May 2000
"Mom, I'm home!" called Kimberly Lewis, coming inside after school and dropping her bag in the hall.
Her mother entered the living room. "Oh, good. I need to talk to you, Kimberly."
Kimberly frowned. "Is it something bad?"
"Oh, no...at least, it doesn't have to be." Seeing that her daughter was confused, Mrs. Lewis said, "Why don't we sit down so I can explain?"
So they both sat down on the couch, and Mrs. Lewis began her explanation.
"Kimberly, you know that we're not very well off, right?" Kimberly nodded. "Well, at this point, we are in an even worse situation. I was fired this morning."
Kimberly gasped. "Oh, Mom! What are we going to do?"
"That's what I have to talk to you about. While you were at school, I was researching job openings on the Internet."
"Did you find anything?" Kimberly asked anxiously.
"Well, yes, actually." Kimberly smiled in relief, but the smile disappeared when her mom held up a finger. "Hold on a sec, Kimberly, before you get so happy. I haven't told you where the job is yet."
"Well, it's here in Chicago, isn't it?"
Her mom sighed. "I wish it was, honey. But it's not."
"Well then, where is it?" demanded Kimberly.
"It's in a city in Oklahoma, called Tulsa."
"What?!" exclaimed Kimberly. "I've never even heard of it! Why do we have to move there??"
Mrs. Lewis moved closer to her daughter and put her arms around her. "I know, I know," she murmured. "I don't want to move, either, and Tulsa isn't exactly my city of choice. But we're in a difficult situation, sweetie, and we don't have many options."
Kimberly was silent for a moment. Finally she asked, "When are we leaving?"
Her mother hesitated for a second before replying, "As soon as the school year is over."
"What???!!! But that's only another week!! You mean I have to say goodbye to all my old friends in a week?"
"Well, you'll always be able to write, and call..."
"Oh yeah right," Kimberly interrupted. "That never works, no matter what. You say you'll write, or call, and they say the same thing, and you each write one or two letters, and make maybe one phone call, and then you give up because it's just too inconvenient!"
Mrs. Lewis tried again. "Well then, you'll make new friends in Tulsa..." once again she was interrupted.
"Oh really? And how long will that take? Try forever, and they wouldn't be able to replace my old friends anyway! Face it, Mom," she said angrily, standing up, "my life as I know it is now officially over. I'm going out now, to spend time with my friends," she emphasized, leaving the house.
Mrs. Lewis watched her daughter go, thoughts running through her own head. She had never forgotten the city of her birth, nor the events that had happened when she was her daughter's age. She was a careless teenager who got carried away, and now she was paying for it. Ever since she had gotten pregnant, things had started to go wrong. Her boyfriend, who had sworn he'd always be there for her, had left her broken-hearted. He was 17, and a senior in high school, while she was only a sophomore. She had always felt so lucky to be dating the most popular guy in school, especially since he seemed to genuinely care for her. He was the one who convinced her to go to that party, the one that changed her life. She could still remember it like it was yesterday...
~Flashback~
Heather and Chris, her boyfriend, entered the house of one of Chris's friends.
"Hey, man, what's up?" called Chris to Shawn, whose party it was.
"Not much, dude. Hey, is this the famous Heather?" Shawn asked.
"Yep," Chris said proudly. "This is my girl."
"Cool, man," Shawn replied. He turned to Heather. "He never shuts up about you, did you know that? It's always 'Heather this' and 'Heather that'. He's lucky to have a girl like you."
"Thanks," Heather said, smiling shyly. She never had gotten used to the popularity that began when she started dating Chris. It was as though she became popular overnight, and she still wasn't used to it. She looked around the room to see if there was anyone she knew. All she saw was couples dancing, talking, kissing...basically just having a good time. An unfamiliar song was being played loudly, so loudly that Heather could feel the vibrations through the floor.
Chris tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey babe," he said once he'd gotten her attention, "do you want to go someplace private? Just the two of us?" He smiled. "It's a little loud in here."
She nodded. "It certainly is. Where did you have in mind?"
He smiled, the same sexy smile that had caused her to fall for him in the first place. "I was thinking of my house. There's no one home; everyone's out doing something else. How about it?"
She hesitated, knowing what could happen if she agreed. Then he smiled at her again, and she felt her resistance melt away. "All right," she agreed...
~End Flashback~
She shook her head. If only she hadn't said yes! Her life would still have been normal. She wouldn't have had to drop out of high school at 16, and she could have made something of her life. Instead, she got pregnant, her boyfriend left her, she lost her babysitting job with the best family in the world, so she had no way to earn money, and then her parents didn't accept her pregnancy. They didn't actually kick her out, but she hated the way they acted around her, so she left. She moved to Chicago when she was 17, and she hadn't been back to Tulsa since, or even thought about it...until now.
Chapter 2
Untitled, Untold
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