Since You've Been Gone

chapter 1- replaced

no youtube video for this one, but 10/10 listen to the song 'i talk to the sky' by maddy estelle when you listen to this song. she's on spotify & apple music.

They always say, "Spring showers bring May flowers", but what nobody talks about is the heat that comes with May.

"Hope, please for the millionth time, close that damn window of yours. You're letting all the cold air out," my dad yelled up the stairs.

I was sitting in my window and appreciating the gentle breeze blowing against my flushed skin. The heat was relentless this year and it wasn't even summer yet.

The same breeze blowing against my skin was causing peaceful ripples in the grass in front of our house and the leaves of the large oak trees rattled in the wind. If I listened closely, I could even hear the wind chimes on the front porch play beautifully. This was the only kind of quiet that I enjoyed.

"Hope Christine, dinner is ready!" And just like that my peace was over.

"I'm coming Momma," I called back as I snapped out of my daze and closed my window. As I left my room though, I fixed my clothes knowing that if I didn't look halfway presentable, my mom would not be very happy.

Downstairs, everyone was waiting for me. The whole table was centered around my father, just like always.

Doug Stryker was a household name and a hometown hero. He was the classic embodiment of a southern man: slightly overweight, bearded, and kind-hearted. My dad had become the mayor right after Hurricane Ophelia and had been reelected every year since. He loved his job with his whole heart but growing up in the public eye has always been rough. Don't get me wrong, our town was nowhere close to a booming metropolis but that only seemed to add to the gossip. Everyone knew everybody's business and being the mayor's daughter intensified everything.

"Bout time you showed up," my oldest brother Tobias laughed. I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him as I sat next to my sister Raeanna.

Everyone always saw my family as some picture-perfect family. The poster family of small southern towns, if you would. The idea wasn't far fetched though. Raeanna had been the popular cheerleader in high school and Tobias had been the first-string quarterback. It looked like my younger brother Beau was following in his footsteps as he was entering high school. We were quite the cliche family, but we had our own problems.

My dad spent so much time in his office and working on bettering the town that my parent's marriage really suffered. There were numerous nights where my parents went at each other's throats, yelling and screaming. We all thought that they would get a divorce and truth be told if it hadn't been for my dad's campaign they probably would have. But things were finally starting to look up.

"So..." Raeanna started, "Have y'all heard the news?"

"What news?" My dad's eyebrows shot up in shock. I'm sure he couldn't believe that something was happening in his town that he didn't know about.

"Oh... nevermind then..."

"Raeanna, c'mon now you've got the whole table waiting."

"The Hardings are moving back." She mumbled quickly and quietly and I didn't really understand.

"What? Speak up," my dad spoke with a gruff voice and it showed what little patience he truly had.

"The Hardings are moving back."

I could feel the color drain from my face and my stomach jolt as Raeanna said those five words. God, I felt sick.

"Raeanna!" My mom's voice was shrill and her eyes were wide with caution as she looked at my father.