It Started with Goodbye by Christina June is a modern play on Cinderella which shows us that sometimes going after what you want means breaking the rules.
About ‘It Started with Goodbye’
Sixteen-year-old Tatum Elsea is bracing for the worst summer of her life. After being falsely accused of a crime, she’s stuck under stepmother-imposed house arrest and her BFF’s gone ghost. Tatum fills her newfound free time with community service by day and working at her covert graphic design business at night (which includes trading emails with a cute cello-playing client).
When Tatum discovers she’s not the only one in the house keeping secrets, she finds she has the chance to make amends with her family and friends. Equipped with a new perspective, and assisted by her feisty step-abuela/fairy-godmother, Tatum is ready to start fresh and maybe even get her happy ending along the way.
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‘It Started with Goodbye’ excerpt
Excerpt from Chapter Two
In terms of life events, my getting arrested was either pretty horrible timing or pretty perfect, depending on who you were talking to. I was thankful it was June, and a week away from the last day of school. I wouldn’t have to see my classmates and listen to the rumor mill blow this out of proportion for long. It would be forgotten by the time school started after Labor Day, in favor of who broke up with who and where so-and-so was applying early to college. I could spend my summer not going to the beach, not hanging out with my friends, and not staying out late in quiet solitude. I hoped, anyway.
On the flip side, Dad was leaving. He worked for the State Department and was forever being sent to faraway countries—this time to Botswana for eight weeks—in order to bring magical, democratic diplomacy to people who supposedly needed him more than I did. Dad and I, despite all the changes that had happened in our family during my lifetime, had always been allies. I was used to him being gone, but I wasn’t used to him leaving and being mad at me.
As if I wasn’t feeling bad enough about my situation, he decided to lay down some new rules for me to follow in his absence. He chose his last dinner at home to share them, having wonderful timing himself.
“Tatum, you know Belén and I are disappointed by your recent actions.”
“I know, Dad.” I wanted to wave a magic wand and remove this whole mess from everyone’s memories. Mine included.
“We have discussed the situation, and while we applaud you for trying to protect Ashlyn, it does not negate the fact that you put yourself in a very dangerous situation, and we are unwilling to let that slide without some consequences. While I’m gone, your stepmother will be in charge.” Like she wasn’t in charge all the time, anyway? I slipped my hand under the table and into my pocket, running a finger over the warm metal of my keychain for confidence.
“If you are not babysitting, you will be performing your community service or you will be here. If you want to go on any type of outing, or participate in an activity, Belén needs to authorize it first.”
I narrowed my eyes and slid them back and forth between my dad and Belén. “So, this is house arrest. She’s my jailer, is what you’re saying.”
Dad sighed. “That’s an ugly word, but yes, in a nutshell.”
Excellent. If the police weren’t going to lock me up, the stepmother would. “Great,” I muttered under my breath.
Belén frowned, the edges of her mouth dipping so low toward her chin, I thought her face might crack. “Your father and I wish you had let a trusted adult know Ashlyn was in trouble with this Chase character, but that didn’t happen. And now you need to accept the consequences.”
“Well the state of Virginia has already helped you out in that department. I’d say a five hundred dollar dine is a pretty big consequence for doing nothing. I get that you want me to learn this life lesson, but it’s completely unnecessary.” I knew I was being rude, but I didn’t care. “Though it’s not like I have anyone to hang out with, anyway,” I mumbled. Ashlyn hadn’t said a word to me since we left the police station.
Belén folded her hands, laid them on the table, and squared her shoulders. She was intimidating, for sure, but I wasn’t going to cower. I needed to keep my dignity intact, after all, if I was going to be contending with her by myself for two months. Her expression softened a little when I didn’t look away, and she sighed before speaking again. “In addition, my mother will be moving in with us for the summer, so when I’m at work or in court, you’ll need to listen to what she says.”
My eyebrows shot up. Blanche was moving in? I knew this was meant to be another punishment, when really Belén’s mother, Tilly’s abuela, was secretly one of my favorite people. I mean, I hardly knew her since she’d visited a grand total of two times in the eight years we’d been a happy little family, but it was obvious to anyone with half a brain that she didn’t seem to subscribe to Belén’s parenting style. And in my book, that made her a rock star.
I nodded. “Sure thing.” A chilly, hard stare came back, and I looked away from Belén. I didn’t want my forehead to freeze.
“I mean it, Tatum. I’ll be working, and as you know, Tilly will be participating in the District Ballet Company’s summer intensive.” A small, satisfied smile crossed her lips, as per usual whenever Belén was discussing her daughter’s accomplishments.
Tilly was a classically trained ballerina, and even my cranky self couldn’t deny that she was a really good one. She’d been in a specialized dance program for three years now. When Tilly got her acceptance letter to McIntosh High School for the Arts, Belén and my dad took us all out to a fancy dinner to celebrate. A year later, I got one thanking me for applying to the visual arts program, but sadly there was no spot for me in the freshman class. No dinner that time. Tilly had also spent the last few summers participating in courses led my frou-frou dance campanies all over the country. Belén insisted Tilly stay close to home this year so she could work on her college essays: in other words, so Belén could edit them for—I mean with—her.
“Sounds like a plan.” There was nothing left for me to do but just go with it.
About the author
Christina June is a debut author who writes young adult contemporary fiction when she’s not writing college recommendation letters during her day job as a high school counselor. She lives just outside Washington DC with her husband and the world’s most rambunctious four-year-old.