Abigale Fern knew what was coming before it happened. As the basketball soared through the air towards her, her mind blanked. She reached a hand up to cover her face at the last second, but it wasn't enough to stop it from hitting her square in the forehead. She landed on her back, her tailbone yelping in protest as it made contact with the gym floor.

"Abby!" she heard a girl shout from the other side of the gym. Through blurred vision, she could make out the lithe body of her best friend racing toward her. Tiffany Tuckerman kneeled beside her, taking stock of Abigale's possible injuries. "Are you okay?"

Nodding, Abigale raised her head. "Yeah, I'm fine." Then she noticed the rest of her gym class watching her lay on the floor, and her cheeks warmed.

Tiffany followed her gaze, frowning at the students. "What do you think you're looking at?"

At Tiffany's words, most of the students turned away with embarrassed looks on their faces. Others merely snickered at Abigale before grabbing their fallen basketballs.

"Need a hand?" she then asked Abigale, extending her own.

She took it, her vision clearing. Dusting off her pants, she smiled gratefully at Tiffany, whom of which was still threatening the teens that dared to look at the two girls.

"Just leave them alone," Abigale muttered, scowling. "They aren't worth it."

With reluctance, Tiffany turned away from the crowd, running a hand through her long, blonde hair. She took in Abigale's frazzled appearance—messy curls tucked into a pony-tail and shirt rumpled from the fall—and smiled. "I don't think you should be joining the basketball team anytime soon. Just saying."

On reflex, Abigale landed a playful punch to her friend's arm. "Jerk. You know I don't like sports to begin with."

"Ouch," Tiffany laughed. "Is it because of that time you knocked Herald Palmer out with a softball in sophomore year?"

Abigale rolled her eyes. "When will you let me forget about that? It was an accident!"

"It was too funny to forget about, Abby," said Tiffany, a grin as wide as a dinner plate donning her face. "I think it was the worst throw I'd ever seen somebody make in the history of baseball!"

Biting back the smile threatening to pass over her face, Abigale turned away. "It wasn't that bad, Tiff."

"Sure it was!" Tiffany piped up as the bell sounded above them. When she noticed Abigale's expression, her own softened. "You know I'm just bugging you, right?"

Her mouth went dry when she caught sight of a group of girls entering the gym for the next class. They were the popular girls, and the queen bee, Lauren Norris, had a personal vendetta against Abigale. Ever since she had accidently spilled grape juice on Lauren in first grade, it was as if Lauren had made it her personal mission to ruin her.

Because of this, Abigale wasn't the outgoing type. She'd rather sit in her room with her nose buried in a book than socialize with anyone outside her inner circle of friends, which was small to begin with. Over the years, Abigale had Tiffany and a few other friends, but they'd moved away before the beginning of the school year. So now, Tiffany was all she had. Besides Lauren, the rest of the school paid little attention to her, and she liked it that way. It was nice not to have to deal with the drama of having more than one close friend.

"Abby?"

Abigale averted her gaze as Lauren passed them, heading in the direction of the locker room. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

Tiffany sighed. It was obvious that she hadn't seen Lauren pass by. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. I'm going to keep practicing, so I'll meet you in the change rooms. Is that okay?"

"Yes. I just have to grab my things from the locker," she replied, her heart beginning to race. Lauren was in that room. But, it was either show up late for class or risk a confrontation. Obviously, she was going to choose the possibility of a confrontation.

With caution, Abigale entered the room. She let out a small sigh of relief when she realized Lauren was nowhere in sight. In and out, Abigale. She won't even realize you're here.

However, as she approached her locker, she almost tripped over a student who was sprawled on the floor, playing on their phone. Abigale let out a yelp of surprise, and, almost in that same instant, Lauren appeared from one of the change rooms. Blood pumped in her ears as Lauren's cat-like eyes narrowed.

"Watch where you're going," said the girl she'd almost tripped over. She couldn't be sure, but she was almost certain she didn't bother to look up from his phone.

Abigale pursed her lips together as Lauren stalked towards her. Her black pumps—which Abigale assumed were about to be exchanged for runners—made a clicking noise against the tile, causing a shiver to run up her spine.

"Abby!" Lauren said, feigning surprise. "So lovely to see you here."

"Well, I am enrolled here," Abigale countered, her fists tightening at her sides. Don't let her have the satisfaction.

"Unfortunately."

The word seemed to stab a dime-sized hole in Abigale's heart. Circulation to her fingers was cut off from how tight she was squeezing them into the palms of her hands. "What do you want, Lauren?"

"What do I want?" Lauren echoed. She placed a perfectly manicured nail to her lips, like she was pondering the question. The group she'd been with earlier came up behind her. Abigale felt like shrinking into a corner when she realized she was outnumbered. "What I want, Abby, is for you to disappear. As you've so graciously pointed out, though, you're enrolled here."

Another stab. "Whatever. I don't have time for this. I have class."

She tried to step forward, but was pushed back by Lauren. "We aren't done talking. How's your mother doing? Still cowering from Daddy's beatings?"

Abigale's mouth went dry. They'd been next-door neighbours for years, but she never thought anyone would be able to hear the commotion that reverberated off the walls every night. She glanced between Lauren and her friends, anger pooling in her gut. "My mother is none of your business."

Lauren let out a small, mocking laugh. "So, it is true then?"

The back of Abigale's head burned at Lauren's words. The feeling spread throughout her entire body as she stared at Lauren with a fierce expression. "Leave me alone, Lauren."

She walked forward, pushing past Lauren and her group of dimwits. This time, Lauren didn't stop her. Instead, she let out a menacing laugh as they watched her scurry out of the room. She didn't bother to make it out of the gym before tears began rolling down her cheeks.

***

History drug on far too long for Abigale's liking. She twirled her pencil in between her fingers as she listened to Ms. Lowen, whom was speaking about the history of the U.S. government, something Abigale couldn't care less about. Over the past two years, she had strived to receive A's in every subject, so she knew she had to pay attention to the lecture, but she couldn't. Abigale was more worried about the fight that had occurred that morning between her parents, something that Lauren's painful words had brought to the surface. The fight the night before continued until the morning, and tension was high when she left for school. A part of Abigale wondered what she would find when she got home. Would one of her parents leave because they'd had enough? She knew they were only making things work because of her. It was merely a matter of time before they divorced.

"Abigale?"

Her head snapped up to meet Ms. Lowen, who gave her a pointed look. "Yes, Ms. Lowen?"

"Would you like to share with the rest of the class what we've been discussing?"

Abigale's cheeks flushed pink as she realized she hadn't been listening to anything Ms. Lowen was saying since her comment about how one politician reminded her of her ex husband. "N—No, Ms. Lowen."

Ms. Lowen pursed her lips together. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes," she replied quickly, her blush deepening. "Everything is fine."

"I see," she mused, flashing Abigale a wary glance. "Please, pay more attention next time, Ms. Fern."

She was so embarrassed that she could only manage a feeble nod. Before she could reprimand herself for shutting out the teacher's lecture, the bell rang, and the whole class, including Abigale, cleared out in less than ten seconds. From the observation, Abigale could tell that many students were not fond of Ms. Lowen's history class.

Abigale headed for the spot she and Tiffany always met at for lunch. She was still shaking from embarrassment when she spotted Tiffany on the other side of the hallway.

"Hey, best friend! How was class?" Tiffany beamed as Abigale approached.

Remembering the events that had occurred inside of the classroom, Abigale frowned. "It was all right, I guess. How was study hall?"

"Boring," Tiffany replied. "Turns out the pre-calculus assignment I was supposed to have finished didn't need to be turned in until next week. So, I got it all finished in the first thirty minutes and I didn't have anything else to work on for the last forty minutes."

"That sucks," said Abigale, her thoughts not entirely focused on Tiffany. She was still immersed in the conflict back home. She'd heard them fight like that before, but this time, it felt different. That morning, she'd seen angry bruises on the side of her mother's face. Abigale had been scared to ask if her father had caused them. Lauren hadn't helped matters when she said what she did in front of everyone.

Part of Abigale was scared. What if they really went through with a divorce? Where would that leave her? Their daughter?

No, she told herself. Mom and Dad are fine. They always work things out. Why would this time be any different?

As Abigale followed Tiffany silently to the cafeteria, she shook off her worried thoughts. She hadn't told Tiffany about any of the fighting. As far as Tiffany knew, they were all one big, happy family.

Oh, how she wished that were true.

***

By the end of the day, Abigale's nerves were frayed. As she walked home with Tiffany, she found herself rendered silent by the fight that had occurred that morning, and too ashamed to admit that her parents weren't as picture perfect as they seemed.

Abigale wanted to tell her everything, but she could never bring herself to talk about the fights. It wasn't like she had an opportunity to, either. Tiffany decided to talk her ear off the entire journey home, leaving no room for Abigale to get the words out. Every time her excited friend would pause in a sentence, Abigale would nod and smile, hoping she could fool Tiffany into thinking she'd actually been listening to what she ranted about. In truth, however, she wasn't. She couldn't focus on something that seemed so unimportant to what she had bottled up inside.

"—then Jenny told me that I should go find someone else to gawk at. The nerve of her!"

Abigale nodded slowly, her mind flipping back to the conversation at hand. Jenny was no friend of Lauren's, but they were quite similar in character. While Abigale had put up with Lauren's insults for the majority of her life, Tiffany had to put up with Jenny's. "Did you tell her off?"

"No . . . I was too humiliated! Everyone in the hallway was looking at me and I panicked. Now I don't know what to do! I can't show my face at the school again! Especially in front of Darren."

Darren was Tiffany's long-time crush. She'd been in love with the boy since middle school, and the upsetting thing was that Darren didn't know Tiffany existed. He was too caught up in all the popular girls to notice, but Abigale didn't have the heart to tell Tiffany that.

"It'll be okay. School will be fine tomorrow, Tiff. Everyone will have forgotten about it by then," Abigale said, trying to soothe her friend's worries.

"You don't understand, though. She blurted it out to everyone that I like him! The look on his face . . . I'll never be able to show my face in front of him again!"

"Tiff," she said, placing a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's going to be okay. Trust me. It'll be old drama by tomorrow."

Sighing, Tiffany nodded. "I hope so."

"I know so," Abigale said, giving her a smile. It was then that she caught sight of her lifelong home. A comfortable, relaxed feeling came over her as she neared. The old mailbox that'd stood on the lawn since she was a child could be seen from the sidewalk, its wooden post bent from the time her father hit it with the lawnmower.

She shook her head, smiling from embarrassment. Despite her father getting in trouble for running into the mailbox, it had been a good day. The family of three had gone to grab ice-cream after they'd laughed off his mistake. Abigale had ordered her favourite flavour; mint chocolate chip. A year after that, the fights started.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Tiffany said, interrupting Abigale's thoughts. They both lived on different streets, and always separated at the corner a few blocks from Northridge High.

"See you tomorrow," she replied, giving her friend a hug. She waved good-bye before crossing the road.

As Abigale walked along the sidewalk, she concentrated on her sneakers pounding against the pavement, trying not to think about what she could arrive home to. Her mother had first kicked her father out six months previously, and over the course of those few days, the house seemed bare without him. Or maybe it'd just been her heart yearning for him to come back. He left them for a few days at a time at least twice a month since that altercation, and when he'd return, she couldn't help but think it wasn't permanent. One day, he'd leave them for good.

Abigale stopped in her tracks as she neared the front lawn of her house. A truck – a U-Haul moving truck – was parked in her driveway. The door to the back of the vehicle was folded into the top of the space, and multiple boxes had been carelessly stuffed inside.

A million thoughts raced through Abigale's mind, but only one stuck out the most. She should've known it was going to happen. Her father was leaving . . . he was leaving her.

For good.

Abigale willed her legs to move, panic burning the back of her skull. She walked up to the front door, hesitant to turn the handle. Every cell in her body screamed for her to stop and turn back. And even though she didn't want to see it, she wanted to know what she'd find behind the door. She stared at the small grooves in the wood momentarily before deciding to head inside with her heart beating rapidly in her chest.

The first things she noticed were the boxes. They were piled high by the door, some larger than others. Some labelled with a black Sharpie marker stood out against the brown cardboard. Some had her name scribbled on the front, and others had no labels at all.

"Mom?" Her voice wavered slightly as it echoed through the house, which she noticed was less cluttered than she'd last seen it that morning. With a sinking feeling in her gut, Abigale realized they were the ones leaving.

"Abby,"

She jumped when her mother appeared in front of her holding another box. Her hair was tucked carelessly into a bun, and she donned her exercise attire, which consisted of a baby blue tank top and dark yoga pants. "Where have you been? Go to your room and pack the things you won't need in the next day or so."

Abigale shrugged off the sarcastic comment that brewed inside her about where she'd been all day, and asked, "What's going on?"

Her mother sighed. "We're leaving. I found a house a few hours away from here in Arcata."

"Arcata?" Abigale's mouth dropped open in shock. "I can't go to Arcata! It's five-hundred miles away!"

"Yes, I know that. Why is it such a problem?" Her mother dropped the box she'd been holding on the floor and placed her hands on her hips.

"All of my friends are here, Mom!"

"So? You'll make new friends," her mother said. A firm edge cut through her tone, like it was meant to slice through Abigale's heart.

"What about Dad? Where's he? He's coming, right?"

At the mention of Abigale's father, her mother's face went sour. "I'm not having this discussion with you, Abigale. We leave tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning? Mom, you aren't being fair! Where's Dad?"

Her mother's eyes darkened. "Go to your room and pack, Abigale! I'm not going to ask again!"

Pursing her lips together, Abigale crossed her arms as she debated on how to react to the upsetting news. She knew that nothing she said was going to change her mother's mind. Yelling wasn't going to help even though she wanted to tell her exactly what she thought of her mother's plans. Throwing her hands down, she coldly slipped past her and ran up the stairs to her room, slamming the door in the process.

When she was safely behind locked doors, Abigale's back slid down the length of door until her butt hit the floor, tears sliding down her cheeks for the second time that day. 

________________________________________________________________

At the advice of my critique partner, I completely revamped this chapter. Things from the second and third chapter have been combined to form this chapter and chapter 2! I hope you enjoyed!

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When the novel was first posted, it had 216 reads and 31 votes. Before removing the majority of it from the site, it had over 114K reads and 7K votes. Thank you all so much!

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Amy Crandall

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