Chapter
I stand in front of my house and holding my box of books raise my eyes once again to the Phoenix sun as if I were saying goodbye to it and I am. My mother says: “Come on, honey!” I look at her standing there looking at me, as the wind whips her hair into her face. Even the wind I’m going to miss. But it’s not just because of that that I’m not that excited about leaving here. We are going to New York City, to my mother’s new job. A friend called a few weeks ago asking if she was still interested in fulfilling a dream they had since they were teenagers, which was to open their law firm. My mother is a public defender in Phoenix, but this was never really the dream of her life, she wanted to have her law firm and with the help of her friend Jenna, we are now heading to New York and leaving everything behind. Not that we have that much stuff. It is just me and my mother, my father divorced her when I was five, I am now seventeen and remember a little about him except that he always gives me gifts on my birthday and always calls me on special dates. I won’t blame him and say that I grew up a girl without love and affection because my mother knew how to provide all this very well, so we are inseparable and it’s even worth all this sacrifice of leaving everyone I’ve known since I was a little girl, to move to a new school and a city where I know absolutely no one. … Jenna welcomes us as soon as we arrive at the airport. She looks at me, hugs me, and says: “Samantha, you have grown up!” I like Jenna, she is always with a big smile on her face as if she is ready to do anything. The opposite of how I am. We head towards the house she has arranged for us to rent while we settle in.
… She keeps talking to my mom and helping with the bags, I grab mine and head towards the stairs, where Jenna says the bedrooms are. She tells me that the first room after the stairs is mine, that’s all I need to hear. The house is all furnished and I see from the bedroom window that there is a very cute garden in the backyard, maybe I will like to be here. The first thing I do as soon as I put my bags on the bed is to send a message to Haylie: “It’s not as bad as I thought, but I miss you.” “Xoxo.” Haylie is my best friend and we cried a lot when we said goodbye, but a promise was left that she will come to visit us on vacation and that makes me feel better. She quickly replies to me: “I miss you too! I hope you have fun, even without me 🙁 😉 “Xoxo” I end up smiling as I read that, Haylie is so silly. I love her. I am still recalling happy moments from school alongside Haylie and my friends when I hear a car approaching from the neighboring house and I look out the window. The car enters the garage and I can only see what seems to be a man, I can’t see much when I try to get closer to the window so I can see better, my mother appears at my bedroom door which is half open and smiles saying: “Want something to eat, Sam?” She wants to make sure that I will be able to fit in here. Then I put a smile on my face and end up going towards her and forgetting all about what happened before. … We are sitting at the kitchen table, while Jenna and my mother make plans for Monday. Since it’s vacation time, I won’t be worrying about classes for a while, but Jenna has already talked to the principal of a school, then we’ll go there to finish my registration. Like Jenna said the school is not far from our neighborhood and I can go by a school bus if I want, or my mom can take me by the car when she goes to the office, but as I said I don’t want to think about it now. … Jenna says goodbye and I end up going to my room right after dinner, our trip was tiring and I just want to sleep. … As soon as I enter my room, I notice that in front of my window there is a light on in the neighboring house. It must be someone’s room. When I come back from the bathroom after brushing my teeth, I notice that someone is coming out the back door of that house. It is a man, definitely the one I saw earlier today arriving by car. He leaves with his back to me and I see that he is talking on the phone. Even with his back turned, he looks handsome. I strategically position myself so as not to be caught looking and then he turns around and faces me. And my God! he is beautiful and hot. I end up smiling to myself, at least I will have a privileged view. Minutes later when he is back in the house and I am getting ready to close the window and go to bed, I see him driving away. The car stops for a moment and I instinctively lean out the window. But the car drives on, I focus again on my tiredness and close the windows to fall into bed. The car moves on, I concentrate again on my tiredness and close the windows to get into bed as quickly as possible. … It is Saturday morning, I wake up and have breakfast with my mom. Jenna again comes to our house and the two of them go to an office that is close to the living room, to solve some issues about work. I prefer to go to the backyard and sunbathe by the pool. It’s better than staying inside all day. … I made some sandwiches for lunch, which Jenna compliments, making me happy. They return once more to the home office and then decide to go and see the place where the office where they will work will be, my mother asks if I want to go, but I still feel tired. Then she asks me to stay home and lock all the doors because they will be out all afternoon. Jenna says the neighborhood is quiet and she lives a few houses away, but my mom wants me to be okay anyway. I tell her not to worry and spend the rest of the afternoon watching TV shows in the living room. … She arrives in the evening excited about the place where she is going to work, I am glad that she is enjoying it because I am so bored here. Right after dinner, I go to my room. I put on my pajamas and turn on the TV, I’m not paying much attention to the movie that is playing, because I have a cell phone in my hands in the meantime. I wake up and look at the cell phone clock, it is 2 a. m. I decide to open the window, because it is kind of hot in here, or maybe it is just the fact that I still think I am in Arizona. After a while, I go downstairs to get some water in the kitchen. When I return, I see that there is a light in the next room. The white curtains are drawn aside and the glass window is half-open. Just as I am closing my window I see that guy standing there clinging to a girl and they are kissing… Without clothes? Is that right? No way! They are not only without clothes, but they are also… Having sex? The woman is sitting on some furniture near the window and I know she has her legs wrapped around his waist. I stand paralyzed at the window because even though he is looking down and kissing her neck I blush immediately and don’t know what to do. So I just watch his repeated slow back and forth movements. Suddenly he raises his eyes in my direction and I almost have a heart attack. I quickly duck down and close the window. I’m screwed!Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org