Choice of The Alpha

1.2

“Alexia! You need to get up now! The movers will be here in an hour!” My mom yelled at me from her room. I could tell she was stressed out from the way she yelled at me.

“Ugh! I really thought this was going to turn out to be a dream.” As I mumbled to myself, I sat up on the edge of my bed and put my face in my hands.

I wanted to get up and start my normal routine. To put my jogging clothes on and head out for a run. A run would really help me calm down right about now. I started to get up, thinking about putting on my jogging clothes and heading out. Then I tensed up, realizing I couldn’t go for a run no matter how much I wanted to. My mom said the movers were going to be here in an hour so there wouldn’t be time for a run. I decided to put on one of my suits anyway. The rest of my clothes were buried in the boxes and since I was just going to spend the whole day in the car, it really didn’t matter.

I got up and walked out to the kitchen to get something to eat. My mom was already there eating her normal breakfast, a blueberry bagel with cream cheese. I really didn’t want to talk to her. I walked toward the fridge, purposely not looking at her. I knew that my reaction hurt her, but her springing this on me hurt me too. It was so confusing. I wanted to comfort her and let her know I understood, but at the same time I really didn’t understand. I wanted to be angry, but I also didn’t want to be mad at her. I didn’t know what to do. So, I just tried to ignore her. I should have known that wouldn’t work.

“Good morning, hun. Did you get everything packed?” She asked with a tone of voice as if this was just any normal conversation.

I didn’t answer her. I just finished walking to the fridge and opened it. After looking in there for several minutes, I realized that there was nothing appealing to me. I felt sick to my stomach over everything that was going on. Maybe I shouldn’t eat anything this morning. I certainly don’t want to get sick during the car ride.

“Since you aren’t talking to me, I’m going to talk to you. The movers will be here in less than an hour. We don’t have to stick around after they get here. They will get everything in the truck and meet us in Bunker. So, after they get here, we are going to be heading out. It’s a good 10 hours if we were to drive straight there without stops. So, we have a long drive ahead of us. It’s better to head out early. I wanted to make a few stops along the way to break up the monotony of the drive. I figured that as we drove, we could watch out for signs for places that may be interesting to check out.”

My mom just kept on talking, so I started to leave the room. I knew she was talking because she knew I was angry with her. She was trying to get me to talk to her and I really didn’t feel like it. I didn’t know what to say anyway. So, I headed back down the hallway and into my room. When I got to my room, I grabbed my phone and my jacket. I looked around to see if there was anything else that I wanted to take with me in the car. I really couldn’t think of anything. I kept thinking about all the changes that were being thrust upon me. I knew that I should bring something to help pass the time on the road, but everything was already packed. I really didn’t want to go digging through boxes just to try and find something to do. Oh, well. I can always just be on my phone the whole way. That may help me in not having to talk to my mom. I felt bad for not talking to her but what could I even say?

As I was looking around my room and checking on everything, I heard the doorbell ring. “OH great, they’re here.” I thought to myself. I heard mom walking down the hallway to answer the door.

“Great! You’re here! Thank you so much for arranging this with such short notice.” I heard her saying to the movers after opening the door. “Honey, they’re here, it’s time to go.” I heard several pairs of feet walk through the front door.

“You were lucky we had an opening on such short notice. Normally we are booked out. Everything is packed up and ready to go?” One of the movers asked as they started walking down the hallway.

“Yes, everything is packed. Whatever isn’t packed, we are leaving behind. We also don’t need the furniture, so you don’t need to worry about that. Again, thank you for fitting us in.”

I looked around my room one more time before heading out. This is the last time I will ever stand in my own room. I walked through my door and saw several guys starting to grab the boxes from my mom’s room. I walked down the hallway and toward the front door. I just kept walking out the front door and never looked back. I knew if I did that I would break down. When I got to the car, I opened my phone and started scanning through f******k. I couldn’t look up. I wouldn’t look up. The whole way through our neighborhood and to the interstate, I just kept looking at my phone. This was my town, my home, my life, and I would probably never see it again. How could we be leaving?

After some time, about an hour, I finally looked up from my phone. We were on the interstate and heading South. I knew exactly where we were. The large candy store was coming up in about ten miles. That wonderful large barn full of so many goodies. I couldn’t imagine never going there again. I couldn’t believe that I would never see any part of my old life again.

I spent the next couple of hours going through f******k, watching videos and reading random articles. Most of my friends had made posts to me saying how much they were going to miss me. I read through all the posts and just kept scrolling. I watched a few videos of funny and cute animals. Anything to keep me busy and pass the time.

“We are getting close to Iowa. Do you want to stop at the rest stop on the border? Maybe take some pictures by the Iowa statue?” I could tell from my mom’s voice that she was trying to get me to talk to her again. She was hopeful that stopping at some attraction would get me to open up.

“I don’t really want to take pictures, but I could use a stop to stretch my legs.” I know she wanted to get me interested in the trip, but I just wasn’t feeling up to it. My mind was still reeling from the sudden changes. If I would have been able to get a run in this morning, I might have been more interested. Now, I am just tired. My brain running a mile a minute was simply wearing me out.

A few minutes later, we pulled off the interstate to the rest stop. I opened my door and got out to stretch my legs. I decided I should at least walk a few laps around the area to work out any kinks. After a few laps around the rest stop, I was starting to feel better. I was even starting to feel a little hungry. I went inside the rest area to check out the vending machines. Not having breakfast was starting to affect me. Considering it was almost lunch time it was no wonder why I was starting to get hungry. There wasn’t too much available, so I settled for some chips and some peanut butter crackers. I walked back to the car. As I headed toward the car, I saw that my mom was leaning against the car waiting.

“Do you feel better? I know you didn’t get your run in this morning, and you didn’t eat anything either.” She asked as she turned to open her door.

“Yeah, I am feeling better. I am still having a hard time coming to terms with this. It was just so sudden. Couldn’t we have waited for a few more weeks? Did we have to move so suddenly? I mean I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to my friends.” Once I started talking, it all just started pouring out.

“I know this was sudden. I am sorry about that. Unfortunately, we need to arrange my parents' funeral and clean up the house and go through everything. That would be horribly difficult to do from ten hours away. Not only that but this job wouldn’t be able to wait. If I didn’t accept it, they would have given it to someone else. Then who knows how long it would be before another offer like this would come around. I really am very sorry that you didn’t get any warning. I promise that we will find something fun to do for your birthday. This is a big birthday for you, and I understand that.” As she talked, we both opened our doors and got in the car.

We pulled out and headed back onto the interstate. As we started driving, I kept thinking about what she was saying. I knew she was right about everything. She has been looking for a full-time position in pediatrics for years now. It would also be nice to have a house instead of barely scraping by and renting a tiny apartment. As I thought about these things, I decided to look around at the things we were passing. There wasn’t much more that I could do on my phone anyway. I really should have brought a book or something. As I was watching out the windows, I started to see something weird in the distance. It was hard to tell what it was being the clouds were really low today. The closer we got, the more amazed I was. It was an entire field of wind turbines. They were everywhere, reaching out as far as I could see. I had never seen one in person before. I never knew how large they were. As they rotated, whatever arm was going up, would reach up into the low clouds and disappear. Only for it to reappear coming out on the other side. It was really cool to watch.

A little while later, I noticed that the traffic was really starting to pick up. This was the most traffic I had seen since we left Minneapolis. The whole way so far included the regular traffic of semis and fellow travelers. Now, however, there were cars in both lanes. The traffic was also starting to slow down with all the cars around. Since both lanes were full, there was no way to go around the slower traffic.

“Where are we? Are we near a city or something?” I asked looking around at all the cars.

“We are getting close to Des Moines, Iowa. This is probably the largest city we will go through along the way. We still have quite a way to go.” She told me while gesturing at the GPS to show me how much further we still had to go. Looked like we still had about seven hours to go.

I watched the traffic and all the buildings as we went through Des Moines. It was almost like being back home. The traffic, the tall buildings, the overpasses. It made me long for the sky rises of home. As we went through town, I looked at all of the building. We were passing several banks, hotels, and corporations. It didn’t take us very long to go through this part of town. The further we went the less buildings I saw. It was now down to more houses than the large businesses. Once it seemed like we were through the main part of the city, we turned off the interstate onto a state highway. We were starting to leave the traffic behind and were heading through the open country of Iowa.

“We are going to have to make a gas stop here soon. I was thinking about stopping at the next town. Would you like to grab some food while we are there?”

“I am getting pretty hungry. All I have eaten today was the stuff I got at the rest stop.” As I said this, my stomach took the opportunity to growl loudly, making sure it made its point.

“Okay. Why don’t you keep an eye on the road signs for this next town and see if you find a place for us to stop and eat.”

I started watching the road signs. Most of them were just saying how far until the next town. There were also signs telling you to call 511 for local information. We passed signs saying if we turned here, we could find a town 20 miles off this exit. Finally, I spotted what I was looking for. First, there was the sign that pointed out that a town was coming up. Shortly after that, there was the sign telling you what you could find at the next exit. It looked like there were a few options for eating, along with a couple of gas stations.

“Hey, look. At the next exit there’s a Subway and a couple of gas stations.” I said as I pointed at the sign.

We pulled off the highway at the exit we were supposed to take and headed into town. The first thing we saw was a gas station on our right. So, we decided to stop there first, especially since we were running pretty low on gas. After my mom filled the tank, she got back in the car and started to pull out of the gas station. According to the sign, Subway should only be a little further down the road. After a couple of blocks, we saw it.

“Do you want to go inside to eat or just go through drive thru?” Mom asked as we started to turn in to the store.

“Let’s just do drive thru. I don’t really feel like going in anywhere.” While I didn’t mind the fact that I was wearing a jogging suit, that didn’t mean that I wanted to spend more time than necessary out in public.

We pulled into the line to order our food. The line wasn’t very long, so it didn’t take much time at all to order and get our food. After we received our subs, we got back on the road. I unwrapped my sandwich as we were heading back through town to get back on the highway. My stomach was growling from the smell of the food. As I took my first bite of my delicious, toasted, Tuna sandwich, the taste buds on my tongue exploded. It was one of the best tuna sandwiches I had ever had. Granted, part of that may have been because I really hadn’t eaten today. I devoured my sandwich faster than I thought I could. Afterwards, I felt much better. My stomach was full, and my eyes started to feel heavy. With all the thoughts running through my head, I felt exhausted. I leaned back in my seat and decided to rest my eyes for a while.

Suddenly, I jolted awake and it was several hours later. It was starting to get dark, and we were parked at a pump at a gas station. My mom shutting her door must have been what woke me up. I saw her walking into the gas station. As I came out of my grogginess, I realized I needed to use the bathroom and could definitely use a stretch. So, I got out of the car and walked up to the gas station. When I entered the store, I spotted my mom. I walked toward her to let her know that I was going to go use the restroom.

“Good morning sleepy head. I wasn’t sure if you were going to wake up until we got there.” She said as she saw me walking toward her.

“Yeah, sorry, I didn’t realize that I was so tired. I came in to use the bathroom but wanted to let you know where I went. Where are we anyways?” I asked as I got up to her. There was nothing signaling exactly where we were. It was just another gas station.

“We are in Rolla, Missouri. This is the town where my new job will be. We have about 30 minutes to go before we get there.” She was looking at drinks in the cooler.

“Okay. Well, I am going to use the bathroom and I will meet you back in the car.” I started to turn toward the bathroom.

“Do you want me to grab you anything to eat or drink while we are here?” She asked as I was walking away.

“No. I am good. Thanks though.” I kept walking to the bathroom.

After using the bathroom, I walked back out to the car. On the way, I glanced around. From the looks of the buildings around me, I could tell this was a fairly small town. There were no tall building. The traffic seemed pretty tame. There were also business buildings next to actual houses. Granted, compared to the twin cities, everything seemed small. There were no buildings or anything that pointed to a large metropolis. In a way, it was actually pretty beautiful. You could see green trees, a blue sky, and cute little fluffy clouds. Back home, you wouldn’t really get the best view of the sky like this. I still really missed my home and my friends, but I could potentially get used to this. Only time would tell.

After I got in the car, my mom pulled the car out of the gas station, and we headed back out on the road. Outside of town was even more beautiful. In the country in Minnesota, you mostly saw corn and bean fields. Here, however, there were trees everywhere, and fenced in fields with all sorts of animals. I loved seeing all the greenery. This was something I have never really seen before. Everything was so open. Even with the trees, it just seemed open. The nature surrounding us almost made me feel at peace.

“So, we are almost there. How are you feeling?” As she asked this, it brought me back to where we were and where we were going.

“Honestly? I am still upset about the sudden move. However, I do like the view out here. It’s really pretty. I didn’t know that places like this could be so beautiful. When I think about country and small towns, I really just imagine farms with cows and small towns like you see on television. This is much different than I expected.”

“Yes, it is. I almost forgot how pretty it could be out here. Bunker is right in the middle of the Mark Twain National Forest. In the spring and the fall, it is absolutely gorgeous.” She said wispily. I could tell she had missed it.

“Why did you leave if you liked it so much?” I asked, hoping to get more information about what happened. She has never talked about her childhood before, just said that it was difficult. If she liked it here so much, it had to have been really bad to leave it all behind.

“The scenery is wonderful. The small town is really nice too. But I wanted to be a doctor. I left to find a good college to become a doctor. Once I got my degree, I just stayed in the cities. There are a lot more openings for doctors in large cities than there are in small towns like this. Of course, my parents weren’t the nicest people in the world and when I decided to leave, they were very angry. That’s why I never told you about them. I didn’t want their negativity to affect you. When I was told about the opening at the hospital here, along with having to deal with my parents' death, it seemed like a sign. It will be nice to finally have a fulltime job in my area. Plus, we will never have to rent again. There are trails all over through the forest for you to run. I just really felt like this was a sign to come back home.” It was a good explanation, but she still left out any real information about her childhood.

I watched the trees fly by while I thought about what she said. She keeps saying her parents were not good people, but she never explains what made them so bad. That made my thoughts fly with all the possibilities. Thinking about what could have made them so bad started to make me feel bad for my mom. That’s probably why she’s so strict and never gives in on things. Looking at the scenery out here makes me wonder why she hadn't moved back home sooner. I can tell how much she missed it.

Approximately 15 minutes later we were coming into a little town. It was hard to tell if it was actually a town or just an area where the houses were closer together. You couldn’t see too far out due to the thickness of the woods. I only realized it was a town when I started seeing the businesses.

“This is it. This is Bunker, and our new home.” Mom announced.

“Wait, this is really a town? This is where we are going to live?” There was no way you could call this a town. This is more like a small village. What exactly am I supposed to be able to do here?

“Yes, it is certainly a town. I know it doesn’t look like much, but it is a really great place to live. The town is small, which really has its benefits. Everyone knows everyone around here. You don’t have to worry about being shot in gang wars or mugged just walking down the street. When I was a kid, we all wandered through the streets, playing basketball and riding bikes. You don’t have to worry about getting run over by traffic or anything like that. Small town life does have its benefits.”

I could tell she was still trying to convince me that this move would be good for us. Problem is, she can try and convince me all she wants, it doesn’t really matter. I have no say in this move no matter what. Now, the only thing I can do is make the best of it. That’s what I planned to do. I would make this new town work for me one way or another.

“Here we are. This is my parents' house. This is where I grew up.” My mother announced as we started to turn into a driveway.