“We are moving to Freedom,” my mom said. She sat in her chair. She sat very still and just watched me.  

“What?” I asked.  

I must not have heard right. We had lived in Berkeley forever. Was this a joke? What was going on? What could I say? This was so NOT good.  

My head started spinning! I felt dizzy. I am not a little kid anymore! I cannot just be packed up and moved like a baby. High school is already hard enough.  

I felt like barfing. All over the table. That would serve them right. My parents were crazy and selfish! I looked over at Dad. Maybe he would say “just kidding!” Dad was always playing around. But Dad just sat in his chair. He looked at me quickly. Then he looked away.  

We sat in the kitchen for an hour after that. Dad didn’t say much. Mom did most of the talking. But she didn’t really explain anything. I had questions. Lots of questions. My parents really had no answers. All they told me was that we were moving. Moving to Freedom. Moving almost two hours away.  

As Mom talked at me about nothing important, my mind drifted. I heard her saying things like, “You will love the school..." and, ”The county fair in Freedom is really fun!"  

Her voice kept going and going, but I had stopped listening. My mind was FULL of questions. I didn’t need to listen to any more of Mom’s silly talk.  

“That’s enough!” I yelled. I pushed my chair back hard and stood up. My chair flew backward. The heavy wood slammed into the china cabinet behind my seat. I ran to the front door. I could hear the sound of broken glass falling. Mom finally stopped her silly Freedom talk and started yelling. I slammed the door behind me and kept running.  

I didn’t have to run far. My best friend Donna’s house was on the corner of my court. I knocked softly on the front door. Donna’s mom opened the door. I tried to look normal as I said hello. She looked at me kind of funny and then called for Donna.  

As soon as we got safely into Donna’s room I started babbling. The words just came vomiting out. “We are moving. To freaking Freedom! Do you even know where that is?! Have you ever even HEARD of it?! It’s two flipping hours away!” I flopped backwards and lay slumped in the beanbag chair.  

Donna leaned forward and whispered “Holy crap, Calli. Why? What are your parents thinking?! What did you do? You must have screwed up bad for them to MOVE!”  

I sat up and held my head in my hands. “That’s just it, Donna. I haven’t done a thing. I got a 99 on my history test last week. I took the trash out a couple of days ago. My room doesn’t even stink right now. AND I have not asked if I can dye my hair purple for at least a week. WHAT IS GOING ON? None of this makes sense! And all this mess right before my birthday?!”  

Donna slowly shook her curly blonde head. We both flopped backwards into our beanbag chairs and lay there.  

Before I knew it, THE DAY had arrived. I woke up early. I could hear Mom and Dad moving around in the kitchen. It also sounded like a herd of cows was walking down the hall.  

I pulled my door open and peeked out. The movers were here already! My stuff was pretty much packed. Well, it was as packed as it was going to be. I decided a few days ago that I didn’t care. I didn’t care if my stuff got moved. I didn’t care if the movers lost my stuff. I didn’t really care if my stuff just stayed right there. Maybe the new kid who’d get my room would want it. Whatever.  

I pulled a sweater on and yanked the hood over my head. As I walked down the hall, I tried not to think. This was probably the last time I would see this hall. “Get a grip, Calli! Really? Boo-hoo over a hall!” I mumbled to myself.  

Mom and Dad were standing in the kitchen looking at a list. Mom always had a list for everything. I didn’t speak and just put my head down as I passed.  

Outside, the cool air felt good. I had felt like barfing for weeks now, and the air helped. One quick hop and I was on top of our fence. From there it was an easy climb up to the roof. Mom and Dad hated it when I sat on the roof. “You're going to cause the roof to leak!” they always complained. Well, who cares now? I thought. WE won’t be here when the blasted thing springs a leak!  

From my private seat I could secretly watch the whole court. I had seen so much stuff from up here. Right now what I saw was Donna walking across her yard. It was 7:30 AM. Usually she would wait at the corner for me. This time, when she got to the corner, she stopped and turned. Donna looked towards my house. She put her hands around her eyes to block the sun. She must have seen me, because she threw both arms up. Wildly waving her hands, she looked so crazy I couldn’t help laughing!  

I waved back, then I heard Donna’s mom yell. “Donna! You’re gonna be late! Get moving, girl!”  

Donna waved again, turned, and then was gone.  

A second later, I got a text.  

Donna: OMG. My mom drives me nuts... Don’t stress. It’s gonna be ok Cal. I will SO be down to see you in Freedom this weekend. We can check out the local cuties! Luv ya!  

I stuffed my phone back into my pocket and wiped my eyes. I will NOT cry. I will NOT cry.  

The front door slammed below me, and I saw Dad looking up. “Hey, muffin... Um, we are ready to roll. So, if you could come on down, honey... It’s time, sweetie.”  

I didn’t say a word. As I slid across the roof, I felt my shoe catch. A single shingle broke loose and dropped into the hedge below. As I made my last jump down into the grass I smiled. Hope it rains soon, I thought. 

The two hour ride to Freedom seemed to take six hours. Mom and Dad talked at me the whole way. Every few minutes I’d just say “Uh-huh” or “Ok” or “Don’t know.” I was hoping they would stop talking. I put my headphones on. That just made Mom turn around and start doing weird mom hand signals. Like I’m supposed to understand what that means.  

I pulled my hood up and stared out the window. All of a sudden I felt my headphones fly off my head! I turned away from the window and Mom’s face was right there. She was waving my headphones around and whispering, “Honey, please. We have so much to talk about before we get there. I really need you to listen.”  

I saw Dad watching me in the rearview mirror. He nodded and said, “It’s pretty important, muffin. There’s some things you need to know.”  

I leaned back in my seat and looked up through the moon roof. “Guys, I’m sorry but I honestly don’t care. I don’t care how AWESOME the school is in Freedom. I care even less about how AWESOME the fair is in Freedom. I get it. You think Freedom is AWESOME. I think Freedom probably stinks.”  

Mom made a noise that sounded like a snort. I looked up in time to see Dad put his hand on Mom’s arm. “Take a breath, Ellie. There’s a lot she doesn’t know. Maybe it’s time to tell her a little.”  

Mom looked at me as though she’d like to sock me. Then she smiled. A really weird smile actually. And then she said it. “Calli, we had to move to Freedom before your fifteenth birthday. For your own safety.”  

WHAT is she saying?! My head once again felt like exploding. This was becoming far too regular a feeling lately. I shook my head to clear it a bit. “What are you talking about, Mom?! Dad, what is she talking about?!”  

Dad looked at me in the rearview mirror. He suddenly looked really tired. “Muffin, it’s complicated. We’ll explain it all to you in time. Right now, you need to know that this move is what’s best for you. For all of us.”  

Mom turned in her seat. She reached out to put her hand on my arm. I pulled my arm away and glared at her. “I have a right to know what’s going on! What do you MEAN we had to move ‘FOR MY SAFETY?!’ And what’s my birthday got to do with ANYTHING?! Are you guys okay? I mean, are you going through a mid-life crisis or something? I feel like I should call someone and get you a checkup! NONE of what you’re saying makes ANY sense at all!”  

I had been so busy yelling (and trying to keep my head from exploding) that I didn’t notice we had exited the freeway. We were driving up a winding road with trees on both sides. I looked back and saw the freeway disappear behind a hill. Mom was talking in her calm-down voice, but I wasn’t listening anymore. All I could see now were trees. There were a few houses sprinkled here and there on the hills.  

Suddenly, Dad said, “Whoa! Almost missed it!”  

He swerved our SUV wildly to the right. We almost missed a narrow dirt road that was half hidden behind a huge tree. As we careened past the tree something caught my eye. It almost looked like there were words carved all over the enormous trunk. In a second, though, the tree was gone.  

We were barreling up the dirt road, and in the distance I saw it. The house. It was pretty creepy looking. Three stories, with a big covered porch across the front. The top of the porch was drooping way down. It made the house look like it was drunk. Or winking. Or leering at us like an old pervert. Either way, it looked really creepy.  

And then... I knew. THIS was our house. Mom and Dad hadn’t said anything yet, but I knew. I felt like barfing again. I opened my window to get some air. I was about to ask how much farther we had to go. Just then the car started to slow down, and Dad pulled over.  

“Well, muffin, here we are! This is it, honey!” He turned around and must have seen the look on my face. “Now, I know, I know. It needs a little love. It’s been empty for a while, sweetie.”  

I was speechless and couldn’t think of a word to say. So I just sat there, staring at the house. My life was officially over. My parents hate me. That’s why they dragged me away from everything and everyone. They hate me and they are crazy. I felt tears starting to burn in the corners of my eyes.  

Dad kept talking. “Cal, it’s going to be fun. We’ll make it a project. You can pick all the paint colors for your room. It just looks rough right now. Jeez, honey, no one has lived here since Mom moved out...”  

Out of the corner of my teary eyes I saw Mom’s head flip towards Dad. “Ed!” she hissed.  

Too late. I might have been barfy. I might have been crying. But I totally heard THAT.  

“MOM used to live here?! WHEN? I thought Mom grew up in Berkeley!”