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Chapter One: Moving
Rolling her eyes as her younger brother and sister ran through the house screaming like heathens, Kate lifted her box of personal belongings from the small glass coffee table in the center of the room and carried it almost effortlessly to the room she had chosen to be her own.
It was the smallest room in the house, she knew, but it had a window and a bathroom, two essentials as far as Kate was concerned, although she would probably end up having to share the bathroom anyway.
One of six boxes, this rather large one she held in her hands was the box that held all of her most beloved possessions; her boom box, portable CD player, CD case, notebooks and pencils, and her small DVD collection that consisted of about twenty movies.
As she had presumed, due to her parents’ lack of organization, Kate faced an inevitable uncertainty of when or if her computer would be set up this week and very suddenly, she was glad that she had packed her notebooks and pencils separately.
As of late, she had been quite inspired with the urge to write, which could surely be attributed to their recent change of scenery.
Though not devastated about the move, Kate couldn’t say she was thrilled. She had just recently settled into the whole high school scene, but what had she expected? They had moved three times in the last two years. Her father, Owen Dawson, was an important partner in an infant business that was just now beginning to really take off.
Owen had assured them, in his attempt to convince the family that moving would turn out all right, that within two years they would be living in a two story house of their dreams. The business had potential, Kate had to admit, but she was worried about how much it was going to take from their family. Owen was already working twelve-hour days, they had moved around the country so much already, and their finances were dwindling despite the promise of success her father had received from his partner, Jonathan Willis. Things for the Dawson’s were getting difficult.
An academic, Kate was ahead of her years in intelligence. Before they moved, she had owned a collection of books that equaled the size of a small library, but, unable to fit it in their new home, Kate had sold it for three hundred dollars that she had invested into a savings account. Higher education was most definitely in her near future and every penny was worth consideration.
Currently at the start of her junior year, Kate stood at five foot seven, had shoulder length brown hair that she liked to streak with blue, and green eyes. Though not unattractive, Kate was loath to spend too much time on her appearance and this, she decided, wouldn’t change whether she lived in California or Michigan.
“Catherine Rose!” Called a voice from down the hall and Kate cringed, setting her box down and running down the hall.
“Yeah mom.” She called back.
“You’re not going to get out of unloading. If we’re going to finish before night, you’re going to need to help.” Her mother said, a tinge of irritation in her tone.
“When’s dad supposed to get here?” Kate asked. Walking around the back of the U-Haul van she grabbed another box from the interior.
“His flight gets in in about an hour, why?” Her mother asked, following Kate inside the house.
“Oh, no reason. I just want to know how much longer I have to complain.” Kate whined. “Do you see this? Alex and Jace are going to have to play in the fireplace, not that I’m complaining, but honestly! This is ridiculous.” She said, setting down the box and motioning to the surrounding room.
“Hey you, your father is trying very hard to make this business work and we’re going to have to be supportive, even when things get a little… difficult.” She said harshly and Kate looked down at her shoes. “I know this house is a little… rough around the edges but… we’ll manage, we always have.”
“I know, it’s just so unfair. We leave our house in Baja California that sat right on the beach to move here, to this.” Her shoulders drooping, Kate offered her mother a bitter smile. “We’re nothing here. At least in Baja, we had a name and something to go on.”
“And I know that’s important and soon, we will have a name here, you just wait and see. In just a week’s time you’ll be enrolling in one of the best high schools in the state and things will start falling into place, I promise.” Kate looked at her mother and saw an older version of herself.
Alicia Dawson, known as Alicia Walker before marriage, was a thirty-five year old mother of three, and, looking at her mother, Kate saw exactly what she didn’t want to be. She didn’t want to be stuck, and she didn’t want to spend the best years of her life getting to that point.
“All right, mom. I’m trusting you on this one. But if I find out that you lied…” Kate made a slashing motion across her throat and Alicia laughed, giving Kate a playful shove.
“You dare to threaten your mother?” Alicia said, her voice deepening and adapting an odd English accent.
“And what if I did dare?” Kate asked, playing along.
“Then your insolence shall surely not go unpunished.” Kate laughed as her mother grabbed the broom that was leaning against the kitchen doorway and brandished it at her like a weapon. But the smile on her face faded as she saw two people she didn’t recognize step onto their porch. She tried to motion to her mother but Alicia kept going, uncomprehending. “I shall flay thou with thine own broadsword!” Her mother shouted and Kate felt heat coming to her face. She could now see that the two people at the door were a severe-looking middle-aged woman and a boy that couldn’t be much older than she, who had an expression of amusement plastered on his face.
The middle-aged woman cleared her throat loudly and Kate saw her mom nearly jump. Touching the bristles of the broom to the floor she feigned that she had been hard at work sweeping. Turning, Alicia forced herself to look surprised.
“Oh hello… we were just… cleaning up.” Alicia said nervously and Kate could have died for her.
“I see that.” The woman replied shortly and Kate felt a surge of anger at the woman’s tone of voice. “We heard from a friend that you were new here and I was wondering if your daughter will be enrolling at Ellison High.” The woman said and Alicia thought for a moment.
“Is that the big one down the road?” Alicia asked jokingly but the woman didn’t laugh. “Yes, I believe that is the one Owen and I decided on.”
Her eye seemed to twitch slightly and Alicia began to fidget. “Then it is my duty as a member of the school board to give you an application to join the High School’s Parent Teacher Association. Application is mandatory but whether you are accepted or not is another issue entirely.” Kate stepped forward, level with her mother and gave the woman a rude, indiscrete glare.
“Thank you.” Alicia said curtly and she held her hand out for the application. Once she handed it over, the woman turned right on her heel and walked away telling the boy next to her all the while that he was not to hang out with such riff raff. “Not.” Alicia said as she slammed her door and walked into the living room.
“I’ll finish unloading, mom.” Kate offered and her mother nodded, offering a distant thank you before she went to the couch, which was half covered with boxes, and sat down to look over the application.
All she heard as she walked out the front door was, “Why the hell do they need to know my social security number? I’m not a common criminal, they don’t need to run a background check!”
Once to the van, Kate saw that there were only three boxes left and, figuring she could get them all in one trip, she loaded her arms up to their maximum capacity. Slamming the van’s back door shut, she was suddenly thrown off balance and began to stumble back.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa… need some help there?” She felt a balancing hand on her shoulder and more than half the weight in her arms was lifted once the top box was removed by some god-sent person.
“Thank y-“ But before she finished her thank you, her eyes focused on the teenager before her and she recognized him as the one who had been standing in her doorway just minutes before. “I’ve got this covered, thanks.” She said sarcastically, reaching to take the box back.
“I know what it seems like.” He said, not handing it over. “My mom’s not too good with new people. I was actually coming back to welcome you to the neighborhood properly.” He said and Kate took a defensive stance,
“and I’m the queen of France.” She replied coldly, hoisting the boxes in her arms back into a comfortable position.
“Really? But your majesty… What are you doing in East Michigan? Don’t you have treaties to sign, wars to surrender, and parades to lead?” He asked and if it hadn’t been absolutely ridiculous, Kate would have believed that he really thought she was the queen of France. “Now that I’ve amused you, I would like to offer a proper introduction. I’m Ian Clark and you are…”
“The queen of France.” Kate replied in all seriousness and he laughed.
“All right then, you win. No, really, what’s your name?” He asked.
“I’m Kate, Kate Dawson.” She said.
“Well, welcome to the neighborhood Kate Dawson, I live just down the street there in that oversized ballroom painted that horrible shade of green.” He said, pointing with his free hand to a large two-story house that reminded Kate of a plantation manor straight out of the pages of a western. But before Kate could ponder on its sheer size too long, Ian cleared his throat. “I feel the urge to extend my hand but alas, it was fated that our introduction would be flawed.” Ian chuckled and Kate was thrown off by his intricate speech.
“Very Shakespearean.” Kate said, her tone betraying her surprise.
“What? The hair? I know, I can’t do a thing with it. I tell it to lie down, it stands straight up in this annoying cow-lick, when I tell it to roll over it plays dead, you get the picture.” Kate blushed, relieved that he had not been insulted.
“Well, you want to help me carry these to the porch?” Kate asked and Ian smiled, a dazzlingly wide smile.
“You read my mind.” He replied.
Entering the house, bringing in the last box, Kate pondered her odd encounter with their new neighbor.
Ian Clark seemed like a really nice person and suddenly, she had the naïve hope that everyone here would be as welcoming as him. But then she remembered his mother and her hopes were all but crushed.
Not that she had been focusing on his appearance, but there were a few features that had stood out as she had talked with him. He was a few inches taller than her, had short dark brown, almost black, hair that was precariously messy, and a great smile that reached all the way up to his blue eyes.
“If all the boys here look like that, count me in for the long haul.” She uttered under her breath as she entered her room and began sorting through all her boxes.