“Really? I feel like we’re on Sesame Street! Look at these green lamp posts and the brown buildings that are attached to the others all the way down,” I expressed, while pointing franticly like this was just a bad dream.
I could see Mom and Dad trying so hard not to burst out into laughter. I didn’t find any of this funny. I wanted to go back to Ohio. I didn’t care if they left me there all by myself. I’d figure out how to survive on my own. It had to be better than this.
“Well, I’m sorry to inform you, but this is our new place, Julia. It’s not that bad. I’m sure it’s really nice inside,” Dad said trying to cheer me up.
Dad started pulling out some of the stuff from the car. I wondered what we were even going to sleep on. The truck hadn’t even arrived yet and it was night time. No moving guys were going to unload a truck at this time.
“Julia, can you come over here and grab some of the stuff from the car?” Mom asked.
I really wanted to tell her no, but I knew that wasn’t going to get me anywhere, so I did what she asked. Once my hands were filled, Dad and I followed Mom up the stairs. Seeing as Dad’s hands were filled, he used his elbow to nudge me in my tracks. “Hey, kid, I know this isn’t something you really wanted, but your mom went through a great deal to find this place. Try to be a little nicer, would you?” I felt really bad after Dad gave me that little speech, so I promised him I would try to have a better attitude.
“Oh, and by the way, Julia. This is not called a brown building. It’s called a Brownstone,” he said as he smiled.
After bringing everything into the house from the car, Mom gave me the official tour of the place. The kitchen was really big and had an island in the middle which sat four people. The walls were a soft yellow color and had a floral border that went all the way around the top. The living room wasn’t quite as big as the one in our old house, but it was nice. So far, out of all the rooms I’d seen, I was truly in love with the bathroom. It was huge. It looked like a bathroom Jennifer Aniston would have in her house.
Not only was there a stand up shower which had multiple shower heads and a glass door, but there was also a huge garden tub that I think could easily fit three people in it. I knew where I’d be spending most of my time...relaxing with a book in my new tub!
“So, what do you think of the place so far, Julia?” Mom asked knowing I had a big smile on my face.
“It’s nice,” I replied.
“Nice, that’s it? I saw your face light up when you saw the bathroom, Julia. Wait until you see your room. I think you’re really going to love it. Maybe a little bit more than the bathroom,” she said while grabbing my hand and walking me back the opposite way. We finally stopped in front of a closed door. Mom turned to look at me and said, “Go ahead, open it, Julia.”
My stomach was doing flip flops. What could be so special about an empty room, I thought. I think I’d be more excited if my room was all set up and I didn’t have to do anything, but that wasn’t the case. The moving truck wasn’t even here yet. Looking back at Mom, I took in a deep breath, reached for the doorknob and turned it while giving it a little push so it would swing open.
I’m pretty sure when I took a step in my room for the first time, my jaw was wide open. I had to close my eyes and open them again just to make sure I was seeing right. Mom didn’t say anything. Instead she just let me take it all in while I walked around. All I kept repeating in my head was, How? It was huge. There was a bay window with a long bench built in underneath. On the side of the wall next to it was a built in bookshelf where I could easily grab a book and read while sitting there.
There were already light pink and green stripped curtain’s hung up above it. The walls were painted a lighter shade of pink and had a mural of Paris painted across it. I couldn’t believe it. I never wanted to leave my room.
“Mom, I… I just love it. How? And when?” I asked in complete and utter shock.
“I’ll tell you that in a second, but first look in here,” she said as she opened up a door.
“Holy crap,” were the words that flew out of my mouth and then I screamed like I had just won the lottery. I could feel my legs start to jiggle a little with all the excitement. Walking slowly, I stepped into a walk-in closet and not just any walk-in closet. Straight ahead against the wall was a shoe rack and on both sides of the closet were five shelves that had a bar underneath to hang my clothes. In the middle was a small bench that was painted white and had my name written on the top. Tears began to stream down my face.
“Oh, honey, I hope those are happy tears,” Mom said as she wrapped her arms around me.
“Yes. Yes, they are. I can’t believe my room. I love it all. How did you get that mural on my wall?”
“I found a guy here in New York that does murals and sent him a picture. I know it’s been hard on you, Julia, and I wanted to do something nice for you,” she said as tears fell from her face.
“Mom, don’t cry. You’ll make me start crying again. I love it all and I love you.”
“Seriously, I leave you two women alone for a few minutes and you ladies are crying.” Dad said while making crying sounds to tease us.
“Is everything all set up, honey?” Mom asked Dad.
“Yes, and while you guys were busy, I found a pizza place a couple of blocks from here and grabbed us a late dinner. By the way, the owner swore this would be the best New York pizza we’ve ever had. I laughed when he said that and agreed that he’s probably right seeing we’ve never eaten New York pizza before.
Mom and I both laughed at Dad’s remark. I loved that my dad had a crazy sense of humor. That night we all sat on the floor and dug into what was the best pizza I’d ever eaten. When we were done we all called it a night. Tomorrow was a new start in a new place and I was feeling better already. Maybe Mom and Dad were right. Maybe change was good. I couldn’t wait to set up my room in the morning, but for now it was time to rest.
Chapter Nine
The next morning I woke up on the floor. My air mattress had deflated on me in the middle of the night and my back was hurting. Luckily, I had an awesome shower that would make me feel a lot better. Mom had told me the movers had called and said they’d be at our house in twenty minutes. All I thought was, So much for a long relaxing shower.
Just as I was finished getting dressed I heard a knock on the door. The movers were here and they were ready to get the truck unloaded. Mom had a system that she had set in place to make things easier. She directed the movers to which room the furniture was going while Dad and I carried most of the boxes in the house. Luckily for us we were smart and marked each of them so we knew which room to put them in.
It took about three hours total to get everything out of the truck and into the house. It was just about lunch time when we finished, so Dad suggested we go for a drive to find some place to eat. After a fifteen minute drive we stopped at a place called Serendipity 3. The placed was so cute. We all ordered the same thing, cheddar burger with fries and for dessert a hot fudge sundae. When I finished, I could barely breathe or move.
Once we got back home, Dad set up my bed and moved my furniture where I wanted it. Then I started to unpack everything. It was so nice to be able to hang all of my clothes in my closet instead of having to fold them in a dresser. I hated clothes that had creases. It did take me longer to put all my books away. I’ve always been addicted to books ever since I could read. Mom says that I have too many, but I don’t think four hundred, or more, is even enough. Who knows how many books I may add to my collection now that I can download them to my phone? It would save me from having to buy hard copies.
I finally finished with my whole room around seven at night and I was beat. Mom and Dad had stopped a while ago. Mom had asked Dad to get a couple of things from the grocery store so she could actually cook in her new kitchen. After all the eating out we had been doing, I was actually glad Mom was cooking dinner. As I was about to get acquainted with my new garden tub which was big enough to swim in,
Mom called to me saying it was time to eat.
It smelled so good. Homemade spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread which was one of my favorites. It was kind of weird sitting in a breakfast nook. I was so high up and the stools were pretty uncomfortable. Dad thought so too, so he suggested that Mom either look online for ones with backs and cushions or they could just use the dining room table.
I wondered why we weren’t just sitting at the table in the first place, but then again Dad didn’t have time to put it together seeing he was out at the store. It was leaning against the wall with the legs off and the chairs stacked in the corner. While finishing up eating Mom and Dad were discussing what was on the agenda for tomorrow.
“Well, honey, I’ll go get some of the things we need for the house and you can finish fixing up the place,” Mom said while making googley eyes at Dad.
Didn’t Mom realize I wanted to keep my food down and not worrying about the possibility of it coming back up? Somewhere in their conversation I wanted to ask them if I had to start school tomorrow because really, I’d rather stay home one more day. I wasn’t as nervous, as I was sore and tired. I wanted to just get one good night to rest.
“Yes, honey. I’ll finish up here tomorrow, that’s fine,” said Dad as he leaned across the table to kiss Mom.
“Seriously, didn’t we have this talk back in Ohio? Get a room or something. Please, not while I’m eating,” I chimed in while making a barfing noise.
“Julia, stop it. Your dad and I are not going to stop kissing. You wouldn’t be saying this if you had a boyfriend,” Mom said as she cleared her throat.
“Whatever, Mom, I’m leaving to go swim in the tub, but I wanted to ask,can I stay home tomorrow and help Dad? I can start school the following day.”
“No, tomorrow’s Monday and I think it’s best that you start school in the beginning of the week, don’t you, honey?” Mom asked Dad like she needed him to agree, so she didn’t seem like the bad parent. Dad hated when Mom pulled him into anything that might make me mad at him for siding with her.
“Well… I guess in some ways, Julia, your mom is right. I can finish up the house, but thanks for wanting to stay and help me,” said Dad with a slight hope that I wouldn’t be mad that he sided with Mom like usual.
“Fine, I’ll go, but you’re going to wish I’d stayed and helped you, Dad.”
After everything Mom did for me I couldn’t be mad at her, but I could be at Dad and I was. Just once I wished he would not agree so easily with Mom. It drives me crazy. Once I cleaned off my dish, I headed to my bedroom for some clean clothes and my phone. While I waited for the tub to fill, which seemed like a really long time seeing as it was so big, I turned my phone on and began to read my book.
It was close to eight o’clock when I jumped in the tub to relax and read. I was a little worried about dropping my phone in it while I read, so I stuck it in a sandwich bag. The water was just the right temperature for relaxing. I finished my book just as the water was getting cold. I fell in love with Thawer’s book and couldn’t wait to download the next one in the series.
When I climbed out of the tub, I placed my phone on the sink and jumped in the shower to wash off. "OMG," was all I kept saying in the shower. I was in heaven. I didn’t want to ever leave my bathroom. In my old house, our shower didn’t have great water pressure, so most of the time it trickled down you. This shower literally cleansed me from head to toe. Holy moly!
I had asked Mom before heading to bed who was taking me to my new school tomorrow and she said that Dad would because she’d be gone early. My parents were lucky. Neither of them had to go back to work until the following week. It wasn’t fair. As I looked for something to wear on my first day of school, my stomach started to hurt and panic was setting in.
Ugh, why me? I didn’t want to stay up freaking out and not be able to fall asleep, so I put off trying to find something to wear and climbed into bed. It still took a while to fall asleep. Tossing and turning I was driving myself crazy. I decided to rock back and forth for a few minutes and it worked until I felt like I was going to throw up. The only thing that seemed to calm me was turning on the TV and listening to it.
The following morning I heard a knock on my door and my dad telling me it was time to get ready for school. God, I hated that word school. I couldn’t wait until I graduated high school. I had three and a half years left and I was done. Instead of getting up right away, I threw the pillow over my head and laid there for a couple of minutes, then finally decided to climb out of bed and get dressed.
I wasn’t even sure of what to wear. Some of the people I saw yesterday when I was out dressed a lot differently than what I’m used to. In any case, I had to throw something on, so I grabbed a pair of skinny jeans, a plain light blue t-shirt and my sneakers. I wasn’t sure if the school allowed phones, but I took it anyways making sure it was on silent so I didn’t get in trouble. It wasn’t like anyone had the number except my parents, so I was pretty much safe.
Before Mom left she had made banana muffins, so I would have breakfast. Dad said because I had lolly gagged I’d have to take my muffin to go because we were running a bit behind. It was only a little past seven, so I didn’t see the rush. I was pretty sure school didn’t start until eight, but what did I know? In New York, it could be different.
“What’s the rush, Dad? What time does school start here?” I asked, which I knew was probably a dumb question.
“It starts the same time as it did when you were back in Ohio, Julia,” Dad said while laughing at me of course.
“Then why do we have to head out now?”
“Julia, your school is about fifteen minutes away, but with everyone in New York City rushing to get to work it’s going to take me longer.” I could tell I was getting on his nerves, so I thought it was best that I kept quiet.
I couldn’t believe how bad the traffic was. It was just a little after seven in the morning, and there were so many were people yelling “Taxi,” as they waved their hand franticly in the air. I made it to school with just five minutes to spare. While I was getting out of the car, my dad told me he’d be back just before three to pick me up. Before walking inside the building, I stood outside staring up at it. Across the building read “John Ewings High School.” It didn’t look much different than my old school back home. After fixing my shirt and smoothing my hair down, I walked up the stairs and pulled open the door.
As I walked straight ahead, I noticed on the left a door that read, “Front Office,” so I headed on in. There sitting behind the counter was a well-dressed woman on the phone. Covering the mouth piece she said, “Honey, I’ll be right with you. If you’d like, you can take a seat over there,” she instructed as she pointed across the room. There was no reason for me to stand, especially not knowing how long she’d be on the phone, so I took a seat and waited.
I was getting a little nervous knowing I was now late to my first class. It was eight twenty and I was still waiting in the office for this woman to get off the phone. I wasn’t sure if I should just say, “Excuse me,” and let her know I was a new transfer and that I just needed my schedule for my classes, so I could be on my way. Just as I was about to get up and walk back over to the desk, she hung up the phone, waved her hand to get my attention and said, “You can come now.”
Once she was done introducing herself as Ms. Crane she asked me my name. I wanted to hurry up, but for some reason she must have thought I had all day. “So, Julia, where are you originally from?” she asked, and I was sure she was just being nosey.
Figuring she was going to ask me more than one question before giving me my schedule, I saved her the trouble by saying, “I’m originally from Ohio. My family and I moved here because of my dad’s job.”
“Well, I sure hope you end up liking it here in New York and at John Ewings. Here’s your class schedule. Now, seeing that the bell is about to ring, you’ll head to your second period class. Go straight down this main hallway and turn left. Once you get to th
e second set of lockers, you’ll see numbers on the wall. Continue walking down about three quarters of the way and you’ll find room 211. That is your next class with Mr. Walker,” she said while smiling as if I would remember all that.
After thanking her for her lovely directions, I started down the hall, but then it happened. The bell rang and students started rushing down the hall. Quickly, I hurried and took the left. Weaving in and out trying not to bump anyone, I lost my balance and fell to the ground. I wasn’t sure whether to get up or stay there until the hall was empty, but then I saw a hand that reached down toward me.
“Here, let me help you,” was all I heard coming from what sounded like a guy. I didn’t want to look up, but I had no other option. As I reached out my hand for his, he pulled me to my feet and said, “Hey, are you alright?”
Chapter Ten
I was completely and utterly embarrassed and so the only words that somehow managed to come out of my mouth were, “I’m not sure. I think I might have broken my butt bone, if that’s even possible.” Strangely enough instead of walking away after what I’d just said, he stood there and laughed for a second. Apparently he didn’t find me stupid, just funny.
Torn Souls Page 6