It was early on a Saturday morning and the lump on the bed began to move. Slowly the lump opened up to reveal a groggy 17 year old girl.

"Good morning, Louis" She yawned to her cat who was purring at the foot of her bed. She slid off the bed and dragged her feet to the bathroom.

Dana Moore just graduated high school and was off to college at the end of summer. She was still not sure where she would be attending because she wanted to be close to her boyfriend but she also wanted to leave her house as soon as possible.

Her boyfriend, Aaron Davis, was a 19 year old high school dropout. He worked at the gas station near her house, in Philadelphia. They had been together ever since he got kicked out of school for using rabbits in a violent science experiment in front of the entire school. She dint know him back then, but they started to get together after she met him to see how he was doing.

She felt bad because he did not have a family, only an elder brother who worked hard to pay the bills. However after Aaron left school and got a job, his brother left him alone in their apartment and accepted a transfer out of the country so that they could save up and get their own house. She never met his brother, but Aaron often spoke of him, he loved his brother and hated the rest of the world, until he met Dana.

Dana Moore was in love. She knew it was not a fairytale story but she felt all the things books described about being in love. Her parents married immediately after high school. They had the romance everyone would dream of, until a few months after her little brother was born.

Dana's mother, Alice, realized she was a lesbian five years into her marriage. By then Dana was four years old and she her brother, David was just a few months old. Her father Derrick Moore was in shock. But he graciously stepped aside and let his wife move on with another woman. He however remained unattached.

Alice married Sophie Hall, Derrick's assistant, a few years later. Now both Mrs. Halls lived with Dana and David in a beautiful big house in Philadelphia. Derrick on the other hand had a very different story.

    ********

Derrick Moore rang the door bell to his ex-wife's house and waited at the doorstep with his 13 year old son Eric. Eric was not Alice's son, he was the result of a one night stand Derrick had with a women at a bar.

Derrick had a tough time getting over the fact his wife was a lesbian, or if he made her one. Although outwardly he looked like he accepted the situation, inside it was tearing him apart. There was no one to blame in this situation so he blamed himself. Still he managed to stay friends with Alice for the sake of his kids Dana and David. But soon she started to date his assistant, Sophie. Shocked and embarrassed because everyone at work found out, he began drinking every night. Soon he started taking home random women at night.

One day he opened his front door to find a baby in a bassinet at his doorstep. There was a note from a woman, explaining about how she got pregnant after their one night stand and how it was his responsibility now because she knew he had other kids too.

He was happy to have another baby, Eric was a gift, an eye opener that his life did not depend on his ex-wife alone....,or so he thought..... until the baby pooped in his diaper and started crying loudly. Having no idea what to do, he called Alice.

Eric basically saved his father from becoming an alcoholic just by existing. Although Derrick had no idea what the mother looked like, he made every effort to find her and thank her, but he had nothing to go on except the note.

Derrick and Eric moved to a house closer to Alice, Sophie and the boys, so that they could help him raise Eric. Years went by peacefully and the kids grew up. Dana graduated and was ready to leave the house and everyone was sad.

Everyone, except for Dana, who was thrilled to become an independent woman. Nobody knew about her boyfriend and she dint intend to tell anyone until it became very serious. But Dana had a feeling it would be very soon.

Last week Dana and her boyfriend were sitting by a lake. He was playing with her long blond hair while she lay on his lap reading a book. Her hair wasn't naturally blond, but brown. She had it dyed because Aaron liked blond haired girls. She could really pull off the look luckily.

"Ouch!" Dana gasped, dropping her book and sitting up straight, rubbing her head. Aaron pulled her hair.

"Sorry!" he said, grinning. "Didn't realize your hair got stuck to my watch." He held up his left hand to show a few strands of hair stuck to his watch.

"What are you reading anyways?" he asked picking up her book.

"Just a book." She replied, trying to snatch it back "Give it here, what will you do with a book anyways? I know u hate reading."

"That's not true! I read lots of books!" he exclaimed.

"You read science books, I read novels. Big difference." Dana explained, jumping up and down, trying to grab the book. Aaron was only a bit taller than she was, but this was fun. This way she could keep her hand on him and he would hold her down, while trying to reach for the book.

"I could still use this book." Aaron said, arm straining away from her. "I have a wobbly chair."

"Oh shut up!" Dana laughed, giving him a shy push, but he tripped and fell backwards, pulling her along with him. They rolled on the ground till they reached the river edge, where she splashed him with water as a distraction to wiggle away from him.

"Oh no you didn't!" he yelled, running after her and splashing her with water.

Laughing with exhaustion they eventually settled down under a tree. Aaron then began rummaging his bag in search for his inhaler. He dropped a letter when he took out the inhaler.

"What is this?" Dana asked curiously, picking it up.

She dint have time to open it however because Aaron snatched it back. She didn't say anything, just looked at him in surprise.

"It's just a job offer." He muttered, stuffing the envelope back in his bag. "If I take it I would have to leave Philadelphia, so I'm still thinking about it." He added when she dint say anything.

"If it's what you want then take it. I won't hold you back. I won't be that kind of girlfriend." Dana said kindly.

"You sure? Because this could be exactly what I need right now." Aaron said, pushing her hair away from her face.

"Of course babe and I could come with you! I could enroll in the nearest university to be closer to you." Dana said, sounding excited. She jumped up to her feet, eyes glazed over, imagining their future. "We could live together! How awesome does that sound!" she squeaked turning to see Aaron's expression. To her disappointment he dint look happy. In fact he frowned.

"babe?"

"I need to do this alone." He said not looking at her.

Tears filler her eyes but she blinked them away. "Aaron, are you breaking up with me?"

He didn't reply.

"Aaron!" she cried, letting the tears fall freely.

"I want you to go to the best university and get a good job. I don't want to be the reason to hold you back." He said. His tone changed. He spoke like he was repeating a scene from a movie.

He left her by the lake crying. Walking away without looking back.     

********

Alice opened the door to let Derrick and Eric in. It was a routine for them to come over every morning.

During the schooldays Alice would take all the kids to school and Derrick and Sophie would go to work and during the holidays Derrick would come to spend time with the kids, leaving Alice and Sophie to have some time alone.

Today however, They all decided to have breakfast together. Dana sat on the couch munching on a sandwich and texting with one hand while the boys quickly swallowed their cereal and ran to the living room to play video games. David was 15 years old and very naughty. He used to play a lot of pranks on people when he was younger, but he started to mellow down a little. Sophie suggested it was probably because he met a girl but David said it was part of growing up. Eric was 13 and was a very quiet boy. This was probably because he lived alone with his father and only visited his half sister and brother.

Dana finally threw her phone on the couch and went to the kitchen, where her parents were all talking and clearing up the dishes. She cleared her throat to get their attention and said "so, we need to do something together as a family now that I am going off to college. Because I don't know when I can see you again."

"Does this mean you decided which college you are going to?" Derrick asked.

"Err..no. But I will be very busy so I might not have time for a family vacation." Said Dana, trying to sound confident.

"Family vacation." Alice repeated, suspiciously. Only last week they had an argument about colleges and Dana said she couldn't wait to leave.

"Yes, Something fun." Said Dana.

"Do you have some place in mind?" asked Sophie kindly. She had good intuition and something told her Dana came here with a plan already in place.

"Lanchester." Dana said. "They have this Giant corn maze carnival. I read about it online and it sounds like a fun thing to do before officially becoming an adult."

This was a prepared speech. Dana did not like carnivals or crowds, but the letter Aaron received came from Lanchester. That's all she could see before it was snatched away. She needed to talk to him once more, mentally kicking herself for not doing it before he left.

Her only clue was Lanchester. Online research told her it was not much of a town. The only thing remotely interesting was the Grand Corn Maze. Determined to find Aaron, she planned to take her family on a vacation while secretly search for him. Nobody found this interesting enough for a family vacation, but Dana was not about to give up without a fight.

She had to go to Lanchester and it had to be now.

    ********

Those who go to Lanchester are doomed to a terrible fate, this is something the Internet did not warn Leah about.

Hope you are enjoying it so far! Comment and vote!! Would love to hear from you....
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