[_Rocki]

So my parents used to be together but they separated and I spent most of my life living with my mom. I was very unhappy living with her, mostly because of the school I went to, but me and her also argued a lot. Last year me and her were arguing because she wanted to move somewhere that I knew that I wasn't going to like at all. Not only that, but the school was going to be much worse, I just knew. So she told me to go live with my dad. She knew how much I didn't want to live with him but she still said it out of anger I guess, so that's when I finally made up my mind and decided to live here with my dad, his girlfriend and her son. It started pretty good but after living with him for about 14 months now I'm really starting to hate it here. He's very hard to live with, and he doesn't try as hard as he can to be a good father. It's like most of the time he just doesn't care, and he's also an alcoholic which makes things worse. I live in a house with 3 people and I feel so alone. Now, I would go back to my mom except for the fact that I'm going to school here, and I actually like the school. That's the only thing keeping me from going back to her. I visit her over breaks like spring break and summer break and I love being with her. I even think that me choosing to live with my dad has actually brought me and my mom closer. I talk to her everyday over the phone and see her every chance I get, because she lives about 4 hours away from me.
I'm so unhappy living with my dad. I'm all alone and the only person I talk to when I'm at home in my room is my mom, but for some reason I know that I'll be unhappy living with her because of the school there. The schools where she lives are really bad and is one reason why I left her in the first place. I don't know what to do. I'm tired of being unhappy. All I want is to just settle down somewhere without being so depressed about something. By the way I'm 15.

[joypulv]

You are lucky that you have been given the choices you have, even if they still aren't what you want. Many of us didn't get what we wanted (when I was your age we didn't dare to even bring the subject up). When you are an adult, 100% responsible for your income and expenses, reality will hit you like a ton of bricks - life is all about Compromise with a capital C.

Now spend the summer with mom as planned and ask her to teach you about her finances. What does each living expense cost her? Next fall, do the same thing with your dad. Listen and learn and plan for the day when you are doing the same thing, all by yourself. 18 is not far away. Get a job after school, do well in school - those are the ways you break away from what you don't like. But there's plenty more not to like after that, such as the cheap noisy apartment with roommates who steal your food and hog the bathroom while you make low wages at your first job. Deal with it!