Lenore almost had everything she wanted.
In just a few short months, she'd graduate early from high school, start an internship at her father's new startup in San Francisco, and then head off to college in the fall on a full scholarship. Everything...
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Once she was through the door and down the porch steps, Lenore staggered to a stop in the middle of the lawn. The heat of her anger quickly faded in the chill of early autumn. She hadn't thought this through. Where was she supposed to go now?
If she could, she'd get into her dad's car and drive back to the city, but she already knew that wouldn't solve anything. It'd only get her dad into trouble with the courts, and they'd drag her back here, kicking and screaming. And on top of that, they'd probably decide that she'd have to stay until she'd turned of age, adding another year to her sentence.
Sentence. That's what the impending year felt like—a prison sentence. She could almost hear the bars sliding shut in her face, locking her in.
The wind picked up as she stood there, pulling at her ponytail and tugging at her sweatshirt. The screen door creaked open behind her, and she turned. Her dad had followed after her. He jogged down the porch steps, his face pulled tight. He looked both disappointed and sad, but there was something else there, too, something dark clouding his dark eyes.
"Lenore," he began when he had made it to her side. "What did I say about not making it difficult for yourself?"
She couldn't help but laugh, short and sharp. "Whoops," she said with a shrug as if her outburst was simply the result of forgetting.
Stanley laughed in return, shook his head, and then sighed. "I really didn't want to leave you like this," he said, reaching for her. "I'm really going to miss you, kid."
Her vision blurred. "I'm going to miss you, too, dad," she said, leaning into his open arms. She pressed her face into his sweater, wetting it with fresh tears. "I really wish I could go with you."
"So do I," he said, resting his chin on the top of her head. "So do I."
"It's not fair," she mumbled.
"No," he replied. "No, it's not. But it's what the court decided, so it's what we're going to have to abide by."
The embers of Lenore's anger sparked to life again. The courts—they were as much at fault as her mother was. They had bought her mother's sob story about 'reconnecting' and how difficult it'd be if Lenore lived in another country—they didn't take kindly to them moving out of the country without a proper custody agreement—and that was how she got stuck here. Of course, they had totally disregarded Lenore's own testimony about where she wanted to be, but...
"There's really nothing I can do," Lenore sighed, accepting her defeat at last, "is there?"
Her dad patted her shoulder. "Unfortunately not. But remember, it's just one se—I mean, one year. One year, and then you'll be free. Really, in the scope of your life, a year is nothing."
Lenore pulled away and wiped the lingering tears from her cheeks. "One year at that school is going to be a lot more than nothing."
"Maybe it won't be so bad," her dad said, his eyes lighting up as they did whenever he tried to get her to look on the bright side. He was an eternal optimist. "It's been so long, I don't think anyone could still blame you for something your aunt did. Maybe things will be better."
