October 5

3:15 A.M.

Charlize grasped the blue envelope in her fingers like a fragile china plate that would break if dropped. She examined the lopsided stamp in the corner and noticed the distinct lack of a return address. She tore the flap and extracted the piece of white stationary.

It was from her mother.

Dear Charlize,

Just wanted to let you know that Dad's company has been bought by HiTec Pharmaceuticals in England, so we will be temporarily relocating there. I don't know when we'll be back, but you will probably have to stay on campus over Thanksgiving and Winter Break.

Sincerely, Mom

Charlize immediately noticed quite a few things about this letter. First, it was only two sentences; over time, it seemed like her mother's letters had gotten scarcer and shorter. Second, her mom addressed her as Charlize. When she was a baby, her parents would always affectionately call her Chari, but she assumed that name had disappeared a long time ago.

The average person would probably be affected after receiving such a dry letter from their parents. But to Charlize, this was her definition of normalcy. So, she shrugged her shoulders, tossed the letter in the trash, and continued about her day.