| Chapter One |
“Haisley Clark! Get off that phone at once!” Haisley bolted upright, tucking her phone deep into the pocket of her jeans before Mrs. Katz could have it confiscated. “Sorry, Mrs. Katz,” Haisley apologized, but Mrs. Katz looked at Haisley suspiciously. “You’ve been telling me that since the day I met you!” she scolded, yet another reminder that she had known Haisley since she was in kindergarten, thanks to her over-talkative mom. Mrs. Clark would often make friends with Haisley’s teachers, and she was consistently teased about it by her classmates. “You better get a good grade on that science test, Haisley, because otherwise Mrs. Katz will tell your mother!” they would shriek at Haisley every recess. Despite Mrs. Katz being friends with Haisley’s mother, it didn’t stop Mrs. Katz from being just as strict with her as everyone else. “…That is the second time I have had to ask you, Miss Clark!” Mrs. Katz raised her voice when Haisley reached behind her for her phone again. Bracing herself for another one of Mrs. Katz very-not- private lectures, Haisley slumped back into her plastic chair, only to hear instead the loud, sharp sound of the recess bell ring. Every student made a rush to the door, quickly clogging Haisley’s way. “Miss Clark, I would like to speak with you,” Mrs. Katz’s sharp voice pulled Haisley toward her teacher’s desk. “Yes?” Haisley asked tentatively, waiting for a few sharp words before she could go. But Mrs. Katz sat down slowly behind her desk and folded her hands together. Her usual rather stern look disappeared into a face of worry. “How are you doing, Haisley?” she asked, addressing her student with a rather unusual title. “I heard your family is moving to Colorado! That should be a nice change of scenery, but a rather large one, if you ask me. Organ to Colorado is a long distance.” She said the last words quietly, as if they weren’t her words to say. Haisley jumped up. “What! How do you know we are moving?” she asked in disbelief. Her mom hadn’t said anything about moving. Mrs. Katz clapped a hand to her mouth. “Oh no, I didn’t know you didn’t know–” She didn’t finish before Haisley dashed out of the room. “Haisley! Wait! You can’t leave school without office approval!” Mrs. Katz called down the hall, but Haisley wasn’t in the position to listen. She grabbed her phone and texted her mom.
Mom, Mrs. Katz said that we were moving. We aren’t, right???
Out of breath and exhausted, (Haisley had never been an athlete when it came to running) Haisley stared at her phone until a reply appeared.
Yes, honey, Mrs. Katz is right. I wasn’t planning on telling you, but…🤷
Her mom wasn’t planning on telling her? Haisley sprinted down the last few blocks and reached her house, grabbing the door knob to hold her up before she burst into her house and collapsed onto the couch. “MOM!” she called, running upstairs. Her mother appeared from the doorway of Haisley’s parents bathroom, and appeared to be halfway through applying her makeup, seeing as she only had blush on one cheek. “Haisley! Why are you back so early? You can’t leave school!” Mrs. Clark scolded. Haisley shook her head. “How come Mrs. Katz knew we were moving but I didn’t?” she cried. Her mother’s eyes softened. “Mrs. Katz happened to come around when I was looking at houses on my computer, and she wanted to know what we were doing,” her mother explained.
“When are we leaving?”
“Tomorrow.”
Haisley dashed to her room and pulled out her phone. She had to tell her friends!
I’m mving! I cn’t believe it! Can u? I’ll mss u!
She sent the message to everyone and waited for a reply, before watching a flood of sympathetic messages appear on her phone:
So srry!
I’ll mss u!
I’ll visit u bfre u leev!
“Haisley! Dinner!” Her father called, and her mother added, “No phones!” Haisley sighed, before meeting her mom and dad at the dinner table. “Haisley,” her father said sternly, “You know the rule,” he added, pointing at the bulge in Haisley’s pocket, her weak attempt at sneaking her phone to the table. Haisley rolled her eyes, but set her phone on the table, sliding it to her father. “I hope you are packed?” he asked, and Haisley shook her head, munching on the leftover pizza her mom had warmed up. “Then you should pack, because we need to leave first thing this morning!” her father cried, and Haisley raced up to her room, shoved a few pairs of underwear and socks into her bag, and scurried back downstairs, placing it next to her parent’s neat pile of stuff. “Done.” she announced, before gulping down her dinner.