eternity, "Your father has gotten a new job offer, haven't you, Ray?"

"Yes, I have," my father nods.

I frown and wait for more. If this is such a great job offer, than what's all the seriousness and solemn faces about? I wait for more to be said, but my parents appear to be waiting for me to speak. I give them blank looks and asks, "So, what exactly does this mean for me?"

My parents exchange another look, which I take to be a bad sign. They leave me in suspense for at least thirty more long seconds before my father finally admits, "My new job is going to be at an office in New York. We're going to have to move there, Lacey."

My blood automatically runs cold and my jaw drops open. I can think of just about a million reasons why we shouldn't move to New York. Unfortunately, my mother is already speaking and is saying, "I know this will be a big change for us, but it's going to be necessary. I'm sorry, honey, but I'm sure you'll like New York just as much as you like Massachusetts."