When I was first notified that we were moving to South Dakota, I was completely and utterly devastated. Being only twelve at the time, I could not believe that my mother was forcing me to move away from my friends and family. I had a wonderful life in Texas. I mean, I had amazing friends. They always had my back and whatever predicament we got into, we always got out unscathed every time. I wasn’t quite popular, but everyone knew who I was. I had spent years trying to attain a worthy name for myself. Why was she making me throw it all away just so she could move in with her boyfriend, whom I despised with a never-ending passion? The only thing she would say was that “It’ll be different there,” but I didn’t believe her. What could be better than what I already had? How could moving to a place where I knew no one be better? Life was going to be different, this I was sure of; but whether it would be better was a mystery that only time could solve.
On the day of the move I didn’t go to school because I couldn’t face my friends. I knew the pain and the agony of the ordeal would be too much for me to bear. As we drove to South Dakota, all my mother played was country music. This made me feel more depressed about my situation. It reminded me of all the things I had wanted to do like join the football team and go to my friend’s twelfth birthday party in a week. Most of all, though, there was a girl that I had liked since fifth grade, but I never had the guts nor the courage to tell her how I felt. I knew I would probably never see her again and even if I did, it would be pointless, for she would have most likely forgotten who I was by that time. As we finally crossed into South Dakota my heart sank deeper, almost to the point where I believed I would never feel whole again. I knew that the life I had before was gone forever, never to return no matter how badly I wanted it to.
My first year in South Dakota was filled with nothing but a sense of never-ending heartache and brutal torment. There were many nights when I cried myself to sleep because of the pain. As the years went by and I grew older, I realized that I was slowly taking to this new place I had come to call home. In the four years since the day I had moved here I had believed that I would never like living here but this had not been so. I had made some great new friends, who reminded me of the friends I used to have, and become much stronger inside and out. I couldn’t believe it. I hung my head and chuckled silently to myself. How ironic it was that those words my mother had said all those years ago had actually come true. I lifted my face towards that beautiful blue sky, where the brilliant sun sat halfway between East and West. It was different here, in this place that I had become so familiar with, but there came that all too familiar thought in my head as well. Something this good would not last, for it always ended the same way. Those words that I dreaded so much would leave my lips again, but hopefully not for a very long time. I cherished my life here and I would do anything to keep it this way.