"Peppie!"

Twelve year old Pepper Ann Pearson groaned and rolled over in her bed. Squinting at her digital clock on her bedside table, it read seven thirty a.m.

"Peppie!" Seven thirty in the morning on a Saturday?

"Pep-eeee!" She yawned and pushed her black-and-red checkered quilt off of herself.

Trying to blink to get the sleep out of her eyes, Pepper Ann stood up. The sun was barely up.

Whatever this is, it better be good, Pepper Ann thought as she staggered downstairs in her pajamas.

Her sister was already at the table, eyeing her mother as she carried a plate heaped high with bacon, scrambled eggs, toast and pancakes.

"What is it?" Pepper Ann grumbled sleepily, nearly missing her chair as she plopped down. Her mother looked wide-awake. She was fully-dressed, too.

Her mother obviously hadn't heard her. "Mom." Pepper Ann said a bit more loudly. "Mo--om." No answer.

"MOM!!!"

"Yes, Peppie, dear?" Lydia sat down primly in her chair. Pepper Ann yawned again, straightening her glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"Why are we up so early?" She asked, taking an absent-minded gulp of orange juice.

"Nothing like starting the day off early," her mother replied, just as absent-mindedly.

Pepper Ann didn't have time to think about what she had meant, though. Her breakfast--four slices of hot, buttery toast, scrambled eggs galore, a pile of bacon, and a stack of pancakes that looked like the Leaning Tower Of Pisa--was quickly devoured.

Polishing off her glass of orange juice, Pepper Ann stood up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She still felt majorly tired.

"Oh, dear, I forgot to tell you," Her mother's eyes darted around nerviously. Pepper Ann plopped back down in her chair. It was almost the first time she had spoken that morning--she had spent breakfast hidden in the pages of her newspaper.

"I found a house in the paper. We...Peppie...we're moving."

Her mother's words stung Pepper Ann. She felt like jumping up and screaming, 'What? How come you never told me? We can't move!' in her mother's face.

However, she just stayed still. Her hands were shaking. She opened her mouth to speak--and nothing came out. Just a moan.

Her mother's glances travelled from one of her daughter's to another.

Finally Pepper Ann spoke. "Wh-what?" Her voice cracked. This wasn't possible. Her friends...Milo...Nicky... The words seemed to float in front of her eyes, stamped into her brain.

MOVING. MOVING. MOVING. I'm moving.

She stood up, blindly, pushed her chair back, ran from the room, all the while thinking, NO! NO! NO!

She flung herself onto her bed the moment she had reached her bedroom. Huge sobs escaped from her, sobs that made her whole body shake.

She had wrapped herself up in her quilt. Brushing some of her red hair out of her wet, red eyes, she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

For once, it didn't say anything. It was just her--red-eyed, sobbing, just her reflection.

"Peppie?' she heard a knock on the door. Pepper Ann didn't even bother to get up. She just turned to the wall as the door opened and her mother stepped in.

"Honey, I'm sorry about this." Her mother sounded like she was about to cry. Pepper Ann sniffled.

"When are we moving? Where?" She choked out. Her mother sighed.

"We're moving to New Jersey."

She almost cried out again. NEW JERSEY?

"When." She pressed again, still staring at the wall.

"Next week."

Her whole world shattered. She could hear it again "Next week next week next week." An evil chant.

She stayed still. A huge sob was growing in her throat.

Her mother sensed it and sat up. "I'll be downstairs." She said, awkwardly, then left.

She cried again. What would she say to her friends? She was moving to New Jersey. Halfway across the US.

Moving.

Pepper Ann sat on her bed admiring the room she had thought would be hers forever.

It was almost five p.m now. She'd been up in her bedroom for nearly ten hours.

Another tear pricked her cheek. How could she move? What would she do?

She was going to have to leave her two best friends in the world--Milo and Nicky.

I hate my mother, Pepper Ann thought evilly. She knew she really didn't--but this HURT her. Like a deep, stabbing pain into her chest, ripping at her.

She didn't know exactly when she fell asleep--but she awoke in the morning at about nine o' clock. Her house was completely silent. No cheerful humming, no pots and pans clattering in the kitchen.

She got dressed as slowly as she could, then tied her hair messily in a blue scrunchie.

She felt like she was part of a marching band--going down the stairs. Hup, two! She thought.

Her mother was at the table, accompanied by her little sister. Moose hadn't even looked angry when her mother had broken the news.

"Hello." Her mother had seen her.

"Hey." She sat down quickly, and noticed there was no breakfast that morning.

Moose looked skeptically from one family member to another. "Hey." she greeted Pepper Ann, giving her a half-grin.

Pepper Ann suddenly had the urge to hug her.

"We should start packing today." Lydia said almost shyly, gesturing to a pile of brown cardboard boxes near the door. Moose jumped up and grabbed one to lug upstairs. "I'll start my packing." She informed them.

It was really happening. She, Pepper Ann Pearson, was moving.

TO BE CONTINUED
Pepper Ann tries to get through the trauma of moving--while Moose loves every second of it. What will she say to Milo and Nicky? What can she say?