One afternoon, everything changed. I was at Gina's house, practising a new song for the band, when my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a text from my mom. It was simple, but I felt my stomach drop.
Could we talk? Can you come home?
Why did I feel something was wrong? I'd gotten texts like this before, but nothing too unusual. But the tone of her message. It felt...different. A weight settled in my chest as I told Gina and Alice I had to leave, though they could see something was off. They didn't press, but I could feel their eyes on me as I walked out the door.
When I got home, my mom was sitting on the couch, her hands folded neatly in her lap. My mom has always been beautiful in that quiet, composed way. Dark brown hair, that was usually held back in a neat lower bun and a soft smile that's rarely forced. But today, her expression was anything but calm. Her usual warmth was replaced with a weariness I couldn't ignore. The way she sat, back straight but shoulders slumped, made it clear that whatever she was about to say, she didn't want to say it.
"Milly," she said with her voice trembling. She wasn't looking at me, but her eyes were soft, almost apologetic. "We're moving."
I felt a knife hit my chest. I just stared at her, as if hoping the words I heard were not what she said. My throat tightened, and I shook my head. "Wait... what? You mean like, moving across town? Or..."
"No, Milly." Her voice cracked as she finally met my eyes. "We're moving...out...out of state."
My heart dropped into my stomach, I could not breathe. What did I just hear? "What? "No. You...you can't be serious. I...I don't understand. What are you talking about?" As I moved closer to her.
I could feel the heat rising in my chest, but I held it in for a second. I tried making sense of what she was saying. My life was here. My friends, my band, everything I loved. This couldn't be happening. But when I looked into her eyes there was no doubt she was lying.
"Milly, I got a job offer," she continued, her voice quiet for a while as if trying to ease me. "It's a great opportunity for us. We're moving to New York, and I'm going to start next month."
My vision blurred. All I could see was red and before I knew it, the words exploded out of me. "A job? You're dragging us halfway across the country for a job? For you? What about me? What about my life?" I threw my hands up, the frustration I had in me boiling. "What about everything I've worked for?"
"Milly all I do, I do for you,"
"That's when I lost it. Everything she did, she said she did for ME. But making me start all over...was that really for ME?! Was that really what I needed right now?
"You know Mom the crazy thing is that you never even ASKED me if I wanted this!" I shouted, my hands trembling as I tried to contain the rage pulsing through my veins. I felt betrayed. Tears welled in my eyes "I'm not some little kid anymore. I have a life here, Mom. I have friends and a band, I have everything right here. YOU have everything right here and you're just going to rip it all away because of some new job?"
My voice was shaking, but I couldn't stop it. Oh my head, why did it feel so heavy? Why did I feel so empty, the only thing in me was the anger consuming me like a fire, rushing through me to devour everything in its path. "Do you even care what this does to me? To my future? You don't get to just change everything without asking me first!"
Her face was pale now, and I could see the struggle behind her eyes. She reached out, trying to calm me, but I jerked back.
"Milly, I know this is hard, but I'm doing this for us, the opportunities we could have in the big city, " she said, her voice tight. "I thought you'd understand."
But I didn't understand. I couldn't. How could she think this was okay? How could she think I'd roll over and accept it?
"Us?" I echoed bitterly as my voice became sharp. "What about me? My dreams? You know, the ones I've spent my whole life building right here, in Texas?"
I was out of breath, my chest was heavy with the weight of everything I wanted to say but couldn't find the words for. My mom just sat there with her face falling and her hand still outstretched, like she was trying to reach me, but I was not ready to answer.
I turned away, unable to look at her anymore. I could feel the anger burning in my gut but it wasn't enough to numb the ache that started spreading through my chest.
"Why didn't you even ask?" I whispered, this time more to myself than to her.