Paper Planes

Chapter 1: Maryland, Here we come.

Paper Planes
Date: July 15th, 2016
Age: 14

Chapter 1: Maryland, Here we come.

As of right now, I live in Sweden. Yeah, I know that's a weird place to start but this is my life. I live with my two dads and my younger sister. And since my dads are marine biologist researchers, we moved to Sweden when I was 8 so they could study the oceans and lakes.

But the research is done, and it's time to go back to America.

I walked down the hall of our penthouse with a large box in my hand. It's so empty here. My Papa, Alec, comes up to me and takes the box from my hands. "So, excited to go back to America?" He asks.

I shrug. "I guess. I'm gonna miss this place though." I sigh, patting the wall next to me. He wraps me in his embrace and kisses the top of my head.

"It'll be okay." He breathes into my brown hair. That's what he always says. It's like his signature catchphrase.

Just as our touching father-daughter moment begins, someone comes in to ruin it. My 10 year old sister, Emma. My dads adopted Emma when she was only 3 years old from Fiji. She's definitely got a type A personality. And she loooooves to ruin things.

"PAPA!!!! DAD PULLED UP THE PICTURES FOR THE NEW HOISE!! You gotta see this!" She squeals in her squeaky voice.

We ran down the hall to my Dads room and he's holding his iPad up for us to see the house. It looks amazing! Seeing the new house makes me more excited to move to America. And it's happening tonight.

"Ready to go?" My Dad says. We've loading up our things and are about to head into the private jet. I nod and take one last look at our house. It's so empty. Finally I gather up enough courage to go into the jet. Emma is already snoring in her seat, and I'm just drawing the view of the ocean in my journal.

As we take off, I see the beautiful turquoise ocean beneath us, and the coral reefs get smaller and smaller as we depart from the ground. My Dads are asleep already, so I decide to do the same.

New York, here I come.

***
"Ella...Ella..." I hear someone faintly calling my name. I open my eyes and see Emma whispering my name.

"Whaaaaat?" I mumble, dragging the A.

"Look out your window."

I follow her instructions, unwinding myself from my fleece blanket. I look out my window and see the infamous city skyline of Manhattan. It's actually quite breathtaking. And of course picture worthy. I slide my phone out of my backpack and snap a picture. That's definitely going to Instagram.

The sun was setting over the horizon when we landed on the runway. After getting out of the private jet there was a limo waiting for us. The limo ride was about 30 minutes long.

"You guys, we're almost here! You excited?" Dad asks.

Emma and I both nod our heads, as were both too excited to even speak. He tells us about how there's a huge lake behind the house and plenty of room to play outside. Eventually the time passes and we make it to the front of the house. It's beautiful!

It's long and traditional. It's a light gray color and has brown brick accents along the exterior. Papa pays the cab driver and Dad takes the bags from the car. He gives me my Aqua roller bag and we all stand in front of the dark wood door. Dad pulls the keys from his pocket and opens it. My breath is taken away.

It's a lot bigger than our penthouse in Sweden. When you walk in there a staircase to your right and the living room straight ahead. Dad hired an interior designer before coming here so the house was already furnishes. Of course the first thing that came to mind was my room! So I ran upstairs to my bedroom. I knew it was my room when I saw a closed door with a sign saying "Ella" on the door.

When I walk in it's amazing. The floor is dark wood and there's a white carpet in the center under my bed. My large bed is covered in a white comforter and several colored throw pillows. The walls are aquamarine and behind my bed is a large dark wood sign displaying "Ella" in gold cursive letters. One wall is completely chalkboard painted, so I'll defiantly be drawing on that! I lay flat on my bed and stare at the ceiling where there is a chandelier hanging.

I look around the house some more and check out Emma's room, which is beach themed. After looking around I lay on my bed once again. This time I feel my eyes beginning to close so I put my pajamas on and turn off the lights. It's been a long day. And an amazing one at that.

I think I'm gonna like it here.