Mark pulled up to Skylars drive way honking the horn to let her know that he was outside. About a minute later Skylar walked out of the house smiling when she saw Mark. Mark couldn’t help but think how great she looked. She was wearing a pair distressed shorts and a black bikini top, with her hair pulled up into a high ponytail. While it was a simple outfit, she made it look like something more because of how beautiful she was. Mark couldn’t help but return her smile.

She opened the door and hopped into the front seat, immediately pulling him in for a kiss, linking her arms around his neck. Mark couldn’t help but laugh a little at her aggressiveness. Mark kissed her back slowly running his tongue along her lips, Skylar sighed into his mouth opening to give him access. Once she did, his tongue quickly found hers and the kiss became more passionate. After a solid five minutes Mark smiled; giving her bottom lip a little nip with his teeth and slowly pulled back.

Skylars eyes were still closed when he pulled back to look at her; her face slightly flushed. Mark smiled, caressing the side of her face and moving in to place a light kiss on her forehead. Opening her eyes, Skylar looked at Mark smiling.

She leaned her head against the head rest of her seat finally breaking the intense silence.

“I missed you” she said

Mark gave a small laugh “Sky, we just saw each other yesterday”

“I know, but I still missed you…honestly after that kiss I just want to forget about going to Jakes and head straight to my room and not leave” she said with a grin

“Well, you know I would much rather that then hanging out with a bunch of people” he said seriously, pulling out of her drive way heading in the direction of Jakes.

“Oh, I know you would, but no. I already promised everyone that we would be coming. You have barely hung out with them this summer Mark. They are your friends. It can’t just be the two of us all time babe”.

“I know” he groaned.

Skylar grabbed his hand that was not on the wheel, squeezing it lightly.

Mark looked at her and smiled and then returned his eyes to the road. They got to Jakes house after a few minutes. They all lived closed to each other so it never took them too long to get to each other’s houses. After parking Mark and Skylar got out of the car heading toward the gate for the backyard. They could already hear everyone in the pool, music blaring from the speakers. Mark mentally prepared himself for a loud afternoon.

“Oh, Sky by the way. I can only stay for a couple of hours” he said

“Mark, come on.. lets not put a time limit to the day. You always do this” she sighed.

“ Stop, I’m not.. My mom said she doesn’t want me back too late. She has something to talk to me about” he said annoyed

“mmm okay.. is everything okay?

“I assume so, I figure if it was serious she would tell me right away”

“ Alright, fine. We won’t stay too late. Lets go”

“mmhm”

They spent the afternoon hanging with their friends at the pool. As Mark predicted there was not one quiet moment, but he had a good time. Games of chicken were played in the pool. The guys having their girlfriends on their shoulders and the girls going at it trying to push the others off. Mark couldn’t help but laugh at how serious the girls took it. Especially Sky. She was extremely competitive. After that his friends started to beg him to do some flips into the pool. Mark has done martial arts since he was young. His parents were always worried about how quiet he was, worried that he may be bullied. They decided to get him into martial arts for him to learn how to defend himself. Also hoping that being around the others kids would get him to open up and socialize more. While it did nothing to help with his social skills; he did become good at it. Earning several black belts in different areas. Knowing this; his friends were always asking him to show them different moves and tricks. Mark didn’t mind because it was something he genuinely enjoyed doing.

After a few hours of hanging out with his friends Mark decided it was about time he head back to his house. Even though he was enjoying himself with everyone. The pending conversation with his parents was in the back of his mind the whole day. He was curious as to what they wanted to talk about. Mark told Skylar that he had to go; she told him to go ahead that she would get a ride back to her place from one of the girls. She gave Mark a quick peck on the lips telling him to call her later after he spoke to his parents. After saying his goodbyes to everyone Mark got into his car and headed back home.

When he got into the house he saw his parents sitting at the dining room table talking to each other. They stopped when they saw him.

“You’re back early” his mother said

“Yea, well you asked me to..so I did”

“Thank you, go ahead and take a shower and then come back down so we can talk”

He nodded his head and headed upstairs to shower. Taking his time in the shower Mark couldn’t help feeling nervous. It wasn’t like his mom to schedule an important conversation with them. She was the type to just say what needed to be said in the moment.

“Ugh, why am I stressing so much? I’m sure its nothing” he said to himself.

After getting dressed he went downstairs, finding his younger brother sitting at the table with his parents as well. Smiling he sat next to his brother and ruffled his hair a bit. Joey just rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help smiling at his brothers attention.

Mark stared at his parents waiting for them to start talking. He noticed that his mother looked a bit nervous. His father grabbed his wife’s hand and cleared his throat.

“ Boys, your mother and I have some news that…well may come as a shock at first, but we think that it is the best for this family right now and we hope that the both of you will agree”

“You guys aren’t getting divorced, are you?” joey exclaimed

“What? Joey, of course not sweetie!” their mother stated reaching for his hand giving it a squeeze

“So, what then?” asked Mark

His father looked at him and smiled.

“We are moving”

Mark just stared at his parents and rolled his eyes.

“We really needed to schedule a conversation, just for you to say we are moving houses” he said incredulously

“Well, we are not just moving houses Mark.” his mother said

“Then, what? Don’t tell me we are moving out of state?” He asked getting upset

“No, not just out of the state, but out of the country. We are moving to South Korea” his father stated

“SOUTH KOREA!” joey exclaimed

Mark stared at his parent’s. “This has to be a joke” he kept saying to himself. He could barely hear his parents talking to joey, trying to calm the younger down. Mark couldn’t focus because of the incredible weight he felt on his chest. There was a buzzing in his ear and he was having trouble breathing. He could see that his mother was looking at him with a look of concern and was saying something to him, but he couldn’t hear her. He was too busy trying to keep his breathing under control. He knew he was starting to have a panic attack. He has had too many of them not to know when one was starting. He learned the best way to deal with it was just to focus on his breathing and ignore everything else around him. But his mind was going wild with questions. “Why south Korea? Why were his parents doing this to him?” He was finally happy. He finally had friends. He finally had a girlfriend. That made Mark stop for a second. “Wait, what about Skylar? How could I leave Skylar? We are supposed to be together. We are going to go to New York together.” Mark could feel tears of frustration and anger build up. He looked at his parent with a cold expression. They were still focusing on Joey; who was now in tears because he didn’t want to leave his friends.

“How could you do this to me?” Mark said in a cold whisper

His parents stopped talking and even Joey just stared at him.

“Sweetie, we aren’t trying to hurt you” his mother said

“Oh really? What do you think this is doing then?”

“How could you just decide to pack us up and move us to another country!?” he yelled

“Lower your voice, young man” His father said

“I am finally happy mom… I finally have friends and I have Sky.. Why do you want to take them away from me? You know how hard it is for me.”

“Honey, I know. I know it is going to be a huge adjustment. But this is where your fathers work is taking us. This is a huge opportunity for him and we have to be supportive as a family” she said with tears in her eyes

“Then, why can’t just the two of you go. Me and Joey can stay with Tammy or Grace. Its my senior year! What about Sky!?” Mark asked unable to stop the tear that fell from his eye.

“Mark, we are not going to have you both stay with your sisters. They have their own lives and families. You both will be coming to South Korea with your mother and me and that’s that”

“We are going to stay as a family”

“A family?” Mark laughed

“What kind of family is this, where you make a HUGE life changing decisions without discussing it with us first?”  

“Mark, baby. I know it will be hard at first, but you only have to endure for a year and then you will be heading off to college. You and Skylar can keep in touch and maybe she could visit. A year will go by before you know it” His mother said reaching out to grab his hand.

Mark pulled his hand away. Not wanting to be touched. He stared at his parents unable to believe that this was truly happening. He had never gotten into an argument with his parents before. He always went along with whatever they wanted, because that was just the kind of person he was. He didn’t like confrontation. This time was different. He found himself resenting them. He had always been a good son, but now he felt like they were punishing him. He just didn’t understand how they could make such a huge decision like this without talking to him. He could feel himself wanting to break down. He needed to get out of here. He didn’t want to be in the same room as them. He didn’t want to look at them.

“I am going to my room” he said getting up from his seat.

“Mark, wait honey. Lets talk” his mother pleaded

“What for? You guys have already decided on everything. There is nothing more to talk about…I’m going to bed” he pushed in his chair and started heading to his room.

“Mark.. wait” his mother said getting up to go after him. She grabbed his arm before he started to head upstairs

“Honey, I know this is hard on…”Mark cut her off

“Mom, just stop.. I am done talking about this right now…I just want to sleep” he shook off her hand and went up the stairs to his room.

Closing the door to his room. Mark slid down and onto the floor. Grabbing his knees he started rocking back and forward trying to control his breathing. Hot tears ran down his cheeks. He had never been so angry at his parents before. South Korea? Mark laughed. It was just so ridiculous and so far away.

“What the hell am I going to tell Sky?” he said to himself

**Author Note*

Second chapter done. My conversations never go the way I want them to, but I hope that what I wrote is alright. Let me know what you think. I am starting a new class tomorrow, so I am not sure when this week I will be able to update. Hopefully soon though. :)