Where?

I knew that something odd was going on the second I woke up. My room was quiet, dark, cold, just how it always was. I sat up slowly, trying to figure out what was so strange.

“Hi,” whispered Clara from the chair in the corner. Clara was my best friend. My parents counted her as a part of the family.

I jumped. “Don’t do that!” I breathed. “What are you trying to do, give me a heat attack?”

“I’m sorry,” she said, looking down at her hands. She was sitting cross-legged, and she only did that when she was upset.

Something was wrong. I knew it just by looking at her. She usually woke me up in some obnoxious, loud, crazy way. And my mom was always in the background laughing. My mom wasn’t there, and Clara was being very quiet. For her to just wait for me to wake up was something very unusual.

“What’s wrong?” I asked slowly. I was going to be careful at first. I didn’t want to push her too far.

Clara stayed quiet, gazing down at her hands. When I repeated the question, she shook her head. She avoided eye contact. Something was very, very wrong, and I had to know what it was.

“Clara Lynn Braun, you will tell me what is wrong with you right now,” I said forcefully. I got out of bed and went to sit in front of the chair. I looked up at her, waiting for the moment she’d speak. My heart raced in my chest. I was incredibly nervous.

“So, you know how I said my mom was moving to Missouri?” she asked. Her voice cracked.

“Yeah, of course I do,” I answered. It had been quite the topic for discussion between us for weeks. Clara and I had been planning for weeks. We’d decided that she was going to stay with me until she graduated college. It was just the way it was supposed to go. Apparently, her mom had other ideas.

“I’m not going to live with her,” she said.

“That’s great! Your mom said you can live with us, then? School’s going to be so fun with you there, Clara. I’m so excited!” I yelled, clapping my hands.

“No, I’m not living with you guys. I’m going to live with my dad.” She was talking so quietly, I had to strain to hear her.

“But he lives in…” I trailed off.

“South Korea,” she finished for me.

My eyes filled with tears instantly. “You can’t do that!” I cried. “If you move that far away, I won’t even be able to call you anymore! I’m not going to have any friends, Clara!”

“I know you won’t,” she said, smiling slightly.

It was impossible. Clara was not allowed to move out of the country. Especially to a place like South Korea! She practically lived at my house, so I didn’t see why she couldn’t move in full-time. It wasn’t like she didn’t spend every waking moment here anyway.

I tried to think of something to say, but I couldn’t. I was shocked. “If you ever happen to get lost, don’t go north,” I managed to squeak.

She laughed out loud. “I’ll be sure to remember that.” It was a short lived laugh, though, and she sighed heavily.

“Clara, please don’t go,” I begged. She was my other half! Nobody on the planet could replace her. If she moved to South Korea, nobody would laugh at my stupid jokes, nobody would relate to me the way she did. Nobody would entertain my entire family as she did. She was a part of our family, and it was so hard to comprehend the fact that she was going to be living across the world.

“I have to. It’s the only other option my mom gave me,” she sighed.

I frowned. “Can I go with you? You know, sneak into your bags and hide out there? I bet I could fit in that giant suitcase you have.”

“I’ll be back in the states in April. You can come visit me then.”

It was the visit part that really got to me. I didn’t want to visit her. She was like a sister to me, and she tells me that I can feel free to visit her. Once she moved back to the states, she would be living with us. I wouldn’t have it any other way.