👆👆Anissa's new house 👆👆

Chapter 4

~Anissa's POV~

I turned my head and looked back at my childhood friends driving away.

I'm really going to miss them

I sighed as I turned my head back around and looked out the window to my left. I remembered that I had put my phone in my front pocket, so I grabbed it and put my headphones in to block out my parents' conversation.

Ugh, I was told driving from Phoenix to Nashville takes about a day

I scrolled through my playlist until I found myself staring at one particular song that held one of the best memories I had ever had, Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran. I pushed play and let the memory wash over me.

~Flashback~

January 12th. I had just arrived at my high school with one of my best friends, Clover, for the annual winter dance. When we got up to the doors, we could see some of our classmates signing in with their dates. My date. Haha, I only had Clover. We walked in together, said hi to our classmates, and signed in.

"We're finally in Hollywood!" Clover exclaimed, taking in the Hollywood themed decorations adorning the hallway.

"Yay! Let's dance!" I laughed, pulling her in the direction of the cafeteria. When we got there, Clover had to change out of her boots and into her sandals.

"Okay, I'm ready," she said, standing up.

"Let's go!"

When we got into the cafeteria, I could feel the beat in my chest as the music blasted from the speakers. I looked around until I found a small group of friends.

"Hey guys!" I yelled over the music.

"Oh my gosh! Hi!" Maya responded, hugging me. I laughed and went over to hug Jacob. I started dancing to a song I didn't know too well when I saw one of my classmates pointing at me while talking to someone I wasn't quite familiar with. I turned around and looked at him. He noticed me looking at him and motioned for me to come over.

"What, Chase?" I asked him when I got there, crossing my arms. He pointed to his friend.

"He likes you," He replied, looking at me. I laughed.

"No I don't! I don't even know her!" His friend panicked, defending himself.

"I believe you," I said, turning back to my friends. Not even 10 minutes after that, Chase approached me.

"One dance with him, and I promise I'll leave you be," He said, standing in front of me with his arms crossed.

"Fine," I replied, looking at him. I kept dancing with my friends until I was grabbed from behind by one of my other friends.

"You gotta dance with your man!" She yelled, dragging me towards the back of the cafeteria. I was so confused until I saw Chase pushing his friend in my direction. When we were in front of each other, neither of us could back out because of the culprits behind each of us. I gave in and wrapped my hands around his neck and he placed his hands on my hips.

"So," I laughed, looking up at him. ""What's your name?"

"Zack," He said, smiling. "You?"

"Anissa," We continued dancing for a couple more seconds until I broke the silence.

"Is this weird?" I asked him. He nodded his head. "You wanna stop?"

"Yea," He sighed. We broke apart and walked separate ways. I walked out of the cafeteria and found Maya with her boyfriend sitting at an empty table, sipping on strawberry smoothies.

"Oh my gosh," I sighed as I sat down next to Maya.

"What? What's wrong?" She asked, frowning at me in concern.

"I just slow danced with a stranger," I replied, looking at her.

"You did what?" Her boyfriend, Austin, asked in bewilderment.

"Ha, yeah, Chase set me up with him. We were pushed into each other and, yea..." I trailed off. Just as I finished, I saw one of my other friends, Sarah, walking towards the cafeteria.

"Sarah! Hey!" I shouted, getting her attention.

"Hey, what's up!?" She said, hugging me.

"Well, I was forced to dance with a stranger," I replied, laughing. Sarah made a weird face at me which made me laugh even harder.

"Wanna come dance with me?" She asked, walking towards the cafeteria once more.

"I'd love too!" I answered, walking with her through the double doors. I looked at the posters of famous singers that were lining the wall and I saw him. Zack was sitting at one of the empty tables located at the side of the wall near the entrance to the cafeteria. I walk past the table with Sarah and waved at him. He smiled and waved back as I kept walking with Sarah to dance. After a couple songs played, Sarah had to leave. So I went to go sit next to Zack and talk with him for a bit.

~ITTY BITTY TIME SKIPPY~

I was standing next to Zack after we finished dancing to the Cupid Shuffle when Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran came on. He turned to me, reaching his hand out.

"You wanna dance?" He asked me, smiling. I chuckled.

"Sure," I said, taking his hand.

He placed my hands on the back of his neck and placed his hands on my waist. He looked into my eyes and smiled.

"You have beautiful eyes," He said, looking at me with affection.

"Thanks," I said, blushing. "It's too dark in here, I can't see your eyes."

"They're olive green," He responded, smiling even more. I chuckled and looked at our feet, moving slowly, rocking back and forth in a small circle.

~End of Flashback~

~Jacob's POV~

I was woken up by a text from Maya at 1:00 in the afternoon.

Maya: Anissa has left for Nashville.... 😞😞😭😰😰

Me: Ok..... Thanks for letting me know...

I turned off my phone and sat up in bed. A wave of sadness fell over me. My best friend was gone. Probably halfway to Nashville by now.  I held my head in my hands for a while, going over all the fun times that the four of us had before Anissa left. I smiled at the one memory of when Clover got scared of a frog when we went camping with our families last summer. I allowed myself five minutes of this before I got up from my bed and stretched. "I should get something to eat," I said to myself. I walked out of my room, still a bit groggy, and downstairs to the kitchen. No one was home so I decided on having the leftover pizza from two dinners ago.

I sat down at the kitchen table, plate of pizza in hand, and ate in silence. When I was done, I dumped the dirty dish in the sink and stood in the kitchen.  I didn't feel like going out today, so I went into the living room to watch some TV. Of course, nothing good was on, so I settled for Adventure Time on Cartoon Network. Clover and Maya continuously teased me for watching cartoons at the age of 15, but Anissa would curl up next to me on the couch and watch them with me.

The front door opened, and Elly and Adam Dean entered. "Hey, Mom, Dad, where have you two been?"

My mom smiled at me, closing the door shut as she did. "The market, we have to eat don't we?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess," I replied, turning my attention back to the TV screen.

"Maybe we should give Anissa a call," my dad suggested, taking a seat in his favorite chair by the window. I peered curiously up at him.

"Um, she just left. Give her a chance to actually leave the general area before you go bothering her, Pops," I chuckled. He joined me an instant later, and I continued on watching my cartoons. The sound of my mom preparing lunch filled the house, along with the smell of food. If I closed my eyes and tricked myself into believing it, I could picture Anissa jogging up the front steps, smiling, as she came to join my family and I for lunch. Any minute now she'd ring the doorbell, and she'd be standing there. Her hair windblown, and her mom would wave at me before she drove off.

~Anissa's POV~

I hadn't even realized I had fallen asleep until I was awoken by my mom softly shaking me awake. "Anissa, honey, wake up," she said, "We're here." I sat up groggily, looking around in confusion.

"Where is 'here' exactly," I asked her, yawning. She grinned at me, and moved aside to let me see with my own eyes. From the looks of it, we were at a gas station.

"The car needs a refill, do you need to use the bathroom?" I nodded my head at her, then got out of the car. I didn't really have to go to the bathroom, but I was tired of sitting. I strolled through the isles of chips, cookies, drinks, and other items. I passed the Hot Cheetos and could not resist!

I stared at the junk food for a minute, going over wether I should buy them or not. "I am a bit hungry," I thought outloud.  I grabbed a bag, got a bottle of Sprite, then made my way toward the cashier. I payed with a ten, got my change, then walked back out. I climbed back into the back seat, and opened my chips.

"Want to share, kiddo?" my dad asked, as he turned the car on. I pointed the bag in his direction, and he grabbed a hand full. Only six hours had passed since we had started driving. We still had a long ways to go. My phone buzzed right then. Curious to see who it was, I unlocked it. It was a notification from Facebook. Clover had just posted a video of her baby brother. I smiled, I really hoped that everyone would be fine without me.

The rest of the trip went by slowly. Occasionally I'd glance out the window, and see mountains in the distance, forests, cities, and towns. I won't lie, the forests and mountains were breathtaking. I even took a couple pictures. At one point, I spotted three deer running through the trees.

Sometime after midnight, I fell back asleep. It wasn't until the car came to a stop when I woke up. "Are we taking another pitstop?"

My mom laughed. "No, honey, we've stopped to have breakfast."

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "Where?"

"IHOP," my father replied. I followed them inside, and slid into a booth.

I took a sip of my water. "So, where are we now?"

"We're on the border of Tennessee," my mom informed me, "Just three more hours and we're in Nashville!"

I picked up the menu, and read it over. The bacon, eggs, and pancakes looked good. The waiter came, and the three of us ordered. By the time we were done, it was twenty past noon. My dad payed, and we shuffled out of the diner.

~THREE HOURS LATER~

I refused to lookout the windows. I was determine not to see anything of Nashville. Maybe then I could believe that this wasn't happening. I even went as far as pretending to be sleeping when my parents announced. "We're here!" I hid my face in my arms, unwilling to move.

The door opened, and a gust of cold air blew in. I shivered, but still did not move.

"Come on, Anissa, let's go," my mother commanded. I sighed. There was no defying my mom. I sat up, and saw light rain drops fall to the ground from the grey clouds above. We were parked in front of a reddish brown bricked house. The house had a huge front yard, rain glistening in the faint sunlight which was shining through the storm clouds on the tops of the blades of the grass. Millions of rain drops danced in the air,  pattering softly down on the surrounding branches of trees and bushes, making wet dots on the cement driveway of my new home.

After a moment of gaping at what was now my new home, I hopped out of the car, and followed my father to the back of the truck, where he was already unloading boxes.

I pulled out a box at random and hoisted it out of the truck. I then  followed my dad inside. It was even more likable on the insides. With white walls and dark wood paneled floor boards, it gave off a kind, warm, and cozy feel to it. The room I was standing in was clearly the living room. I walked farther into the house, walking through the dining room, the bathroom and stairs leading upstairs on the left, then straight into the kitchen.

Okay, so maybe living in this house wouldn't be that bad, but it was still nothing compared to the little white house I grew up in. One by one, we brought the remaining boxes in from outside, stacking them against the left wall as Mom opened them, and started putting things away. After an hour, my dad and I finished. Thank goodness, because my legs ached and my arms burned from picking up and putting down heavy objects.

"Anissa, come sit down. I've made you a snack," my mother told me. Not about to pass up an offer to sit, I took the seat across from her at the kitchen counter. She slid a plate of cut up fruit toward me, and I began to eat. No doubt by the time I finished helping my parents unpack, I'd be totally worn out the next morning. I groaned, remembering that tomorrow I would be starting my new school.