American Kisses

The Move

Today is Wednesday, June the 5th. The day of the big move. I don't understand why we couldn't wait until after my 18th birthday, on June 28th. I guess my host family wants to show me around and let me have plenty of time to get settled before school starts. This new school is suppose to be one of the best. There is one thing I'm a little excited for.

I've always had a secret passion for singing. I also play a little guitar. The only people who know about it are my dad and baby brother. The new school is said to have a really good music program. This year I plan on stepping out of my comfort zone and sharing my voice with the world. I've honestly never been very confident in my voice, but my dad says I sound just like my mom did. My mom actually picked up her love for music while attending this school. I don't remember much about her, but I do remember her singing me to sleep every night. I memorized the song, and now I sing it to Johny every night. But, all good things come to an end right. Or at least a pause, for a whole year.

The past two weeks I've been packing and spending all my time with my dad and brother. Johny was a little upset when he found out I was leaving, but he understands that this is something I have to do. I have faith that he will be okay without me though. Right now we are on our way to the airport. We sent all my stuff to Manchester a couple of days ago. So now all I have is a small carry on. Johny was laying across the backseat, his head in my lap.

We got to the airport and grabbed some lunch really fast. We still had some time before my plane took off. We spent that time talking about anything and everything. Pretty soon the first call for my plane was playing through the speakers. I grabbed my dad in a tight hug. He assured me that everything was going to be okay. I quikly grabbed Johny and gave him a huge hug.

"I'm going to miss you so much little man. Be brave for me. I wont be there to sing for you, but dad promised he would read you a bedtime story every night. I have to go now. Stay out of trouble. I love you so much. I will call you guys when I get there."

Johny started crying and it broke my heart just a little bit. Do you know how hard it is to leave your crying brother?

"I... love you too... Chwisy."

Johny has always had trouble pronouncing his r's. It's actually kind of cute most of the time. I couldn't help the tears that escaped my eyes. I gave them one last wave, and was off.

I've never been on a plane by myself before. It was a little awkward having to sit next to a stranger for four hours, but luckily I got the window seat. I could just watch the scenery through the window and listen to my music. I ended up falling asleep and didn't wake up until the stranger sitting next to me shook me awake to let me know we were at Manchester. I quickly thanked him and grabbed my carry on and started making my way out of the plane. I honestly didnt know what to expect. I know my host family would be here to pick me up, but I didn't know what they looked like or anything which might be a problem.

I stepped off the plane and started looking around. My eyes got caught on this really nice looking family. There was a mother, father, and a little girl about Johny's age. The little girl had really blonde hair just like her mother. She also had really green eyes just like her father. She was the cutest little girl I've ever seen. The mother and father were holding a huge sign that read Welcome to Manchester, Christine. I walked over to the family and smiled at them all.

"Hi, I'm Christine. It's nice to meet you all."

"Hi Cristine, I'm Daniel. This is Riley. And this little cutie is Haley. We are the Jepsons. But please call us by our first names. We are so excited to have you stay with us."

"Okay Daniel, Riley, and little Haley. I'm excited to be staying with you too!"

Haley jumped on my leg and hugged it tight. She looked up at me and giggled.

"Yay! I've always wanted an old-ah sist-ah!!!"

I guess Johny isn't the only one who can't pronounce his r's.

"And I've always wanted a little sister." I giggled down at her.

"Okay, okay Haley. Don't smother her. It's time to get home. I need to start preparing dinner. I hope you don't mind, you're dad told us your favorite meal was spicy hot wings. We decided to make your favorite meal for your first night. I hope you're okay with that." Riley said.

"Of course. That sounds great!"

The Jepsons seem super nice. I can't help but miss home though. Haley reminds me so much of Jonathan, and Daniel is like a mirror image of my dad. I already miss them.

We got in the car and started on our way to my new home. Everything is so different here. The first big thing I noticed is that everyone drives on the wrong side of the road. Haley pulled me out of my thoughts.

"When we get home, will you play with me. Pwetty pwetty please???"

"Maybe after dinner. I still have to unpack sweet heart."

"Oookayyy."

A couple minutes later we pulled into this long driveway surrounded by trees. Manchester is huge. Much bigger than the place I come from. The new house is just about a mile away from the city. We have close neighbors but because of the trees, we have our privacy. We pulled into a huge opening in the trees and I couldnt believe my eyes. There layed the hugest house I've ever seen. It's like a mansion. It looked about 10 stories high. It was amazing.

"Welcome home." Daniel said.

"Wow. This is, um, big."

They all started laughing. Haley jumped out of the car and screamed, "Come on, Come on! I will show you your new room!"

I got out of the car, grabbed my carry on and let her pull me into the house. Much like Johny did every morning. We ran into the house. There was a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There was a sitting room on the right and a kitchen on the left. There were multiple hallways leading to who knows where and right in the middle of it all there were two stair cases that met at the top in the middle. Haley pulled me to the stairs. We ran up them and once we got to the top I was out of breath. I really needed to get in shape there was this long hallway. Haley pulled me to the 4th door on the left side. She opened the door and I stepped inside. I gasped. I can't believe my eyes. My room was decorated with my favorite colors and patterns. I had a huge queen sized canopy bed in the middle of my room. There was a desk and a laptop to the left. There was a bulitan board above my desk. There was a full sized mirror on my door. To the right there was a flat screen T.V. and a couch. There were two doors in my room I opened the first one to find a huge walk in closet. This is where all my bags were put. I opened the second door to find my own bathroom. It was a huge bathroom, probably about the size of my bedroom at home. I can't believe the size of this house. I walked out of the bathroom to start unpacking. Haley wasn't in my room anymore. She must've got bored of waiting on me. I started unpacking. I set up my room with my posters and pictures. Then I closed and locked my door, so I could call my dad and little Johny. Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought.