Picture Imperfect

~Chapter one~

The unusually warm october air surrounded me as I walked the familiar path to the park. The cartigan I brought with me was way too warm, but I was to lazy and somewhat annoyed to take it off. The whole conversation between my parents, sister, and I circled in my head.

"We're doing this and that's final!" My father had said, in his 'I mean buisness' voice.

"Honey, don't argue with your father." Mom, the peacemaker would say.

"This isn't fair!" both my younger sister of 2 years, Kate, and I had said at the same time. "I mean, after all," I continued, although my dad was getting red, and giving me the 'evil eye', "Kate just started Lower North High School, and I just started Upper North High School!" I pleaded. My dad's answer was simple. "I don't care if you just started Senior Year! We're going and that FINAL!" He pounded his fist at the last word, a sure sign my dad was serious.

I ran out the door before anyone could see me crying. After all, I was the strongest one emotionally out of the whole family, I hadn't let my family see me cry during my grandfathers funeral, and I wasn't about to let them see me cry after a simple change in our life. If only, though, it was a simple change.

~

The first thing you see when you get to the park, is a nice looking sign with 'LakeView, a park of family memories!' "Sure," I thought in my head as I rolled my eyes, "A park of family memories? More like a park of beat up swings, and oneset of monkey bars." I smilied smugly.

I took a seat on one of the swings that acually held up when someone put weight on it. After staring at the ground for a while, I absetmindedly noticed a figure coming closer, then sitting in the swing next to me. I thought nothing of it, until the figure poked me right where it tickled.

"Hey! Watch where your poking...that's no..." my voice dropped off whenI saw the face staring back at me, with a sly smile on his face. It was Brian, of course.

"Hey yourself." He said in the husky voice I loved.

"Sorry.. I've been having a rough day, nothings going right, and...and... I just don't want to.."I dropped off and tried again. "I can't..." But that didn't feel right either. "I'm just...We're..." but once I came to the 'moving' part of my sentence, I couldn't force myself to say it. 'Come on, just say it. Your moving tomorrow for god sake!' I took two deep, long breaths, as Brian watched me fight this battle inside my head.

"Okay. My dad got a job in Wisconsin, so..." I paused here, trying to read his face, as he incouraged me on. "We're moving." I said finally, flatly.

"Wisconsin? That's rediculous. That's 500 miles away from Kansas City." He pointed out, like that simple fact would change everything. If onlyacknowledging that would make my dad say, 'Well, since that's the case, we're not moving anymore!' I laughed at the idea, and when I did, he asked "I like jokes, what's funny?" I couldn't answer him. He would repond with ' This isn't, in any way, a laughing matter! I'm about to lose the most important girl in my life, and your LAUGHING?' I knew him too well. So I tried to cover it up with telling him a much more cheezier joke.

"Well, I was thinking of this joke, 'What's brown and sticky' 'a stick!'" I laughed fakely, hoping he would take it. He didn't.

"Really, what?" Brian became agitated very easily, and this was the point were he was about to break.

"Nothing, really." I didn't look at him right in the eyes.

"Fine." He said simply after a long pause.

And we sat there, watching the sunset together, while he was holdingme close, like I was dying or something. Even though I wasn't. But it sure felt like it.