A new life

Chapter 1
Keira looked at the huge house in front of her. She spent a long time studying every detail of the house. It had five rows of windows, eighteen in all. There were two on the bottom level and four on the other four levels. The door was painted a dull white and the wooden house was painted the same dull white, maybe a little lighter. On the door, in big, black bold letters the numbers 0923 were painted. The yard wasn’t much to look at, a few flowers here and there but mostly it was green grass. The bright red sports car in the driveway seemed out of place while the gray Honda minivan seemed right at home there.
Keira walked up to the door, black backpack slung over one shoulder, and light blue purse around the wrist holding the handle of a large dark green suitcase. She managed to ring the doorbell with her elbow as she awkwardly motioned for the taxi behind her to leave. The door opened and she gladly dropped her bags. She hugged the figure who has just opened the door.
“Hey mum, I made it here in one piece.” Keira said with a smile. The other woman embraced her daughter. Keira and her mother each had red hair and they both wore it long and wavy. Keira’s green eyes matched her mother’s perfectly. Her mother was only 29 years and she looked more like Keira’s sister than her mother.
“It’s good to see you, Keira.”
“Anne, who is at the door? Is it Keira?”
“Come on down, Matthew. It is Keira.” Anne called, releasing Keira from her strong embrace.
Matthew ran down the stairs, a giant smile plastered on his handsome face. “How’s my little girl?” He lifted Keira up and swung her around. When he put her down, he gave her a big hug.
“I’m just fine, dad.” Keira said, wiggling herself around and out of his grip. Keira’s father shared her same nose and smile. He towered above her; he was 6 feet and 4 inches while she was only 5 feet. Anne was 5 feet and 5 inches.
“So, where’s my room? I want to start unpacking.” Keira asked.
“We’ll show you. Matthew, grab her bags.” Anne led Keira up two flights of steps up to the fourth floor. She opened up the door and Keira smiled as she saw how big the room was. Directly on her left there was a desk with a chair and a Dell laptop. On her right there was a huge walk-in closet and on the left there was a door leading to the bathroom. Directly in front of her there was a queen sized bed. On the right side of the bed there was a green bean bag chair and in front of the bean bag chair was a bookshelf. The head of the bed was pushed up a wall and a window was directly above the head of the bed. On the left there was a night table and against the left wall there was a dresser.
“Wow, this is really pretty.” Keira admired the wooden floors and the light purple walls.
“Well, we’re glad that you like it. Go and get unpacked and relax. Tomorrow your father will take you over to the high school and get you registered for next year.”
“Okay, thanks.” Keira shut her door and flopped down onto the big, comfortable bed and sighed. She had just finished her freshman year in high school. It had only been a week since school had let out. She missed her grandmother who she had lived with for about 3 months while her parents moved to Bethesda, Maryland and she finished up her school year. She couldn’t say that she missed the dreary English air. Her parents had been so excited to move the the United States and to be living so close to the capital. Keira really couldn’t have cared less. But she was now in Maryland and she couldn’t go back.
She was 15 years old and she still hadn’t had a boyfriend, she couldn’t drive, and she couldn’t really do much. She hoped that her life would change in the USA. Keira began to unpack her suitcase and as she unpacked it she got lost in thought.
I wonder what school out here will be like. What am I going to do over the summer? How will I meet people? Before she knew it, she had finished unpacking. She sat down on her bed and looked around at the room. It was nice, although it was pretty plain.
“Keira, come down there is someone here that I would like you to meet.” Anne called. Keira nearly fell off the bed in surprise. There was a speaker built into the wall and the sound came out loudly. “You can press the little button next to the speaker on your wall to call back down.” Anne added.
Keira pressed the little white button, “Mum, you could have told me about that. You really frightened me.” Keira let go of the button and walked down the steps and into the main entrance on the second floor.
“Keira, honey, I want you to meet our neighbors across the street.” Keira took a seat on the loveseat next to her mother. Keira looked at the four people sitting around the room. A couple was sitting side by side on the other couch. The woman looked to be about 40 years old and the man looked to be about 45 years old. The woman had short, brown hair and brown eyes. She was quite tall, around 5 feet and 9 inches. The man was still taller than her. He was about 6 feet and 5 inches. He had dark brown hair and his moustache and beard were slightly gray. He too had brown eyes.
There was a boy and a girl. They were sitting on the two armchairs on both sides of the couch. The girl seemed to be 14 years old and the boy was about 16 years old. Both of them had light brown hair and brown eyes. The girl wore her hair in a long, high ponytail. Her hair curled a bit at the end of the ponytail. Freckles were scattered along nose and upper cheeks. She had very tan skin much like her father. Her teeth were a little crooked but she looked pretty. She was 5 feet and 2 inches and she wore a halter top blue dress and blue flip-flops. The boy was very handsome. At the top of his left ear he had a small silver stud. He was lightly tanned, more like his mother, and his teeth were brilliantly white. He was muscular and his brown hair was a little too long and a little shaggy and it hung in his eyes slightly. He was very tall, about 6 feet and he wore a pair of black soccer shorts and he wore a light blue t-shirt.
“Keira, these are our neighbors, they live across the street. Dan, how about you guys introduce yourselves to my daughter?”
“Okay, my name is Daniel Harchel, this is my wife Erica. Cristie is 14 and will be a freshman next year at your high school. Ryan is 16 and he will be a junior next year and will also be at your school.” Dan said, pointing to each person as he introduced them.
“It is very nice to meet all of you. As you know, I am Keira. I’ll be a sophomore next year.” Keira smiled. The rest of the afternoon went on very casually, barely skimming the surface because anywhere below the surface would get difficult like a spoon in Jell-O. The back of a spoon glides easily along the surface of Jell-O but it takes effort to spoon the Jell-O out and no one had the energy to try spooning.
Keira was almost sad when they left. The house seemed empty. The house was too big for Keira’s taste and they didn’t really need a big house. Keira had tried to explain that to her father but her father was the most stubborn person she had ever met. Once he had his mind set on something, he would tear down all of the obstacles in his way to get what he wanted. That was part of the reason why he was such a successful businessman.
“So, how do you like them? I figured that since it is summer and you won’t be in school for another 3 months, you might need some people to hang out with.” Anne said.
“I like them. They seem like very nice people.” Keira said simply.
“Okay, what’s up? I know that tone of voice, what is bothering you?” Anne asked with a knowing smile.
“Well, Cristie seems nice and everything but she also seems shallow. The way she looked at me, it told me that she really didn’t want to come but was dragged here against her will and she couldn’t care less about the girl across the street.”
“And? I know that there’s more.” Anne insisted.
“Well, Ryan also seems nice but I’m younger than him. He seems like the type of person who doesn’t enjoy hanging around younger kids. He already has a younger sister to deal with everyday.” Keira said.
“Ryan and Cristie are the only kids around here that are close to your age. Plus, you were always one to judge people before getting to know them. While your first impressions are usually right, you are sometimes wrong. Just give them a chance, okay?” Anne replied. Keira nodded in agreement.