Girl Alone

Girl Alone: Part 1 - Before

All my life up until 7 months ago I lived in England. I lived in the countryside about an hour and a half outside of London. I lived in a big sandstone house with big windows that looked out over the endless green, rolling hills. We had a kitchen with tall ceilings and wooden counter tops. We had a library with floor to ceiling bookshelves and plush armchairs. We even had a games room where we played pool for hours on end whilst candles swayed to the music that played in the background. Best of all was my bedroom. My wallpaper was cream with golden stars, my desk sat beneath the window and looked out into the garden, and hand drawn pictures surrounded my teal colored double bed that was always made with white sheets.

In my family, I have my mum, dad, older sister, younger brother, and my dog. Well, my dog doesn't live with us anymore. He's still alive, but doesn't live with us anymore. He was an English bulldog with a toothy grin and pure eyes. We would walk for hours on end through the fields chasing leaves and playing fetch. At one point we also had 2 sheep that we rode around on in the garden like they were horses.

We had a zip wire that flung our tiny legs into the air across the lake whilst our little hearts raced with exhilaration. We often rowed our little boat 'Gertrude' across that lake in the summer as we played pirates and ate cheesy swirls.

Every time it snowed, we tobogganed down the paddock hill in our ski gear. Every Halloween the brightest orange pumpkins, that took hours to carve, guarded the front door. Every bonfire night, dad would set off fireworks that glittered in the night sky, and every Christmas we would have two Christmas trees, decorated with beautiful decorations with carefully wrapped Christmas presents lying underneath. Christmas was my favorite time of year.

Then eventually I had to grow up. Eventually I had to go to boarding school.

I always knew what secondary school I was going to go to. It was a boarding school, forty minutes from my house where all my friends were going as well. I was well prepared - mum and I had spent weeks buying new sheets, toiletries, clothes, tuck and packing my bags. It felt like I was about to go off and live my 'Wild Child' dream. The couple of days prior to leaving were sad. I cried a lot. You should understand that I was really close to my family, especially my mum, so of course I was slightly wary about leaving.

I didn't realize how homesick I would be the first few weeks, but I settled in fine I guess. I loved the campus and facilities. We had a huge dining room with paintings on the ceilings, dorms with four beds and sinks, acres of playing fields, a chapel filled with stained glass windows, a newly furnished music school and a huge theater. There were 13 boarding houses, 5 girls and 8 boys houses. We frequently partook in inter house competitions like running and swimming races. I also played a lot of hockey which I loved. I would while the afternoons away on the fields with my friends in the sun, or we would swing on the Tarzan rope across a ditch filled with muddy water.

My closest friend, Sophie, really kept me going. She was so great and fun and we did nothing but laugh and make tikoks and break the rules. I think we were platonic soulmates.

The first boy I liked was called Mason, and everyone liked him. He had curly brown hair, was insane at football and had a dreamy personality. Another one of my close friends, Harriet, also liked him. That didn't stop me from going for him. We went on long walks at sunset through the fields and would have pretty deep talks about life. He would hold me close to him and I would breathe in the scent of his cologne, I remember I was really happy. I think he was the first and only boy I've really loved. He gave me constant butterflies and was so kind. I also loved the fact that everyone else wanted him, but I was the one who had him. We lasted a while, I think 5 months. You should've seen my when It ended. I cried my eyes out for weeks, but thankfully it was when 'Driver's License' was released. I eventually got over it.

I then went for the next hottest boy in the school. His name was Oscar, and unlike my relationship with Mason, this was more of a friends with benefits situation. We would hide from teachers and would make out in the shed for ages. He introduced me to all his friends and we all became so close. It was a really fun time - I didn't care about much except for seeing him. After a while though, I ended up getting bored.

I had lot's of friends at boarding school. It wasn't too strict on anything so we just messed around in lessons, played crossy road on our laptops and stayed up till 1am each morning laughing with everyone in the dorms. I especially loved the summer time, when we would play cricket in the afternoon sun and would rugby tackle and pick each other up until we couldn't breathe. It was just so good.

Then it all came crashing down.

I went back home one weekend in the summer and that's when I was hit with the new. We would be moving 18,000 miles away to Melbourne, Australia. I'd heard my parents vaguely talking about moving, but I never thought we would actually do it. It's sad to think about how angry I was hearing this news. I was a state. I think I cried everyday.

The worst part was the part where we had to sell our house. We spent month packing everything into boxes and sending them off to storage to later then be shipped. We also had to give my dog away. Frank, was his name. He lives now on an estate with some of our family friends. I hope he hasn't forgotten about us. I miss him so much.

We endured a lengthy plane ride.

Then we arrived.