To the few people reading this, thank you so much for not quitting after the first chapter. I'm sure you all think I'm heartless, but writing about Sally's death was one of the hardest things I have ever done.  I hope you enjoy my way too emotional, terrible-mediocre story. 

If I had to choose one word to describe the car ride, it would be silence. Deafening silence. The car was crowded except for the two seats occupied by Paul and myself. I tried to occupy myself by staring out of the car window, but it didn't work.

"Hey Paul, when are we going to get there?" I asked. Silence.

"When are we getting there?" I tried again.

"Um, a few hours until we get to Pennsylvania. After lunch, we'll go a few more hours until we reach Ohio. Tomorrow we will make it to Iowa, and from there we will go to Denver, then Nevada, then San Francisco. It will take us 5 days total, we'll get there on Sunday." he said.

"I'm bored, what should I do," I asked, hoping for some conversation.

"Read a book." I frowned. Paul knew I was dyslexic. I plugged my earbuds in and listened to music instead.

~uncreative time skip~

Every day became a routine. Eat breakfast, get in the car, ask how much time is left, try and fail to start a conversation, listen to music, lunch, car again, dinner, and sleep. And silence. So much silence. Finally, on Saturday night, we got to San Fransisco.

As we neared our house, I looked out the window to our soon-to-be neighborhood, until we came upon a small two-story blue house. Paul and I silently unpacked the car, taking out our suitcases and boxes, and placing them on the stoop.

When we finished bringing the stuff inside, I walked around our new house. It was small but seemed comfortable. On the first floor, there was a small kitchen, a dining area, and a living room space, all filled with boxes and furniture that the movers had brought. I walked upstairs to the second floor. There were two bedrooms and a bathroom.

I went into the first room, which was painted blue. There was a bed in the corner, and a desk to the side. It had a large window with some plant boxes (AN: idk what they are called) and blue curtains.

"I had them paint it for you." I turned around to see Paul, leaning against the door frame. "I know how much you like the color blue. And you had some plant boxes outside the window in your old room, so I got some to put there." He walked towards me, glancing at the window.

"Thank you," I said. I'm not good with plants, but Mom had always wanted a garden. She would have loved it here, with the front lawn. She never got that back home.

Paul must have been reading my mind, because he said "I know your Mom has always wanted a garden. I think she would like it here." his voice cracked. I gave him a sad smile. "Well," he said, clearing his throat. "I'm going to work on the kitchen. Start unpacking in here, then come downstairs for dinner."

He started walking away, but I stopped him. "Paul" he turned to look at me. "Thank you. For the blue." I said. He smiled at me and left.

I spent the rest of the afternoon moving boxes and arranging my room. Then re-arranging. Then re-re-arranging. Finally, I put the Nemo bedspread on my bed (it's a great movie, the love between Nemo and his father is beautiful) and walked downstairs.

Paul was sitting at the kitchen table, going over papers. Probably bills. He looked up when I came in. "Percy. I ordered pizza. It should be here in 15 minutes." he went back to his papers. I took the seat opposite from him at the table, turning on my phone. I had a bunch of new text messages from my friends back home. Hazel was asking me how I liked my new house, and Grover kept trying to get me to talk about what nature was like here.

(Hazel, Frank, Grover, Percy)

Hi Percy. Do you like your new house? Send pictures!!

Are there lots of trees there????

Plants???

Animals???

I hope that there are more than just squirrels and pigeons.

Hazel! Grover! Stop bugging him! Let him talk for himself!

Sorry Percy!

How are you?

Who could be bugged by nature???? Nature is great!

What's it like there, Percy?

Hi guys, I'm fine. Yes, I do like my new house, I will send u a picture later, I have a front lawn here, there are really tall trees, and it's fine, ur not bothering me (AN: I know Percy's dyslexic, but there is autocorrect)

Yay. We miss you, Percy.

That's great. I don't want to know what high school would be like without you though

Where are you going to high school BTW? I'm sure it's beautiful. So many trees.

I'm actually not sure

I'll ask Paul

Ok

I have to go now Mom made dinner

Bye Hazel ❤️ (AN: They are dating at this point)

Bye

Bye guys

"What could be taking the pizza so long? It should have been here five minutes ago." Paul said. He checked his phone. "Oh no. I accidentally ordered it to be picked up. Percy?" I looked up. "Could you get it for me?"

"Sure," I said. "Where is it?"

"It's Antonio's Pizza. It's a few blocks away, to the left. It's already been paid for."

"Ok," I said, grabbing my phone. I walked out to the front door. The air was cold. "Forgot my sweater!" I shouted as I ran back through the door. I grabbed my sweater off the bed and ran back down. "Bye!"

As I walked, I pulled my blue hoodie over my head. I looked around. There were lots of houses in this area, wildly different from New York, but you could find some similarities in the cars whooshing past.

I sighed. I didn't want to leave New York, but I did feel like there was something here that I wouldn't want to miss. Something important.

I crossed the street and kept walking until I came across a restaurant with a red awning. Antonio's Pizza was written in glowing red letters on the window. Using my deductive reasoning skills, I assumed that this was the place. I opened the door, letting the smell of pizza lure me in.

The restaurant had a few people but wasn't crowded. There was a small family sitting at a table in the center, and a group of 3 teenagers sitting in a booth at the window, but that was it. I walked up to the counter. "Pick up for Paul Blofis?" I asked.

The cashier yelled behind his shoulder. "Paul Blofis!" He went to the back and got a pizza box. "Here you go," he said.

"Thanks."

I was walking out of the restaurant, when suddenly, someone bumped into me, spilling ice on the pizza box.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" I heard someone say. I looked up to see a girl with curly blonde hair and gray eyes. And she looked mad.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room and we're not speaking

And I'm dying to know, is it killing you like it's killing me."