Chapter One

Cheryl hurried down the stairs with her luggage,her mom and sister watched her from the living room and as she reached the floor her sister stood up

"you're not going anywhere Cheryl"

"I'm going to do what I want Lamenah, you're not the boss of me, remember that"

She tried as much as possible to stay calm and not raise her voice.The next thing her mom spoke.

Georgia folded her arms as she stared at her step daughter disapprovingly.

"You can't leave this house Cheryl"

" I can mom,I'm definitely not needed here"

" You can't leave your only family alone"

Georgia almost smiled from the silence that followed,that statement always worked on Cheryl,if she left them who would she go to? But this time Cheryl shocked her

"I still decide to leave" the determination in her eyes was sharp

Georgia immediately gave a frown,she had to use another method

"Then you'll never come back here"she threatened

"okay mom..."

This time Cheryl was quick to answer,she dragged her luggage out of the house. She had parked her black Volvo car in front of the porch. She opened the boot and threw her box in it. On closing the boot she looked at the porch, though she knew how little they loved her, she felt hurt that they didn't even care to see her off.

Well that was how she'd been coping since she was 8 years old when her dad re-married and then died a year later. Now after 16 years she did not want to live the same way. She got into her car and turned on the engine. She took one last glance at the house, at the side there was a family stone with the name *Matthews*,written in bold. She wondered,'Cheryl Matthews,now where would u go to?'

She didn't want to live in the same town as her stepmother and step sister. For all those 16 years her life has been hell, but now not anymore. She decided to live her life for herself, not taking on family responsibilities and bills and taking charge of whatever went on in their lives. Right now she wanted to be as far away as she could from them.

The family house was in Alsten, a small but lively town.she thought of another place she could go to, rent an apartment and live her life her own way.

Just then Calbroy popped into her head...it was a town far in the western part of the state...a 6-hour drive from Alsten. She heard of Calbroy from an old friend. It was the smallest town with lots of eateries at every street, dance bars, and country music, but not many people lived there.That was where she would live,the fewer the people in her life the better.

She finally thought it through, she would go to Calbroy,she drove her car out of the family patio and into the lonely road.