GOING AWAY

Listening to her dad, Marie felt a heavy lump in her throat. Unable to decide if she should be happy about finally getting to stay at home with her dad and the family after such a long time, or whether she should be sad about having to call off her friendship with Jean. Because the two things which Marie wanted for the rest of her life were not possible to happen at once. It was either this or that.

For a young girl like her, it was a tough choice to make. She had always wanted to stay at home with her family just like the rest of her friends and everybody whom she had known. Youngsters her age stayed in the family and kept very happy about the little things which they got to do at home. During the time when they discussed such things, Marie dreamt if it was ever going to be possible for her to feel just the same and not be separated from her family members after a couple of days or weeks.

But the depressing part about it was that even though it was happening, her newly built friendship with her best friend, Jean, was going to be at risk. Distance was not something that was looked forward to. That was because the people their age were never made to believe that being away could still sustain a bond. They were taught that physical proximity was very important to build any relationship even after their parents themselves had put their kids into the hostel; keeping them away and ironically talking about physical proximity.

Having a blank face on display was not going to make her parents reverse their decision. So, Marie gave a fake smile which was but obviously looking like that since it was not only subtle and unlike her actual smile, but it also lacked genuineness. Mr. Jones and Delilah could clearly understand that their daughter, Marie, was not happy about leaving the city and her school despite her effort to take the news in a gentle manner.

She was standing in front of them without moving at all, as if she were a statue. It was getting very difficult for her to demonstrate the kind of happiness her parents were expecting from her. Even though they had a hint about her liking a girl through her behavior and extraordinary happiness which she displayed when she mentioned her friend’s name, whereas, Delilah was sure about it after she read it in her diary.

It was very sweet of Mr. Jones not to believe what Delilah told him about his daughter and instead decided to give Marie the benefit of doubt since he had not seen any note or read any diary of hers. He also knew that Delilah sort of disliked his daughter, Marie, and wasn't really accepting of her. He chose not to believe Delilah and Ralph and trust his own daughter, Marie. After all, he was changing cities only because of the doubt that was cultivated in his mind by his dear wife who was also his daughter's step-mom.

Official transfers for him did not happen so soon, but he did not want to let go of this opportunity to pull Marie out of her school in order to separate her from that friend of hers who was actually turning into becoming something much more. That was only so that she could live according to what the society accepted and not be deviated towards how the modern world had been doing things. Which is why he applied for the position in which he had to change cities and showed interest in the first option which got listed in the company portal.

Luckily, it was in the same company, and hence his request for a transfer had not only been considered, but it was also accepted. Mr. Jones was supposed to join his new office as soon as possible, and he had been given only four days to do his entire shifting. It was only after he finalized the house for them to stay in, he decided to tell his wife and his daughters about having to move.

The next step for him was to find schools for his daughters, and since there were no schools for senior high years, he decided to opt for the only alternative that particular State had which were the various junior colleges that provided an alternative solution to that problem. It actually made more sense since the kids would be going to an undergraduate college later, it was important for them to be prepared to deal with the college atmosphere.

Besides, it was high time for Marie and her step-sister, Rebecca, to mingle around with each other the maximum they could. This step of putting them in the same junior college would make it possible for them to accept each other as sisters and love each other more without giving importance to any differences between them.

All of these things were falling just in place, but Marie was still not sure of how to feel about the bomb that her parents just blasted on her. The city that they were going to go to was the financial capital of their country, which meant more exposure, modern people, better lifestyle, and an ocean of opportunities. Marie was satisfied with that because had it been some other city, she would have been extremely sad about moving into that particular place.

But now she was accepting about living in an amazing city and sad about leaving her friend, Jean. She never really had such a friendship with anyone before. Currently, she managed to finally make not only a friend but someone who she called her best friend. Separating from her would not even be the last thing for Marie at the present time.

It was going to be very hard for both of them to accept the harsh reality of life. In spite of that, Marie was making up her mind to move with her family and shift to another city. She was becoming clearer in her mind to move away from Jean and not continue their friendship because from a distance it would not have been possible at all.

Texting, calling, etc cannot be relied upon because there wouldn’t be enough time for both of them to begin with, especially when they would have to focus more on their studies as senior high school or junior college, which meant the same thing were a stepping stone of their career. These crucial years would lay the foundation for both of them to grow in their respective lives, no matter what field they would choose.

After a lot of internal debate, Marie looked up to her parents, and she said, "I am glad we are moving to another city. It will be difficult for me to pack up my memories from school, but as it has been taught to us, that life must go on. So, that is what I am going to do."

"Daddy, the day after tomorrow is going to be the first day of school after holidays, and I want to spend just one last day in the hostel tomorrow like nothing is going to change, may I?"

"Yes, you may. It is Sunday, and I will drop you over there at noon tomorrow. I will come again the next morning since I have to talk to your admin department about pulling you out from there, it will take a lot of time for applications, fee, so on and so forth. You can be with your friends and teachers until then," Mr. Jones replied.

He concluded the plan by saying that they could at least do that much for their darling daughter. Marie slowly smiled and walked to her room. She was looking forward to meeting Jean at school tomorrow and planning how she would let her best friend know about all that which was going to happen in just two days from now.