CHAPTER 1: THE MOVE
“dude? Get UP!” Tim yelled. I finally got up to the sound of his voice.
“It’s 7:00! That means we have 30 minutes to get ready and get out to the bus! If your seriously the reason I miss out on an awesome 4 years of high school on an island, I swear to the good lord” Tim exclaimed. My eyes slowly began opening up. It was still kind of dark out, and my small room was dimly lit. Only after a few moments of silence did I actually process what Tim had told me. I shot straight up, my eyes wide open.
“Oh shit!” I yelled, jumping out of bed and scrambling to my drawer. I rushed into the bathroom and got dressed. I grabbed my shirt, then put on my scarlet sports jacket, something I’ve worn for everyday for several years now, and put it on, leaving it unzipped. I got my shorts on and then I slipped into my amber red sneakers, finishing off my outfit. I fixed my tiger orange hair into a short, spiky quiff, and took one last look at myself in the mirror. Something was missing… My baseball sunglasses. I opened up a drawer and pulled them out, sliding them onto my face. That was better.
I walked out of the bathroom and back into my bedroom, where Tim handed me my bags. He’d put on his navy blue jacket, and fixed his hair into its normal look, a short sandy blonde comb over. He and I hurried downstairs, where we were briefly greeted by Tim’s parents. I accidently bumped into Mrs. Thompson, causing the water she’d been holding to spill onto me, turning my tangerine shirt damp brown making the fire emblem look fizzled out.
“AH! IT'S SO COLD!” I yelped, jumping back.
“Oh! Sorry dear, I didn’t see you,” she apologized, picking up the cup as she went to go get paper towels. Tim snicked. I flicked some water in his face and continued towards the door. Living with the Thompson's wasn’t something I had really gotten used to, no matter how much they tried to make it seem that way. I mean, I liked them and all, but we never really connected with each other, like, ever.
Tim followed me out the door as we waved our last goodbyes and stepped out into the cold morning air. We hurried across the street to the bus stop, where we just barely caught the bus as it began to pull away. We found the last two open seats and plopped down, sighing in relief. The bus began moving again, and we started heading out of town.
Tim and I lived in a town unknown to most, due to it being so small. It was called Thero, and I’ve lived there as long as I could remember. In fact, the whole reason Tim and I are going to this island school is because our town doesn’t even have a high school. So Tim and I didn’t really have a choice after getting the invitation.
We were both relatively silent for the entire ride, until Tim spoke up.
“I’m not sure I’m ready for this dude. four years on an island with very few breaks to see my family? Not sure if I can handle that sorta thing,” he confessed, looking a little stressed out.
“Hey, I’m just as worried as you are. This is going to be… Interesting, to say the least. But as long as me and you stick together for the entire ride, I think we’ll manage,” I responded. Tim nodded his head in agreement.
“Fair enough. Well I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what it’s like,” Tim said. The rest of the ride was practically silent, until we reached the airport. Tim and I rushed down the aisles, looking for our flight, probably looking sick in the head as we did so.
“S’cuse me! Sorry! Our bad!” We apologized, bumping into strangers and almost bulldozing through others. Luckily it was worth it, as we managed to make our flight at the last second. We took a breather as we sat towards the back of the plane.
“You know, it’s also kinda exciting too, getting to act all mature. I don’t have my parents dragging me everywhere, and I’m free to make my own decisions. That’s a pretty good feeling,” Tim said as he caught his breath.
“Couldn’t have put it better myself,” I responded. We waited for the plane to take off, and it wasn’t long before the pilot gave word we’d be beginning our flight, and we were up in the air on a 5 hour trip to CA.
I woke up with a jolt of turbulence as the plane touched down on the runway. I shook off all my drowsiness, and looked over at Tim, who was choking on his own saliva, ew. I gave him a hard pat on the stomach to help him out.
“Your disgusting. Y’know that?” I asked, unbuckling my seatbelt and stretching out my limbs.
“No shame,” he answered, also extending out his arms and legs. As soon as we were cleared to get off, we grabbed our bags and headed back into the airport. The good thing was, we didn’t have to run around like lunatics now that we were actually on time. After running around and asking for directions, we finally found the exit. Stepping outside, sunlight beamed off the orange lenses of my pearl white glasses, and the orange of my shorts seemed to radiate brightness in the sun. Another thing I noticed as soon as I was outside, was the sensation of heat emitting off my body.
“Oh my god is it hot! The hottest it ever got in Thero was like 50 degrees-ish!” I exclaimed, enjoying what seemed like living in an oven.
“MY SKIN IS MELTING OFF!” Tim yelled running into the shade. Apparently we had some different opinions on the temperature. Despite the dramatically different weather, California was much more populated, and a lot noisier. Tim and I could barely hear each other over other conversations and cars zooming back and forth.
“Well, first off ya shouldn’t of worn jeans. Second, you better get used to Cali, Tim. We’re gonna be here awhile,” I told him. According to the instructions, we had to walk for an hour and twenty minutes down the streets of…
“Wait a minute. T-Tim… Do you know where we are?” I asked with a shocked tone, only now realizing where they were. Tim looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“California…?” He half guessed, half asked.
“We are in the Los Angeles International Airport. A.K.A we are in frickin Los Angeles!!!” I exclaimed with joy, ecstatic and mind boggled I was in one of the most popular places in America.
“N-No way, you're screwing with me, you better be screwing with me right now!” Tim shouted, getting as hyped up as I was.
“And dude, the best part is, it’s only one o'clock! The boat that picks us up leaves at four, and that gives us half an hour to go there and head back!” I yelled, not realizing my mistake in calculating. Tim’s face turned from giddy to frowning.
“Uh, no… Dude the boat arrives at four, we leave at three,” He explained, releasing a sigh of sadness.
“NO!!!” I complained. I really wanted to curl up in a ball and cry at that point. I sighed.
“Alright, well, we can at least get something to eat until the boat arrives,” I admitted, trying to see the good side. Tim nodded in agreement, and we began our long walk to the harbor.
“dude? Get UP!” Tim yelled. I finally got up to the sound of his voice.
“It’s 7:00! That means we have 30 minutes to get ready and get out to the bus! If your seriously the reason I miss out on an awesome 4 years of high school on an island, I swear to the good lord” Tim exclaimed. My eyes slowly began opening up. It was still kind of dark out, and my small room was dimly lit. Only after a few moments of silence did I actually process what Tim had told me. I shot straight up, my eyes wide open.
“Oh shit!” I yelled, jumping out of bed and scrambling to my drawer. I rushed into the bathroom and got dressed. I grabbed my shirt, then put on my scarlet sports jacket, something I’ve worn for everyday for several years now, and put it on, leaving it unzipped. I got my shorts on and then I slipped into my amber red sneakers, finishing off my outfit. I fixed my tiger orange hair into a short, spiky quiff, and took one last look at myself in the mirror. Something was missing… My baseball sunglasses. I opened up a drawer and pulled them out, sliding them onto my face. That was better.
I walked out of the bathroom and back into my bedroom, where Tim handed me my bags. He’d put on his navy blue jacket, and fixed his hair into its normal look, a short sandy blonde comb over. He and I hurried downstairs, where we were briefly greeted by Tim’s parents. I accidently bumped into Mrs. Thompson, causing the water she’d been holding to spill onto me, turning my tangerine shirt damp brown making the fire emblem look fizzled out.
“AH! IT'S SO COLD!” I yelped, jumping back.
“Oh! Sorry dear, I didn’t see you,” she apologized, picking up the cup as she went to go get paper towels. Tim snicked. I flicked some water in his face and continued towards the door. Living with the Thompson's wasn’t something I had really gotten used to, no matter how much they tried to make it seem that way. I mean, I liked them and all, but we never really connected with each other, like, ever.
Tim followed me out the door as we waved our last goodbyes and stepped out into the cold morning air. We hurried across the street to the bus stop, where we just barely caught the bus as it began to pull away. We found the last two open seats and plopped down, sighing in relief. The bus began moving again, and we started heading out of town.
Tim and I lived in a town unknown to most, due to it being so small. It was called Thero, and I’ve lived there as long as I could remember. In fact, the whole reason Tim and I are going to this island school is because our town doesn’t even have a high school. So Tim and I didn’t really have a choice after getting the invitation.
We were both relatively silent for the entire ride, until Tim spoke up.
“I’m not sure I’m ready for this dude. four years on an island with very few breaks to see my family? Not sure if I can handle that sorta thing,” he confessed, looking a little stressed out.
“Hey, I’m just as worried as you are. This is going to be… Interesting, to say the least. But as long as me and you stick together for the entire ride, I think we’ll manage,” I responded. Tim nodded his head in agreement.
“Fair enough. Well I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what it’s like,” Tim said. The rest of the ride was practically silent, until we reached the airport. Tim and I rushed down the aisles, looking for our flight, probably looking sick in the head as we did so.
“S’cuse me! Sorry! Our bad!” We apologized, bumping into strangers and almost bulldozing through others. Luckily it was worth it, as we managed to make our flight at the last second. We took a breather as we sat towards the back of the plane.
“You know, it’s also kinda exciting too, getting to act all mature. I don’t have my parents dragging me everywhere, and I’m free to make my own decisions. That’s a pretty good feeling,” Tim said as he caught his breath.
“Couldn’t have put it better myself,” I responded. We waited for the plane to take off, and it wasn’t long before the pilot gave word we’d be beginning our flight, and we were up in the air on a 5 hour trip to CA.
I woke up with a jolt of turbulence as the plane touched down on the runway. I shook off all my drowsiness, and looked over at Tim, who was choking on his own saliva, ew. I gave him a hard pat on the stomach to help him out.
“Your disgusting. Y’know that?” I asked, unbuckling my seatbelt and stretching out my limbs.
“No shame,” he answered, also extending out his arms and legs. As soon as we were cleared to get off, we grabbed our bags and headed back into the airport. The good thing was, we didn’t have to run around like lunatics now that we were actually on time. After running around and asking for directions, we finally found the exit. Stepping outside, sunlight beamed off the orange lenses of my pearl white glasses, and the orange of my shorts seemed to radiate brightness in the sun. Another thing I noticed as soon as I was outside, was the sensation of heat emitting off my body.
“Oh my god is it hot! The hottest it ever got in Thero was like 50 degrees-ish!” I exclaimed, enjoying what seemed like living in an oven.
“MY SKIN IS MELTING OFF!” Tim yelled running into the shade. Apparently we had some different opinions on the temperature. Despite the dramatically different weather, California was much more populated, and a lot noisier. Tim and I could barely hear each other over other conversations and cars zooming back and forth.
“Well, first off ya shouldn’t of worn jeans. Second, you better get used to Cali, Tim. We’re gonna be here awhile,” I told him. According to the instructions, we had to walk for an hour and twenty minutes down the streets of…
“Wait a minute. T-Tim… Do you know where we are?” I asked with a shocked tone, only now realizing where they were. Tim looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“California…?” He half guessed, half asked.
“We are in the Los Angeles International Airport. A.K.A we are in frickin Los Angeles!!!” I exclaimed with joy, ecstatic and mind boggled I was in one of the most popular places in America.
“N-No way, you're screwing with me, you better be screwing with me right now!” Tim shouted, getting as hyped up as I was.
“And dude, the best part is, it’s only one o'clock! The boat that picks us up leaves at four, and that gives us half an hour to go there and head back!” I yelled, not realizing my mistake in calculating. Tim’s face turned from giddy to frowning.
“Uh, no… Dude the boat arrives at four, we leave at three,” He explained, releasing a sigh of sadness.
“NO!!!” I complained. I really wanted to curl up in a ball and cry at that point. I sighed.
“Alright, well, we can at least get something to eat until the boat arrives,” I admitted, trying to see the good side. Tim nodded in agreement, and we began our long walk to the harbor.