The hours I spent in that truck were the longest of my entire life. I spent the entire time staring out the window, watching the scenery flash by, becoming less and less familiar as we went until I was sure that this was no longer Earth that we were on. I couldn't sleep all day, and my father seemed too awkward to say anything about it. He joined me in the deafening silence we created as long as he could. That was about a half hour. For the rest of those long hours, the soft crooning of my dad's iTunes play list settled uncomfortably on me, but seemed to ease his stress.

Eventually, dad got the courage to ask me a question. "So, Jo." he started. That was how he started all of his playful comments or questions. Right then, it was like nails on a chalkboard. My dad was tearing me away from my forever home, the place I had planned to die; and had the guts to be playful with me. The man either had some nerve or no brain.

"I think you'll like Waterline." He continued, turning the music up slightly as if to give him the confidence to continue. I could feel him glance at the back of my head, but I kept my chin locked in my hand and my eyes glued to the window. "I grew up there, you know. Fond memories, I have."

Liar. I knew we were moving for one reason and one reason only:

To get away from that house. The house my mother had died in. I had gotten used to not having a mom. She hadn't been around for long. But apparently, my dad couldn't stand that house anymore. 'Too many painful memories, Jo' He had said, turning his tear-streaked face to her. She had been so young then, back when he was still dealing with it. Sometimes, she had been the one to clean and cook, while he wept, alone in their room.

When dad had found out that his long-term pen pal, Carson (who was living in his hometown) had seen a 'For Sale' sign on dad's childhood house, dad had literally leaped at the chance.

I did feel a pang of guilt for my dad. He was, after all, my best friend. But even we had our fights.

"I grew up with a lot of the people living there now. Mr. Hennesy has a daughter your age, I think, maybe a bit younger. And you know Carson, he came to visit that one time; he has a son. Sydney, I think." Dad continued. I closed my eyes. "You won't be lonely for long."

That hit a nerve, and dad seemed to sense it. For the next few hours, we were both silent. We stopped for lunch, but I only spoke to give my order, and we hit the road once more. Then, about an hour before we reached our new house, dad's smile returned. He began listing familiar landmarks, and pointed out friend's houses and stores.

"That's Waterline beach, down that way, we're right on the ocean here." He would say.

"That's Taylor and Henns' Grocer. They have great salami."

I tuned him out until we finally pulled to a stop. I felt the trailer behind us wobble, and it move us forward another inch before we clicked open our doors and stood in our new driveway. He admired his old home, and I could tell that he was as happy to be here as I was quiet.

"Hey, Dane!" Came a rich, somewhat distant voice. Both my father and I turned to see a large, red truck race towards our house and pull to a stop next to our smaller, black one. A friendly-looking man was hanging out of the window, and pulled himself from the car.

"Carson!" My dad yelled happily, the slightly larger man pulling him into a hug. I just stood there, bored-looking. I glanced at the red truck, and could just barely see the outline of someone through the tinted glass. That must me his son, Sydney.

"And who's this gorgeous young lady?" I jumped as Carson hugged me too, and I felt my eyes go wide. "I haven't seen you in years, missy!" He hollered. This man was too loud, too big, and had that stupid country twang that I hated at that moment. This was my new life. I was living in a little town, in the middle of nowhere, where I had to know everyone in town, because it was that small. I groaned inwardly several times at the thought, and didn't really notice when Carson let go to follow my dad into the house.

I glanced back at Sydney, but I couldn't make out his face. Poor guy... he had to live with that big, lumbering idiot all the time. It suddenly struck me that that may have rubbed off on the teen, and I began praying that he wouldn't leave the car. he didn't, and after a while, I was forced to go inside my new house, hefting my huge purple bag over my shoulder.

"Dad?" I asked, speaking to him for the first time in hours. "Are there any ice rinks here?" I was almost pleading. My dad looked surprised at first, and then shook his head.

"None that I know of." I groaned.

"Oh, now wait." Carson piped, hefting the couch through the door. "Ice rinks?" He looked to the ceiling for a moment, moving his mouth but making no sound.

"I think Hennesy's building a new rink. It'll be up by next week, maybe sooner. His daughter wants to learn to skate." Carson said, pulling the couch into place right in front of where my dad was setting up the TV. The plan was to order pizza and watch TV tonight while my dad and Carson caught up face to face. Apparently, there's only so much you can put in a letter.

I was halfway disgusted, halfway happy. "That Hennesy guy bought a rink for his daughter? So she can learn to skate?" I nearly spat as the two men fell onto the squishy sofa. Carson shook his head.

"Hennesy owns this town's branch of that big farming store everyone uses." he said. I could tell he was avoiding using the name just so as not to confuse me. "He makes a lot of money every year, and the town council manages to guilt him into making big donations to the community. With all of these growing teens around, this year they wanted a recreation facility, and his daughter, Bianca, convinced him it should be an ice rink." He shrugged.

"Oh." I said quietly. This Hennesy guy sounded like a pushover to me.

"Hey, Jo." He said, knocking me out of my thoughts.

"Has Sydney come out of the car yet?"

I glanced outside, squinting to see through the falling darkness. I shook my head and returned to the couch.

"No."

Cursing under his breath, Carson got up and left. "That boy...shyer'na turtle..." I heard as he left.

My dad and me were left in another silence, the TV set on the News.

"Jo?" He said softly. I gave him a wary look. "I'm sorry..."

I was shocked. "What?"

"I know you didn't want to come here. It's just... I couldn't stand that house. I'm sorry you had to leave your friends. And your boyfriend. And everything you had worked for..." He said, voice unstable. He was taking what I had been thinking and making it sound like he was a monster for doing this. But when he started to sob quietly, all I could do was feel ashamed.

And so my new life in little old Waterline began.

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Author's Note: Hey, all! Ditto here. This started out really slow, I know, but I have big ideas for this one, so hang on. :)

Thanks for reading!!