"Italy?" My mom screeches, causing me to wince. Her voice isn't exactly my favorite sound on planet earth...

"Yes, mom, Italy." I sigh impatiently.

"How long will you be gone?" She asks accusingly.

"For as long as I please." I hiss, not understanding why she's making a big deal out of this.

She has her boy toy to keep her company, so I don't see why she needs me.

"What about your job?" She continues.

I sigh, rubbing my temples, "I've already discussed it with my boss."

"Well, what abou-"

"Mom, I'm 24, I can handle myself." I cut her off.

I have no idea why she's even here, in my house. She never visits me, and doesn't even move a finger to contact me, though she lives only 10 minutes away from me, so I actually have a reason to be confused at her sudden role of actually being a mom right now.

"But why Italy? Why not England, or even France?" She pleads, seeming uncomfortable.

"Why does it even matter?" I snap.

When she doesn't reply, I get up and head to the kitchen, calling behind me, "You can leave now."

I take refuge in the kitchen until I hear the front door open and close, then silence. I sigh in relief, making my way out of the kitchen and up to my room.

It's been two weeks since the...incident...with Derek, everyone in my small town knows now, and I can't even leave my house without getting a mountain of sympathy from everyone.

Hence the reason I've decided to go as far away from here as possible.

I've always wanted to go to Venice, but seeing as it's pegged as one of the more romantic places in Italy, I decided against it. And that's why I've settled on Rome. So many beautiful places to visit, I just hope I'll be able to have fun.

It's been an agonizing few weeks for me. The reminders literally make it hard to breathe, which is awfully suffocating. Maybe I'll be able to catch a breath once I'm out of this state. No, it'll only better once I'm out of this country.

I've seen Derek and her holding hands lately, so I was assuming that they were official, but that's okay, them two idiots belong together.

I've been preparing for this trip for a whole week, and I'm just so ready to leave tomorrow. I can finally escape the torture of being trapped here.

I decide to double check everything, making sure I've packed anything I'll possibly need. I'm not exactly sure how long I'll be staying in Rome, so I have come to the decision to pack half of my apartment.

Walking around my room, I study everything on my vanity mirror. Pictures of Derek and I that I've yet to take down were placed neatly pretty much everywhere. He was my life. And now he was no longer in my life.

I give a sad sigh, feeling the familiar clenching of my heart. Then I remember what he's done to me. It's his fault I'm like this. He'd slept with another girl. He'd cheated on me. All of this is his fault.

Feeling vividly angry, I rip all the pictures from my mirror and tore every last one to shreds. I can't stop the tears from trailing down my face as I do so. I stomp over to the trash can and throw them in with a hostile scream.

Once that's over and done with and I've calmed down, a wave of exhaustion sweeps over me.

I slink over and onto my bed, not caring about anything else but getting sleep. It's only 5, but I can't find it in me to keep my eyes open anymore. I haven't gotten much sleep the past couple weeks, I deserve to get some rest.

I'm gonna have a long day tomorrow.

°•°●°•°●°•°●°

I'm woken by the shrill ringing of my familiar alarm clock. I groan, planning to press snooze, when I remember what day it is.

The day I can escape this sad, dreadful place.

Once and for all.

For the first time in what seems like forever, I squeal excitedly as I shoot up from my bed.

I hurriedly get ready, managing to make myself presentable within 20 minutes with what little stuff I didn't pack. Grabbing my luggage, I shoot out the door faster than I've ever moved in my entire life. Well, not my entire life, but I honestly can't remember a time I was so determined to get out of my house.

Carrying three larger suitcases and two duffelbags, I barely manage to get to my car, and even then, all of it won't fit in the trunk, so some has been assigned to the backseat.

I happily dial Uncle Benny's number, and grin widely when he picks up on the first ring.

"I'm off!" I exclaim, my voice the epitome of happy and excited.

"I'm waiting at the airport." He informs.

"Wait, what? Why?" My mood drastically changes from happy to confused.

"To send you off, of course. You thought I was gonna let you leave without making a big deal of it? Ha! You thought wrong!" He babbles through the phone, and I feel my heart lift a bit.

At least someone cares about me.

"Ohh." I say, letting him know I understand. "In that case, I'll see you there!" I smile widely, even though he can't see me.

"Okay, Pumpkin, I'll see you when you get here!" He says loudly through the phone.

He has always been more of a father figure than anything. He'd always shown up to my school events because mom was never willing and I've never had my dad. Which left uncle Benny to always be there for me when I needed him.

I sniffle, feeling touched that he's willing to be a parental figure for me. At least I've had him to help me through the thick and thin.

He's probably the only person I'll miss while I'm away. I've never had any friends except for the Natasha, and we all know how that turned out.

And now that I think back on it, I don't think I'd even call it a friendship anymore. It's obvious to me now that she'd only been using me to get closer to Derek. And apparently it'd worked.

I shake my head, trying to rid myself of the bitter thoughts. Today will be a happy day, no thoughts of him or her.

I sigh contentedly as I drive myself to the airport, feeling my stomach flutter with anxious butterflies.