I spy

Chapter 1: New Home? No Way.

Seventeen hours of driving, or riding in my case. Fourteen hours of uncomfortable shifting. Twelve hours of nothing but trees. Seven hours of 'are we there yet?'. Four hours of needing to use the bathroom. Two hours of uninterrupted hunger. Seventeen hours is just how long we were on the road. Just yesterday I was in my hometown, Atlanta, Georgia. My parents announced that we would be moving to Tannersville, California, a place so remote, I couldn't even find it on the Maps app on my phone. I probably wouldn't even have Wifi there. How was I supposed to talk to my bestfriends, Chelsea and Amber? I couldn't believe this.

"We just want to live someplace with less noise, someplace quiet, that's all." My mom said, when I asked her why we were moving to Tannersville.

The truth was, I didn't want to live someplace quiet, I wanted to live where I grew up for the first seventeen years of my life. In the house where I painted my room periwinkle purple and got my first Rover on PuppysSpot.Org. But that wouldn't happen. We would move to Tannersville and I would have to make new friends, find a new after school hangout spot, find a new . . . everything.
The night before the move, I heard my parents talking in the kitchen. They spoke quietly so they would not wake my little sister, Jayla, and so that I would not hear. They knew that I would be listening, and I was. I sat on the third to last step of the stair case and listened to my parents talk about the move.

"Greg, how do we know we are doing the right thing, that we will be okay?" Mama asked.

"Tia, everything will be okay. We can stay hidden, we will be fine." My dad explained.

Mama agreed hesitantly.

Who were we hiding from? Why were we hiding? I could not ask my parents these questions. They had a strict rule about eavesdropping and I knew I would be grounded if I did.

Mama didn't want to move either; I could tell by the sound of her voice. She spoke the way she always did when she was nervous, upset, or the terrible combination of both. But, she wouldn't say anything. She wouldn't tell me or my dad about her worries. She'd always been that way.

I tiptoed upstairs to the room that Jayla and I shared, almost tripping over packed, cardboard boxes.
"Are we there yet?" My little sister Jayla asked for the seven-millionth time, breaking me out of my thoughts. She was five at the time and did not care to much about the move. She was happy with Miss Snuffles, her stuffed bear, and Blankie, he favorite blanket.

I looked out of the windshield. "Actually, Jay," I said, calling her by her nickname. "We are."

We all sluggishly climbed out of the car, except Jayla, who waited patiently for Mama to unbuckle her booster seat. If you get jet lag from being in a plane or jet for so long, what do you get from riding in a car for almost a day? Car lag?

"I want atleast seven boxes unpacked before sun down." My dad ordered. My dad spoke was head lawyer at the law firm where he worked and he fit the part too. He always wore a suit, unless it was Saturday, then he wore a T-shirt and Cargo pants.

My mom in the other hand was calm and feminine. She didn't reveal too much about her self to most people, but I knew exactly who she was. She was kind and caring. She cared more about others than she did herself. Jayla and I got most of our traits from Mama. We looked like her too, although we got a few of our looks for our dad. Mama was only 5 foot 5 inches tall and I was right behind her and 5 foot 4 inches tall. Our dad had dark, skin, hair, and eyes. Jayla and I had light, golden skin and long, curly, dark brown hair. Jayla had just gotten her ears pierced, as I did when I was five, which surprisingly made us look even more alike.

Unlike our mom and dad, Jayla and I had big, brown eyes and I have a beauty mark right under my left one.

We finished unloading the boxes around 7 P.M. and we were quite hunger when we finished.

"That's the last one." I said walking downstairs from my room and into the living room.

"Are you sure Maria?" My dad questioned. He insisted on naming me Maria when I was born, but my mom overthrew his proposal because she liked the name Riley. My dad ended up picking my middle name, which is of course, Maria.

After we all finished unpacking, we went to a nearby restaurant. Everything in Tannersville was only about five minutes away, which was way closer than it was in Atlanta so that was great. Also our house here was bigger and everyone got there own room. Although I was still a little upset about the move, getting my own room was pretty nice.

I knew this part of the move would be hard for Jayla. When we got home we were all pretty tired and decided to go to bed. Jayla had never slept in a room by herself and she would probably be coming to my room soon. Almost on cue, there was a knock at my door. I knew it was Jayla because of the almost inaudible sound her small fist made when it came in contact with the wooden door. I called for her to come in.

She walked in sleepily before asking, "Can I sleep in here tonight?"

I knew she was scared and I felt bad for her. "Come on." I said pushing the covers back for her to lay down.

She got in the bed and put Miss. Snuffles beside her. I began to try to fall asleep, but my attempts were cut short when Jayla started talking again.

"Can you sing me a song?"

I knew exactly what she was talking about. She didn't want me to sing just any song. "Do you want to sing with me?" I asked.

She nodded yes in response.

Together we sang "JESUS loves the little children, all of the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. JESUS loves the little children of the world."

We sang this song over and over until Jayla fell asleep and it's a good thing too because at around midnight it started to storm and Jayla would not have slept that night if she hadn't. After a while, I finally went to sleep too.

A/N: Hey guys! So this is the first chapter of the story. I know it is a little boring right now, but it gets better. There is a lot of background information needed to be presented first. I have not yet found out how to format my writing yet, but I will try to figure it out. But anyway, comment , vote, share, and tell you friends. If you want to. If you don't, that's okay too.

P.S. I feel like I need a saying at the end of my author's notes.
If you want to comment what that should be, feel free.
Until next time,
~Jade