Love-struck Teenagers

1. New Beginnings

The furniture wasn't getting through the door and the moving company carried the boxes carelessly, as if they didn't care about the potential damage to the contents. It was time for us to up sticks and move to Chicago as my dad has been promoted to the position of state auditor. I am still not sure what exactly he does in his job. All I know is that it has something to do with the income tax.

After much hustle and bustle, we managed to fit the entire house into two massive carriage trucks.

The four of us stood frozen, looking at our empty house, something which we had never seen before. The walls of the house seemed to be begging us not to leave. Sure, it was difficult to move out of the house where you were born. I did my best to hold back my tears, but poor Liam began sobbing, his sobs echoing throughout the empty house. He pleaded dad to let us see our room one last time, to which dad nodded in agreement and told me to lock the door while they waited in the car.

We went upstairs and opened the door to the sight of an empty room. "Spencer, I'm going to miss this one." cried Liam. I embraced him and kissed him on the forehead while cherishing the memories this place has provided for us.

Soon, I realised the honking from Dad signalling to us that we were running late. We dashed downstairs, my hands trembling as I locked the door for the last time. The carriage trucks were already on their way as we sat in the car. Off we went to bid adieu the city of Springfield.

It was undeniable that moving to a new city would be difficult. Mom will have to find new students for her piano lessons. Liam and I will have to transfer to a new school, especially for me, as I was shifted mid-term with only one and a half years of high school remaining. I wasn't concerned about Dad because I knew he was a genius.

I was an introvert, so I knew it would be more difficult for me to socialise and make new friends at the new school. Not that I regretted being an introvert. I believe that most introverts are largely independent and not clingy, and they are generally more inclined to be polite and considerate of the impact of their their behavior on others. They are creative and original at minds, and they are astute decision makers and problem-solvers. Ah! Too much of amour propre!

We had reached our destination, our new home, but I was too preoccupied with my thoughts to realise it. As I stepped out of the car, I read a hoarding 'Milwaukee Avenue'. Of course my parents had been here when they finalised the deal, but that was the first time Liam and I had seen our neighborhood. The houses were neat, in a straight line, and the fencing around all of them was almost flawless, just like how they showed in 'Oggy and the cockroaches'. Overall the society appeared to be porsche-clean.

The moving company staff had already begun unloading the furniture and stuff. Just as I turned to look around, I saw a girl from a balcony across our house waving at me with a warm smile. I smiled and waved back in response.

"Well this isn't so bad after all, huh?" Liam pushed me with his arm playfully. I told him to mind his own business.

As the furniture was unloaded in our new house, Dad waved at us from the entrance to come inside. "Holy moly!" exclaimed Liam, pointing me to look towards the polished wood floor and a graceful banister that curved up in all its glory towards a soaring second floor gallery. The front-yard was spacious enough for me to play tennis. It did require a bit mowing though. The windows were beautifully high-arched, and there was a pool in the backyard too. We went inside to see a damnably huge living room, probably bigger than the one we had at our old house. "This is awesome!" said Liam jumping on the couch.

Mom instructed us to arrange the contents in our room upstairs. "Oh come on! I'm supposed to share a room with him here as well?" complained Liam, to which mom gave a long look. I exactly knew why he didn't want to share the room with me, especially now that puberty had hit him.

We went upstairs to see our new room. It was commodious and had those huge windows that open like doors taking you to the gallery - a super arrangement. Two beds on each side for me and Liam and a computer table that faces out the other window.

I was quick to hang my role model Rafael Nadal's poster, which read 'When the dust settles, your legacy remains' on my side of the wall, as Liam was a Djokovic fan, something that I despised. Soon, we unpacked our stuff to arrange it in our cupboards.

I observed that Liam was still frowning. "Don't worry, I will walk out when you need your 'you' time."

"You better be, the last time you walked in on me straight away" he complained with a frown on his face.

"You're supposed to close the door, you numbskull!" I said in a superior tone.

"You know I could do it in the bathroom too, but it feels like a prison, and with the hand movements..."

"Spare me the details, Liam! I said I will just walk out."

That night, I went to bed, worried about my how first day at the new school would pan out the next day.

"Making new friends, adjusting to new expectations, remembering classes, remembering schedules, understanding the new rules, understanding the new grading system... Goodness me! I'm screwed."

I couldn't even sleep that night because of what they call the 'first-night effect'.

*****************

The alarm clock blared, and I abruptly stood up, not that I was sleeping anyway. Mom yelled from downstairs for us to get ready for school. We finished our showers, shoved some bread into our mouths, and rushed outside to wait for the school bus. Liam had already made some new friends on the bus therein, while I sat alone at a window seat on the back side.

After about 15 minutes, we arrived at our destination, Winterville high school. It had a huge playground (It was Chicago, so everything was expected to be huge) and a separate tennis court! I liked that.

Liam and I had already parted ways because middle school and high school were housed in different buildings. I passed through the hallways searching for my class, and finally a wise man guided me to E3.

I entered the class just to discover it was jam-packed, which certainly meant I was late.

I took a sole open seat next to a blonde guy.

A/N

Hello and welcome to the beginning of my debut story on Wattpad, "love-struck teenagers." I therefore look forward to reading your thoughts/comments and learning from them. There is still a lot more to come, so I hope you will stick around! I'll begin by posting updates twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays. Please and Thank you.

- Duke Silver.

Glossary :
• up sticks (british) - go to live elsewhere.
• Amour propre (french) - self-appreciation.
• First-night effect - A biological phenomenon that occurs when sleeping in an unfamiliar setting for the first time.