His mother was carrying the last cardboard boxes to the car and smiled when she finally closed the trunk. She turned around and looked up to the window where Karl stood, smiling softly at her. She smiled back and walked into the house.
Karl looked through his old room. It was empty now and it only took him a few hours to get all his things that he had since forever into some cardboard boxes. It's weird to think about it. 17 years packed into a few cardboard boxes in some hours. He sighed and walked out of his room for the last time and closed the door with thoughts running wild in his head. Thinking about moving to a whole other country was scary but thinking about meeting new people there, thinking about a whole other school there was even more scary. It made him so anxious.
"Honey, are you coming down?", the voice of his mum appeared and he walked down the stairs to meet his mum in the hallway.
"You're ready?", she smiled softly at him and his heart warmed. He loved her so much.
"Yeah", he sighed and smiled as well.
When they walked out of their home, Karl's heart felt heavy in his chest. It was his home that he was leaving right now. But he's doing it all for his mum and he would do it again any time.
"Feels weird, right?", his mum stood next to him, arms crossed and looking up at the small house they once called home.
"More like unbelievable", Karl mumbled.
His mother slightly brushed his hand before taking it.
"A new start is always scary but I bet that the people there are gonna love you, sweetheart".
"I hope so", he whispered and squeezed her hand before turning around and walking towards the car.
"Let's go then", he swung into the car and turned on the music.
This was it now. Leaving his lovely small village, where he used to live since he was born and now he's moving to Orlando in America.
-----------------------
The flight went well. Karl was scared at first, he has never been on an airplane before. But it wasn't scary at all. When he looked down on Britain, his now very small hometown from above, he felt peace. And in that moment he told himself that he would go back again one time. He always loved Britain, especially the nice and friendly people there.
Now they were driving through Orlando. The city was breathtaking and the weather was something Karl needed to get used to at first. But his mum smiling while driving through the huge city was melting his heart. It was worth it, leaving everything behind to see his mother happy again. He hoped that she would find many friends and maybe also another person she can fall in love with in this city. A whole new start. That's what he wished for, for his mum.
"Karl, we're here", his mother snapped him out of his thoughts.
He looked out of the window and saw a small, white house with many windows and a staircase that lead up to a small veranda with a swing on it. His mother jumped out of the car and smiled wildly. Karl stood up as well, turned around and placed his arms on the car roof.
"It's nice", he said.
"It's amazing, honey! Come lets go inside", she quickly got the keys out of the car and walked the stairs up.
"I like the swing", Karl said and sat down on it.
When he heard a little crack, he stood up fast.
"Am I too heavy?", he asked sarcastically and looked at his mother in shook.
She laughed and slapped his upper arm softly.
"It's probably just old, we'll fix it later".
She turned the keys around and opened the door. After the loud squeak finally stopped, they could see the small hallway of the house. To the left was a shoe rack and a wardrobe with a mirror. On the exact opposite side was a small bathroom. Next to the door was a staircase that lead up to Karl's room, his mother's room and another bigger bathroom. Walking forwards and then left, they stood in a room with a huge table in it. Behind it, there was a nice kitchen. And of course there was a living room as well, on the other side of the hallway.
"It's perfect", Karl's mum whispered and smiled, while looking around.
"What do you think?".
"I like it", Karl looked up at her and she quickly gave him a hug, before walking outside and getting some cardboard boxes.
"Let's make this feel like home, shall we?", his mother gave him a cardboard box and he started helping her with packing some things out and decorating.
--------------------
It was 8:30PM and Karl and his mother sat down on the couch, both sighing and laughing after that.
"We're ready!", his mum laid an arm over his shoulder and scooted closer to him.
"Finally", Karl mumbled and rested his head on her shoulder.
He heard the stomach of his mother grumble.
"Should I go to the market real quick?", he asked and took his head off her shoulder.
"You don't have to. It's already late and you must be so tired...", his mother sighed.
"No, no no no. You're hungry and I'm kinda hungry as well. There's a walmart nearby, am I right?", he took out his phone and got on google maps.
"Yeah, you'll be there in probably 10 minutes, it's just down the street".
"Alright. I'll see you later then, 'kay?".
The weather was pretty nice and Karl didn't even need to wear a jacket. He shoved on his hood and listened to some music, while walking down the dark street. It felt nice. The quiet music in his ears were making him calm and the weather, oh my god the weather was amazing! When would he stop being so excited about the damn weather? Of course, there were warm days in Britain but not like this. It was February and it was not cold in any way. I mean, he was walking around without a jacket! Suddenly a black car drove by, way too fast and in a zick-zack way. Karl tilted his head. Probably a novice driver. Or a drunk one. He shivered at the last thought. In Britain, they weren't allowed to drive before turning 18. But here in America, you can drive after turning 16 years old. Karl was kinda afraid of driving. But he was excited as well and he would start practicing soon, he hoped.
He quickly got the things he needed from walmart and probably some unnecessary food, but they all just looked so good and he wanted to try some American food. After paying, he walked home again and it started raining. He was surprised that it suddenly stopped raining and he looked up to see a black cloth. He frowned. His eyes wandered down and he flinched when he saw a boy next to him, holding a black umbrella. Karl stopped walking and stumbled to the side and tripped down the curb. The boy laughed so hard, he almost fell as well.
"You should have seen your face, oh my god!", he wiped away a tear and chuckled.
"What the fuck?", Karl mumbled and stood up.
"I'm...I'm Quackity", the boy still laughed a little bit.
He tried to get serious again but when Karl looked at him with mad eyes, he laughed even harder.
"I'm sorry man, but please stop looking at me like that", Quackity said and smiled.
Karl sighed before shaking his head.
"I'm Karl", he said and looked at Quackity.
He wore a black jacket with blue jeans. On his head was a blue beanie and you could see some black hair strands on his forehead.
"Are you new here?", Quackity started walking again and turned around to him.
"Yeah, I just moved here", Karl answered and shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Oh, so I'm the first person you met here?", he now walked backwards to face Karl while talking.
"Yeah and I already don't like the people here".
Quackity chuckled a little bit and Karl smiled slightly.
"Sadly, I'm the only funny one here so I guess other people will greet you normally. Sorry", Quackity shrugged and smiled at him.
"I prefer greeting normally", Karl sighed.
They both walked home and found out that they were almost neighbors. Karl felt some kind of relief. Quackity was nice, well also a little bit weird but in a funny way. He was very funny, Karl found that out really quickly. And they both went to the same school, which was awesome. Karl already found a new friend. He smiled when they said their goodbyes.
"What took you so long? I was worried", his mother walked towards him and took the bags.
"Why is your trouser so wet? Was it raining that hard?", she looked out of the window with a frown.
"No, I just tripped", he mumbled and she laughed quietly.
"And I actually met someone", he took off his soaked socks.
"Oh really? I'm happy to hear that! What's their name?", she asked.
"His name is Quackity. He's very funny and he lives a few houses away. He's also gonna pick me up tomorrow, so we can drive to school together".
"I'm so glad to hear that, honey! I know that everyone would like you here", she gave him a small kiss on the forehead and got back to packing out the food. She frowned.
"What is this?", she turned around to Karl.
"Oh, these are pop-tarts. I wanted to try them", Karl quickly took them out of his mum's hands and already put one pop-tart into the toaster.
"And what is this?".
Karl and his mother talked almost the whole evening, ate new American food and laughed very much. It was nice, until Karl realized that he needs to be in school tomorrow morning. He ran up to his room, changed quickly and got into bed.
-----------------------------
Thank you for reading chapter one! I hope you like it :)