As a sixth grader, she was an intelligent student, a half-hearted band kid, and an avid reader. Her best friend lived across the street, and they looked forward to a summer filled with pool parties, ice cream, and laughter.
They got that summer too, but it was tainted by a phone call the girl overheard. A few weeks later, her fears were confirmed when her dad told her that he had sent out his résumé. They had been asked to move to a town on the coast, over three hundred miles away. Her friend did not know, but that summer, the chlorine was mixed with saltwater tears and there was a catch in her laugh.
School started that autumn, and everything became official. She told her friend, and they shed more tears. After Christmas, the movers came and put her life into cardboard boxes and took it 300 miles away, just so she could start over.
Those next months were torturous. Books were her best friends until she realized that they simply reflected the very thing she was trying to escape. So music became her new love, and her instrument seemed to be an extension of her hands.
Summer allowed the girl a chance to cry and heal and come to love her new town. Six months before, she never would have believed it, but now, she was only mildly surprised to find herself content once more.
Now, as a freshman in high school, she is a bright student, a wholehearted musician, and an avid reader who is friends with all librarians everywhere. She is also very happy.