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Chapter 1
A New Life

Hi, my name is Bailey Hadlin, I’m sixteen and in tenth grade (Well technically eleventh because tenth grade just ended.) I have wavy brown hair and blue eyes. I’m an only child, my parents are wealthy business people (CEOs of something), and I live in Connecticut. I love my life just as it is, I have a serious boyfriend, (Jake and I have been a couple for three years.) and lots of friends (my closest friends being Maya, Grace and Lara.). I am popular, I’m the girl that every one wants to be, and I love it.

It’s eleven thirty on a Saturday night and I’m trying to fit my entire life into a few boxes. My mother and father told me last month that we were moving but I’ve only now (two days before we leave) started to pack my things. School let out yesterday and I’ve been packing since I got home. I want to call Grace so I can whine about packing and moving to California, but I force myself focus on the task at hand, which would be shoving fifty-eight books into one box. I almost start to cry when I hear the box rip.
“Shit!” I hear myself say before I can stop myself. Then I hear my mother’s foot steps out side my bedroom. Shit. My mother hates it when I swear and now I’ve woken her up swearing.
“Bailey, did you just swear? Because you know I don’t like it when you swear.” Mom calls through my door. “I really hope I didn’t just hear you say the S word.”
“No mom I said shoot. Do you have any more boxes or some duck tape? One of my boxes ripped.” I call back
“Now why on earth would I have duck tape? Do you think I carry it in my back pocket? No I don’t have any duck tape! We’ll get you a new box tomorrow, go to bed.”
I wanted to get this done tonight because of a good-bye party my friends are throwing for me tomorrow I won’t have time to pack my things, but I don’t have time to argue either. I press my ear to my door and listen to her footsteps, waiting till they completely disappear into the master bedroom. Finally I can’t hear any more steps I pull back from the door afraid that if I’m too loud she will come back. As I go back to packing I’m startled be a soft bing. It’s my cell phone, I have a text from Jake:
Y r u still up??
(Jake live across the street so we can see each other’s windows from our rooms) I go to my window and sure enough Jake is at his looking over at me. I text him back at once:
Me: Packing. y r U still up?
Jake: Can’t sleep knowing we only have two days left 
Me: Please don’t remind me! i don’t want to leave! 
Jake: Luv u <3
Me: Luv u 2 <3
I know it’s cheesy that we text each other luv u, but we have done that every night since Jake got his cell phone. (I’ve had one since I was eight.)

I wake up at nine on Sunday not quite sure how I got into bed the night before. The last thing I remember is texting Jake Luv u 2. I look around my room wondering why all my things are in boxes, then it hits me like a ton of bricks, we’re leaving tomorrow. I get up, brush my hair, and head down stairs for breakfast. When I get down stairs I see that Jane our housekeeper is already doing laundry. We talk awkwardly while I eat my yogurt, she’ll be out of a job tomorrow so this must be hard for her.
After breakfast I head back up to my room to get dressed. What to wear? What to wear? I keep thinking as I dig through my boxes of clothes, finally I settle on a black mini skirt, a white tank top, and a pair of glittery flip-flops. Next I pick up my cell and call Lara, she picks up on the first ring.
“Lara here.” I hear her say and tear come to my eyes. I can’t leave her! I can’t
“I don’t know why we have to move any way! I mean why did mom have to take the raise? We have plenty of money!” I can’t stop now it’s all poring out.
“Is that what your going to do cry? You don’t cry! We don’t cry! We are strong, you are strong! So this is what’s going to happen, your going to move to California, we’re all going email each other every week, ok?” Sometimes Lara seems more like my mom then my actual mom.
“Your right. Do you promise you’ll email me every week?” I ask in a small voice.
“Now why wouldn’t I email you, your like a sister to me!” She pauses, “look I have to go, you know to set up for your party. Bye we’ll talk later”
“Ok but just one thing, you hate your sisters.” I say back and I can’t help but smile. Lara has two sisters Elvira and Jade. They’re always at each others throats, mostly because they share a bedroom and they were always fighting over space
“Whatever. Now I have to go.”
“Ok I’ll see you later”

After I hang up I go back to packing. Mom’s brought me another box and has taken the ripped one to Jane to get rid of. After packing for an hour I look at the clock I have and hour and a half till the party. That should be enough time to get ready. I grab a light pink, tank top, a white button up, gray mini, and my glittery flip-flops, then head to the bathroom for a shower. Once I’m out of the shower and get dressed, I go to my room and sit down at my make up table. First I grab my eye liner, then my eye shadow, and blush, and mascara. (Making sure that it’s all waterproof). Finally I’ve finished putting on my make up and I’m ready to go to the party, I look at my clock and see I’ve still got twenty minutes and the party’s at Jake’s. I mean it’s not going to take me twenty minutes to walk across the street! I look out my window gazing at Jake’s house. I’m going to miss looking out my window at him in his window and calling him just to ask him dumb questions. Suddenly I feel tear pricking my eyes again. This is exactly why I wore waterproof! I cry too easily! I don’t want to cry, I want to be strong. Looking around, I desperately try to find something to take my mind of this pain. A book! Yes, I love to read! That’s what I’ll do to take my mind off things! I grab the book out of the box it’s in, and quickly read the title “Grace”. I don’t recognize this, dad must have gotten it for me. I open it and start to read. A few minutes later I hear a sharp rapping on my door.
“Come in!” I yell just a little too loud
“Oh no! She’s reading!” My father’s head pops through the door. His fluffy white hair is in disarray. I don’t think I’ve ever seen his hair that messy “Your friends are here, they want to know if your coming to the party or if your going to mope in your room all day?”
“Daddy why do we have to move? We have plenty of money. I just don’t understand why you have to take me away from my friends again.” I let my voice lower into a full-blown whine as I say this. My parents hate it when I whine, if they had two choose two things to hate they would be swearing and whining.
“We’ll talk about this after your party.” He says
“But Daddy I want-” He cuts me off before I can continue.
“No but! We will talk later!” He turns leaves the room.

Once I arrive at the party I notice that there are no parents to be seen. This surprises me because we are usually under strict super vision at parties. This is cool. What’s that I think staring at the cooler of beer sitting beside a couch. How’d they get that? I grab onto Grace’s arm and pull her to the side.
“Jesus! My goodness Bail! You made me spill my beer on my shirt!”
“Sorry. How’d you guys get beer?” I whisper to her. Why am I whispering?
“I don’t know. Jake got it. Does it mater?”
“Yea I guess it doesn’t mater.” I pause then pull her all the way into the corner “I just want to tell you that I’m really going to miss you and I want to know you’ll email me every week right? I mean just because I’m gone doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends and like Alexis has already stopped talking to me! You guys are my best friends and I can’t lose you guys. I’ll need your help to get me through moving. Okay?
“Oh my god calm down! I’ll email you twice a week if it makes you calm down. Now come on lets go party.”
We walk over to the cooler where Lara and Maya are waiting with beers, I take one from Maya and take a sip.
“Wow, wow, wow! What are you doing? We have to toast you!” Maya grabs my bottle from my hand to stop me from sipping again.
“Um… ok.”
“To Bailey and her new life!” The three of them scream.
“TO BAILEY!” The whole group of guests raises their drinks in the air.

As the party starts to wined down and people start to leave, I find Jake and rap my arms around his neck. We stand there kissing for a few minutes. Then the DJ puts on “Strawberry Wine” and we walk out onto the dance floor. As we rock back and forth I start to cry. I lift my head off his shoulder not wanting to soak his shirt. Jake notices almost immediately, pulling me into the corner. We are still rocking back and forth but no longer dancing.
“No, don’t cry, Be strong, remember our promise we will never lose touch.”
“That’s not why I’m crying, I’m crying because I’m afraid I will never see you again.”
“We’ll see each other on vacations, I promise”
“You say that now, but what if you find another girl? What if I find another guy? Then we don’t get around to telling each other? Lets say that you meet some girl named, I don’t know, Jackie and you go out with her and don’t tell me and I think I have this great boyfriend that I don’t have. Then finally I find out through Lara or Maya or Grace! I don’t know if I can do the long distance thing! Aren’t you even a little worried?” I can feel eyes on my back and tears on my face now but I don’t care.
“Yes I’m afraid I will never see you again but I don’t worry about either of us cheating. What does worry me is the fact that you don’t have faith in me! I’ve been with you for years, I’m devoted to you, to us,