1 Chapter One: Deciding Factor

I stared at my mother dead on, leaving no sign that this was a joke. But nonetheless she thought it was.

"You're kidding me, right?!" My mother chuckled.

"Why would I be kidding? I told you, I don't want to go to college." I replied swiftly.

"But Hannah, I knew that you were always telling me you wanted to travel the world and all but.... I didn't think you were serious. I always thought you would save money here after you graduated from high school and then be off at college."

"Mom, I cant believe you'd think that. I'm an adult, I just turned 21, I can drink now! I don't want to spend my life doing something I don't enjoy." I gave her a stern look.

"You were always the bold one, Hannah Rose. Look at your sister though, she's out working hard and making a living."

"But we haven't seen Sofia since my high school graduation. We never see her!" I argued.

"We know she is safe and making a living that's all that matters." My mother replied way too quickly.

I could tell something was up. I knew she wasn't telling me something. I would find out eventually, I know I always do. But until then, I have a lot to do.

. . .

I am a hopeless romantic, but when I come to think of it, I haven't been on that many dates. I would go out to parties and such. I am an extrovert after all, but nobody ever clicked with me. As I watched all my friends get their boyfriends, I started to worry. I wondered if I'd ever find my soulmate. That's why I wanted to travel, aside from getting to see the beauties and sights that the world has to offer, I maybe would find my other half, my missing piece, mi amor.

But yet, another longing ached inside of me. My mother, Jenna Cheryl Oaks, raised us all on her own, and this may be rather harsh to say, but she was a whore. Her sex life was all over. She doesn't even know who my father is. She did a good job raising us though, us being me and my older sister, Sofia Hazel Oaks. My sister is what has bothered me inside for the last 5 years. Once my sister turned 18 years old, she told my mother she was going to college in Chicago, Illinois. My mom didn't have the money to go and drop her off and say goodbye and all that, so we let her go on her own. Ever since then she's only returned for Christmas sometimes, and over big celebrations, such as my high school graduation. I've asked my mother where she is, and how she was doing constantly. But she'd always reply with the same thing, "she is doing just fine, at college," but I knew there was more to that story. My sister wasn't that smart when it came to school, I know her well and she'd never be at college for more than four years. Even if she was at college, she never came home in the summer or for any holidays, only Christmas, if we were lucky. And my instinct could tell something was wrong. I didn't tell my mother, but my first stop on this journey was Chicago. I was going to find her.