Every Inch of Sanity

The sound of Blink 182 blasts throughout my room. Two hours ago, I attempted to play along with the boys. Apparently, I'm not that good yet so I've settled for lying on my bed with my guitar in my grasp. The chorus plays again when suddenly my brother barges into my room. The sudden presence startles me, so I look at him expectantly.

"What do you want?" I say, slowly.

"Could you maybe try to hear me next time? Maybe turn your music down?"

"No," I say, "and F.Y.I, you play your music louder than I do, I'm surprised you aren't deaf yet."

He sticks his tongue out at me. "Whatever."

I roll my eyes at his maturity, "What did you want?"

"Mom wants you downstairs."

I nod my head to show that I understand and shoo him away, seeing this he rolls his eyes and leaves. I pause the CD and put my guitar down on my bed, rolling off and falling on the floor. Why I constantly forget that my bed is outrageously high off the floor, I shall never know. I get up and run down the stairs to go see my mom. She's on the couch, as usual, in the living room surrounded by smoke. I open the window to let some of it out.

"You know mom, if you're gonna smoke inside, at least open the window a bit." I say, grunting as I force the last window open.

She waves her hand at me, almost as if she were brushing my comment out of the air. "Yes, I know. You tell me that every time."

"And you still never do it. You should listen to me you know, I am your daughter after all," I say teasingly.

"For your information, I do open the window," I raise my eyebrow at her. "When you aren't here."

I roll my eyes, "Of course you do. Anyway, what did you need me for?"

She fidgets a bit before she said, "Could you boil water for me? I wanted to make soup."

"Yeah, sure." I make my way to the door and stop just as I'm about to pass the threshold.
"Hey, mom?" She looks up at me, "What did you really need me for?"

She looks wide-eyed for a bit, but then regains her demeanor and brings out a "Just the water honey. That's all."

I turn myself around to lean on the door frame, and stare at her with knowing eyes. I raise my eyebrows at her, egging her to continue.

"Fine fine, you caught me. Just stop staring at me like that. I have very big news," she sighs, looking at me. "We're moving."

Just as my smile starts to grow, she adds, "Far."

My face fails to hide my expression of disdain, "How far?" I ask.

"New Jersey."
Well, I think. That's... out there. I can already feel my brow furrowing at the thought. She must've seen it too, 'cause the next things she said were meant to comfort me. The usual 'You'll make lots of friends there' and 'I bet there's cuter boys in Jersey'; I waited for her to finish her little babble run to have my turn.

"But Mom," I whine, fully understanding that whining at my age was totally immature. I didn't care. "You know how I am when I meet new people, and boys on top of that. And Anja won't be there! We've been friends for like ever! We're basically sisters! And I'm comfortable in my room now! I know I'm sharing with Monica, but hey, I can deal with that! We don't need more space, we're doing perfectly fine! And! I've finally gotten comfortable in school! I'm doing well now! And!..."

"Genevieve! Stop complaining this instant." She says, exasperated from hearing my rampage. I snap my mouth closed and make a frustrated face at her. "Thank you. Now, I understand where you're coming from, but your father and I have decided that it's time for us to have our own home. We can't live with your grandparents forever. You know how your father wanted to live further, so just let him have his wish, okay? And plus, you'll have your own room in Jersey. And..." she trails off.

I wait patiently for her to finish the sentence. And by patiently, I mean foot-tapping, arm-crossing, eyebrow-raising patient.

"Your father and I talked to Anja's parents and they're okay with her coming and living with us."

"Really? You're not playing a prank on me, right?" She shakes her head in response. My grin spreads from ear to ear and I squeal, jumping up and down with excitement.

"So you're okay with moving now?"

I nod, still jumping. "When do we leave?"

"A week from today."

This stops me quickly."A week?! I have to start packing now!"

I run from the living room smiling like a maniac, up the stairs and into my room. Looking around at all my stuff; the posters, the knick-knacks, the clothes, the cd's... oh boy. This is going to be great fun, I can tell.