I was five when my mum decided to move back to Australia from America. She told me that the reason why she left Australia in the first place was that she wanted to forget. Forget about her past. But everything was different that time, we needed to go back. Grandpa was old and he needed companion that's why she decided to come back. I sat quietly at the backseat next to my mum. We rode a taxi going to grandpa's home. I stared blankly outside watching trees pass by and blur out of my sight. Yesterday I was very much excited that I wasn't able to sleep. I was excited because I wasn't really fitting in in school, so I didn't have much friends but that would all change. The ten hour plane ride wasn't fun; especially if the person beside you was a drooling, snoring man, the man infront of you reclined his chair like there's no tomorrow, and the kid at the back kept kicking your chair. It drained all my energy and i'm guessing it's because of jet lag. "Amanda, dear. are you OK?" My mum asked pulling me into a hug. I cuddled closer to her. I missed stroking her long brown hair. when she decided to come back to Australia, she had her hair cut. She said it was to symbolize a new life or something like that. "I'm OK mum. It's just jet lag." I said. It wasn't a complete lie. I was thinking of how what kind of changes that will happen in our new home. "Okay." she said and burried her face into my hair. I closed my eyes and drifted off. . . . . "We're here." The driver said. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. I looked out the window and stared at the house. It was a three floor house. The top floor was a penthouse. the walls were cream white and big windows designed in it. We got out of the car, grabbed our luggage, and walked to the door. We placed our luggage next to us and stared at the wooden door. Mum rang the door bell and we backed away a little. "Just a minute!" A hoarse and hurried tone of voice called. It was grandpa. Or I hope it was. This is the first time i'll be meeting him. We heard crashing sounds and sounds of plates being dropped to the ground. My mum heaved out a heavy sigh and chuckled. "He will never change." She said shacking her head and a smile plastered on her face. I smiled as well. It was rare for mum to smile. The door suddenly bursted open and revealed an old man. He had a shiny bald head glistened when the sun hit it and a smile was plastered on his face. "Ellen, my dear!" he squeeled in delight and gave my mum a big bear hug. He hugged her in delight that it swept her off her feet. Ellen? I thought her name was mum. I thought to myself. I stared blankly at the old man and his wrinkled face faced me. "You must be Amanda." he said picking me up. He threw me in the air and caught me. He seemed to enjoy playing with me. "I'm your grandpa." He introduced with a smile. I just stared at him. "Say hello, Amanda." My mum instructed me. I gave her a nod. "Hello, grandpa. I'm Amanda." I introduced with myself. It was funny how easily I opened up with him. Usually i'll stay quiet and ignore the person. Maybe that's what they ment about blood ties. "Okay, now that we're properly introduced. Why don't we go to your room and fix your things." He said playfully pinching my nose. I giggled and pinched back his nose. My room was white and a little dull. in the middle of the room was a bed beside it a bedside table. On top of the table was a small lamp. The TV lazily stayed on top of the small dresser. I went inside and sat on the bed. the fun thing about it was the bed bouncy. "Sorry about the boring design. I wasn't sure of what color would you like for the room, so I left it as is for the moment." He said. I smiled and ran towards my luggage. I opened it and started to fix my things into the dresser. "What color do you like?" He asked. "Pink, please." I answered still fixing my things. I wanted my things to be fixed fast so I could go out and meet new friends. He chuckled and started helping me. We fixed all of our things for the entire day, so I guess I will just have to meet the kids in our neighborhood tomorrow.
Morning came and the sunlight passed through my closed eyelids. I pulled the blanket over my head to block away the sunlight. Like I said, Jet lag. Then I felt my bed shaking. I heard something flopped down the floor. "Amanda! wake up!" It was mum. I grunted and half opened my eyes. "You have to wake up and go change. Grandpa and I will be painting your room. We want you to go out for a while cause it's going to be stinky here." She said raking her hand through my hair. with excitement, I quickly jumped to my feet and run to the bathroom. When I came out of the bathrrom with only a towel, my clothes were laid down on the bed. I stopped by the window and looked outside. There were three kids. Two girls and a boy. they seemed to be the same age as me. One girl had short light violet hair and bored looking violet eyes. The boy was blonde and sea blue eyes, he seems to be more pleasant. And lastly, the other girl, with messy raven hair and crimson red eyes. I stared jealous as they played around the big backyard of our neighbor. They ran around with a black labrador dog. The raven haired girl stopped in her tracks. She tilted her head and looked at me. I raised a brow and a smirk played on her face. Then just like that, I realized. I was still in my towel. I stuck out a tongue blushing and closed the curtain. "Pervert." I murmured and hurridly changed into my clothes. "I'm ready!" I called my mum. My mum came rushing into my room with a pack of newspaper and buckets of paints. She placed them beside the door and fixed my hair. "You be carefull, OK?" she said cupping my small round face into her hands. I gave her a nod for assurance. "Okay." she heaved out a sigh and kissed my forehead. I ate breakfast that grandpa made me and left. I walked around the neighborhood for a while. I felt being followed but shrugged it off. I found myself alone in a park. We've never had a park near our house before. I sat on the swing and stared at the ground. I kicked some small pebbles that blocked my view of the small dusts on the ground. I digged my foot in making a small hole. It was deep enough to make a swimming pool for insects. "Need a push?" A small voice asked. It was a girl. I lifted my head and stared at the girl infront of me. She was the girl I saw earlier. Her violet hair seemed longer up close and her eyes looked blanker too. She wasn't alone. Along with her was the other girl and boy. The blonde boy gave me a shy smile. His eyes were much bluer. And lastly the perverted little girl. Her raven hair became messier by the wind and her crimson eyes were much red. "Need a push?" she asked again. she seemed to have noticed that I was just staring. I snapped back to reality and nodded. "Push her." she ordered the blonde boy. He seemed to be very controlable. He nodded and went to my back. The other girls sat on the swings next to me. Then I felt the blonde boy's small hands pushed my back and my feet left the ground. When I picked up speed and came higher, he stoppped pushing and was seated on the last swing. We just played on the swing silently. Noone was laughing. awkwardness I guess. After getting tired and a little bit dizzy from playing on the swing, we decided to go to the sandbox. It was uncomfortably quiet. "Helen, Helen Rose." she introduced handing out her sandy hand. I took her hand and shook it. A smile plastered on my face and a small one on hers. "Amanda, Amanda White." I introduced myself. "Luca Sander." The blonde boy said after. "Nicholas Cooper ." I spun around to face the perverted girl...Wait Nicholas is a guys name. "Why do you have a guys name?" I questioned her as I leaned closer. "I'm a boy" he spat with a irritated expression. I never knew a guy could look so...so girly. He wasn't wearing girl clothes but he had chin-length messy hair. I raised my hand and pushed back his bangs. Yep, he was a boy. "Oops" I muttered. Helen and Luca began to laugh out loud.
Since that day, the four of us became inseperable. We'd go everywhere together. except the bathroom of course. Then one day Helen and I walked around just the two of us. The boys were grounded for a day by bringing muddy shoes into the house. We were walking around when- "Meow!" A small squeeky cat called. We looked at each other and looked around for the cat. "Meow!" It called out more. We went into the woods. In one of the bushes, two blood red eyes peered out. We backed away a little. Helen pointed her small fist at it as it emerged from the bush. "Don't punch it." Helen lowered her fist.. It was more of a kitten than a cat. It had raven fur and blood red eyes. It reminded me of Nicholas. Not only does its fur and eyes reminded me of Nicholas but also it played a smirk on its lips. "Are you lost?" I asked as i handed out my hand. It arched it's back scared of me i guess. It stared at me for a while and purred. I smiled at it as it came closer.. "That's right." I carried it and cradled it into my arms. "Since you reminded me of Nicholas, I'll call you... Nick." I said and patted it's head. Purred and snuggled more. When I got home, I was scolded by bringing a stray and dirty cat home but grandpa said it was alright. I had to clean it myself and feed it. After being scolded by mom, it was Nicholas's turn to scold me. He was angry because I didn't ask permission to use his name as a cat's name. But with a little pur from the cat broke him and let it be. from then on, I had a pet cat named Nick
Days later, Nicholas and I were left alone under a tree. Helen needed to greet some guests and she dragged Luca along with her. We were silent, doing nothing. We were most of the time like that. We just enjoy each others presence. I rested my head on his shoulder while he played with my fingers. "Nicholas look. The moon looks like a toe nail!" I said pointing at the moon. He followed my finger and nodded. We stared at the night sky, the star's were brighter than ever. "Nicholas..." I stared at the ground. "Hm?" "Promise me something..." "Promise you what?" "Promise me, we'll be together forever." He chuckled. "What?" "Of course we'll be silly. We're best friends. remember? what makes you say that?" He asked. "Well... the reason why mum went to America was because dad left her. She was so sad... I don't want to be that sad." I explained he pulled me into a hug for comfort. "Promise me. OK?" I said showing him my pinky finger. He nodded and linked his pinky with mine. "If you want us to be together forever that means we have to marry each other." He said innocently. "That's true." I said thinking about it. "But it doesn't matter. At least it's you." I said with a giggle