Bad News

I ran into my room and slammed the door behind me.  Tears rolling down my eyes as I got into my bed and covered my self under the blanket. I couldn't get the thoughts of leaving my grandparents, my uncles, and friends, behind and moving someplace else.

*Earlier that night*

"Ash do you know what time it is?" Mom asked.

"Sorry, I didn't realize it was this late," I responded.

"Well, pay attention to the time next time, I got you the watch for a reason, Ash," she said, "by the way what were you doing out so late?"

I nervously looked at Archie, wondering if I should tell her about the treehouse. He gave me our secret 'yes' sign meaning I could tell her the truth, we have many of those signs that we created together in our free time. The 'yes' sign is where you hold the thumb of your right hand with your left hand. I told mom everything about the treehouse, and our secret place and the flat open land in the middle of the forest which was our land. After talking about our secret land mom said something that I never even thought of, "Ash, I have admission you to a new school, in Tokyo."

I was shocked, a new school, in Tokyo, which was really far away from Hokkaido, where I currently lived. The smalled village that I lived in was on the outskirts of Hokkaido, and if my new school is in Tokyo than I have to leave my whole family and all of my friends here, which I don't want to do.

"We are leaving, this coming Friday," Mom said to make matters even worse.

*Next morning*

When I woke my eyes were itchy, probably from crying last night. I went downstairs to the kitchen, where mom was sitting, she was looking at her phone and eating while grandma cooked breakfast. I didn't like it, I didn't like it at all, why does grandma who is old have to cook, and my mom is just waiting for the food to come to her. I wanted to help grandma but I knew I couldn't, last time I tried to help her I messed things up. I sat at the table on the opposite side of my mom.

"Ash, have you thought about what I told you last night?" she asked, while still staring at her phone.

"I am not going," I said.

"Ash, what do you want to be? What is your favorite job?" she asked.

"I want to be a professional baseball player," I responded. It's hard for me to hit a fastball in baseball but when I make contact with the ball I can hit it further than everyone in my class, other than Archie, he hits it really far.

"Do you know most people in Japan want to be professional baseball players," she said.

"So what," I responded.

"Every person that wants to be a professional baseball player starts playing baseball at a very young age for their school team," she said, "here in this school you won't be able to become a pro baseball player, but if you go to your new school you will be able to become really good and maybe a pro because the Tokyo school has one of the best team in all of Japan."

"I have to tell my friends about it," I said, confused about what I wanted to do, go to Tokyo, or stay here.

At 1 o'clock I went to our secret land. No one was there because they were probably in school right now or maybe they ran away again. I lay down in the grass, the best grass in my opinion because unlike other grass this wasn't itchy at all.

"Wake up sleepyhead," Said Ray breaking through my peaceful nap.

"I must have fallen asleep," I said as I yawned.

"Why weren't you at school," Perez asked.

"Archie didn't tell you?" I asked.

"I thought it would be better if you tell them," Archie said.

"Tell us what," Ray asked, expecting something bad.

"My mom got me into a new school, in Tokyo," I said, sadly.

"When are you leaving?" Perez asked.

"This Friday," I responded.

"What, that's so soon," Ray said.

"So you are leaving in three days," Perez asked.

"Including today yes," I responded in a quiet voice.

"But I don't know if I should go, that's why I wanted to tell you guys," I said, "My Mom said that the school in Tokyo has the best baseball team in Japan right now."

"That's so cool," said Ray.

"I want you guys to tell me if I should go," I said.

"Really, you are asking us, they have the best baseball team in Japan, I really think you should go," Ray said, whit smile on his face, he genuinely wanted me to go there.

"Yeah, same you should go," Archie said, with a smile that was obviously fake.

"Perez, what do you think?" I asked. Perez was like the leader of our small group, his opinion was just important as Ray and Archie's.

"I don't care if you go or stay it's your choice, you decide," Perez said, looking away from me.

"Ash I really think you should go, you can probably become a professional baseball player if you go to Tokyo," Ray said holding my shoulders with his hands.

"I'm gonna go home, I have homework," Perez said walking away from us.

"See you," I yelled out.

Ray, Archie, and I headed over to my house to play video games. We spent the rest of the day playing videogames until Ray and Archie had to go home.  I stayed in my room reading an old comic book that Perez gave me for my birthday, but I never read it back then. After I while my mom came into my room, "So, Ash what did you and your friends decide?" she asked.

"Ray and Archie said that I should go," I said.

"What about Perez?" she asked.

"Perez was being really rude today, he said he didn't care," I responded.

"I don't think he was being rude, I think he was just telling you that it's your choice, you decide not them," my mom said.

"Come on tell me, what did you decide?" she asked again.

"I think I will go," I said, I was still confused if I made the right choice but if I can play baseball than I think it was the right choice.

To me, Fridays feel really sad for some reason I don't know why but Friday is a sad day to me. It was 8 in the morning when my grandma's knocking woke me up. I opened my room door for her, she rushed in and grabbed me and carried me to the washroom.

"You are late," she said.

"It's only 8 though," I said.

"yes, and you're late," she repeated.

"I will help you clean up," Grandma said.

she sat me in the bathtub and started washing my feet.

"Do you know the first time you came to this house you were a few months old, your mother played with you in the field, while I and your grandpa fed the farm animals, then your mom got a call she got up to get better reception leaving you there," My grandma said trying not to cry " When she got back to you, you weren't there, you couldn't walk, so we looked everywhere near the house, and when we couldn't find you we thought a stray dog has snatched you," grandma continued telling the story while having difficulty talking because she was trying not to cry. "Wh..when we finally thought a stray dog had taken you away, Perez's father brought you to us and said that you were crawling along the road, after that incident, I always kept you close," she said now fully crying, tears rolling down her eyes.  Now she moved on to washing my hair, "do you remember all the pets you made  at this farm?" Grandma asked.

"Yes," I responded, my voice cracking because I was on the verge of crying.

"Your first pet was a stray puppy that you found somewhere, you two were inseparable, wherever you went the dog followed, and then when he died saving you from the brown dog-"

"It was black, the dog that Jackie saved me from was black," I said interrupting her.

"Wow, you remember that,  but anyway, when he died, you cried for three whole days, which amazing because I have never seen anyone cry for that long," Grandma said with a smile on her face now.

I got out of the bathtub and went to my room, my grandma waited outside while I got dressed. I held her hand and walked downstairs to the kitchen with her, both of my uncles and aunts were there as well as grandpa. I sat down at the kitchen table, attempting to eat my breakfast but I just couldn't maybe I was too sad to eat. My grandpa started telling me about the time I hit him with a rock, accidentally.  "Luckily you were only three so you couldn't throw a rock that hard, but you could throw it harder than any other three-year-old that I know, I was piling up the rocks from the fields where we grow wheat and rice and all other plants, I guess you tried to help me, cause you grabbed a rock and threw it to where I was piling them and it hit me right on my newly bald head,  after you started crying because you thought I would die," he said, with a smile on his face but tears were rolling down mine.

After my mom ate breakfast we started walking towards the car, when I stepped outside the house I saw Ray, Archie and Perez sitting outside on the porch, all of them seemed pretty sad.

"Don't you guys have school today?" I asked through all the crying.

"Our parents said that we can meet you," Ray said.

"And I basically live here so yeah," Archie added.

"Ms.Arnold, can we take Ash to our secret spot, we have to do something?" Perez asked my mom.

"Can you make it back in 15 minutes?" she asked.

"Yes," Perez responded quickly.

"Follow me I have got an idea," Perez said running off.

Ray, Archie, and I followed him. We got to our secret spot.

"Guys, first of all, I have a name for this place, we will call it ARAP Heaven, secondly let's carve our names on the tree where we were suppose to built our treehouse as a reminder to finish it when Ash comes back," Perez said.

Without hesitation we all agreed to what Perez said and then ran back home. Everyone was waiting when my mom saw us she started hugging her parents and brothers one by one than she got in the car and waited for me. For a moment I had forgotten about all of this, I had forgotten that I was leaving, but now I am back in the present tears rolled down my eyes as I hugged all three of my best friends. The friends that I have spent my whole life with, then I hugged my uncles, who loved me as much as their own children, then I hugged my grandparents, the people who basically raised me because I never knew my dad and my mom was always on business trips. I hugged my grandparents for extra-long, as tears were rolling down my eyes. I then walked away from them and got into the front seat of the car. My mom started driving I could still see my uncles and grandparents standing there as we continued driving, they waited until we turned the corner and they were out of my sight.

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