I stare at my parents in disbelief. "You're joking. "I stutter." We can't be moving!" I scratched my forehead as I processed what happened in my head. Dad and Jess just told me we're moving; from warm Texas where in the winter, it flips, and it's below 60 degrees every day to California. Who-knows-the-weather California, where-everyone's-famous California, San Francisco, California. "What job are you getting, Jess?" Jess swallows loudly, then glances at me and looks away.
"A therapist," She mumbled. "I've always wanted to help people wrap their heads around their feelings."
Dad puts his hands on his hips. "C'mon Bri! It won't be so terrible. We'll be an hour from the beach!"
I glower at him. "We have beaches in Texas. Also, what are you going to do in San Francisco?
You're perfectly fine working at the office." Dad works at an advertising firm that helps publicize small businesses. "You love it there."
Dad shuffles. "There's a building in Santa Rosa that I'll be working at. No worries."
I took a deep breath.
"But when are we leaving?"
Dad shoved his hands in his pockets. "We're leaving," Dad looked at Jess. She twirled and unraveled her hair. "Tomorrow."

I walked around the house, memories coming down like a storm. From when I was potty-trained to my 12th birthday. I sat on my bed, tears rolling down my face. Jess walked into my room and sat right next to me on my bed, her long golden hair touching my bedsheets. She extended a tan hand to me. I didn't take it.
"Hey," She breathed. "I know what it feels like." I turned to her. "How?"
Jess took a deep breath. "When I was eight, I moved to Tennessee. I didn't want to go, I
loved my home in Colorado. But when I got to Tennessee, I made two wonderful friends, and I had the best 15 years of my life." She sighed. "You may not want to go now, but great things can come out of moving. A fresh start. New friends. New turf."
I stuck out my bottom lip, "But I don't want a new turf. I love my home in Texas." Jess fiddled with her fingers.
"Sometimes a new turf might be better than the old one."
She walked out of my room and quietly closed the door. I laid back down on my bed, confusion spread all over me. Why did they want to go? Did they not like Texas? There were plenty of therapist jobs in Houston. I grabbed my Chromebook and opened it up to Google. I started searching for sites to see in San Francisco: the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Alcatraz Island, Pier 39, and many, many more. Looking over at the site, I thought, "Would it be so bad to move to San Francisco?"
I looked at our empty house then walked out of it and crossed the street to my best friend's house, Nala. I knocked on the door and only on the second knock she answered. "Bri! Come in!" Nala pulled me to her room. I took a deep breath.

"Nal I-"
"We're making blueberry French toast. That's wayyy better than just French toast." Nala interrupted.
"Nal I have-"
"Oh, we should go to the mall and get matching T-shirts for the first day of school!" "NAL!" I screamed. She jumped and stared, "What?"
I took a deep breath, "Nala, I'm leaving." Nala's eyes lit up.
"Where? For vacation? Are you going to the Caribbean?" I sighed and shook my head. "No Nala. I'm leaving. I'm moving." Nala raised an eyebrow.
"To Austin? That's not too far from Houston. I'll visit on weekends!" "NALA!" I screamed. "I'm moving to California. San Francisco."
Nala physically drooped. "Huh?!" She went to hug me tight. I breathed in the cinnamon hot chocolate smell that always made me smile. I gripped on her pale white skin like I never wanted to let go. She pulled away, and we both dropped on her bed. Though we were not saying it, I knew we were thinking the same thing.
"I'll miss you, Bri," Nal said it as if she would never see me again. I hope that wasn't true. "Me too, Nal," I whispered.
We both rested on the bed, not keeping track of the time. Finally, Nala broke the silence with a sound that sounded a little like ‘Garbish'.
"Bri! We can't just waste your last days-"
"Day." I groaned.
"Well then, day on lying down in my room doing nothing. C'mon! Let's go to the mall or get Boba! Let's just have fun!" She wiggled her eyebrows in sync with her shoulders. She grabbed my hand and pulled me up. "I want to have the best last day with my girl."
Nala and I traveled around Houston. We went to the zoo, got BBQ, ("There's RIB sauce all over me!" Nal snorted.), And walked around lake Houston six times ("My lucky number!" I grinned.) As we traveled back to our neighborhood on our bikes, side by side, I realized how much I was going to miss this. Miss Nal. Since we were playing duck-duck-goose when we were three until now, strolling around Lake Houston and laughing at snakes.

The next day, we all walked onto the plane, Dad, Jess, and I. I took Jess and Dad's hand."Sorry," I mumbled. "It wasn't right the way I blew up yesterday." They both nodded and kissed my head. We walked around the airport for a while, looking at clothes that said, ‘I heart Texas' or ‘Texan 4 Ever'. Jess and Dad treated me by buying a ‘Texas Girl' shirt with swirls and dots dancing around the shirt. We continued to stroll around the airport and stopped at the Whataburger's big, neon, orange sign. Dad smiled, "I'm going to miss those burgers." We bought three humongous, maximum burgers with six, cheesy, hot, curly fries and took them to our boarding area. I played around with my phone, but after a few minutes, my stomach was filled with nervousness. Sweat poured from the tips of my forehead. Dad glanced over to me and saw the salty droplets.
"Brianna? Are you scared?"
I wiped my forehead. "No! No! I'm perfectly fine." Dad tipped his head as if to say, ‘We both know that isn't true.' I sighed. "No. I'm not fine. I'm scared. I've never moved out of our house. Much less move to another state."

Dad linked his hand with mine. "Bri, you survived your mother's death without a single tear dripping from your eyes to your skin. If you can do THAT," He grinned. "You can do this."
We took our seats, and my fingers tingled with a mix of fear and interest. I turned to

Jess,


"What's California like?" Jess buckled her seatbelt. "I don't know, hon. But we're about to find out."


We got to our new house, and the U-Haul truck was already there. I walked in and out of the rooms, then into the backyard. The backyard wasn't big or small; it was just right. My eyes rode around the sky, cloudless and a beautiful baby blue. I walked into the house, then into my new room. It was big, almost three times the size of my old room. With a queen-sized bed, a walk-in closet, desk, and a vanity, something I've always wanted in Texas, but my room didn't have space. I got my boxes and started unpacking. After five hours, the sun was coming down and my room was coming together. Then the doorbell hollered at me. My parents were deep in the living room, unpacking, so I walked to the front door and opened it. An about 12 or
13-year-old girl stood before me. Strawberry blonde hair with hundreds of freckles. She had her hair into two braids, no strand out of place, and she looked so put together. When she smiled, her teeth shone with glory, as if they sparkled. She looked familiar. "Hi!" She held a bean casserole in her hands. "I heard you just moved here. I made this myself." She shoved the plate into my hands. "I'm Gigi. I live one house over." She stuck out her hand, and I shook it.
"Hi. I'm Bri. I moved here from Texas." Gigi lit up. "Houston, right?"
I raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?" Gigi jumped up and down.
"You're Brianna McClain! I moved three years ago!" Memories flashed before me.
Sleepovers, dares, schoolwork, horse stables. "And you're a Gianna Panini!" I screamed.
I went to hug her. I could feel her heart going bumpity-bump-bumpity-bump against my chest. My black afro digging into her shoulder. My smile grew wider as I pulled away. I put my hands on her shoulders.
"Maybe moving won't be so bad after all."