The Cherry Trees

Chapter Thirteen: 2014

"Alright then, see you later!" Dad said, as he walked out the door.

"And you are sure you will be okay?" My mom asked, for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Yes Mom, I will be fine. Besides, Jeff is here," I reassured her.

"Alright then," she said, kissing the top of my head.

My parents both had to work, even over the summer. Though my dad had moved here because of his job, my mom was a different story. She hadn't been working since Alice was born, but Jeff recommended this great daycare that operated for kids her age, right down the street. He said many of his friends put their kids in there, so my mom trusted him and decided to sign Alice up. Then she had spent a few weeks looking for a job like her old one back in Georgia. Eventually she found a hospital that agreed to hire her as a nurse for the eight months we would be staying here. So now, I was left all alone in the flat for the entire day. Well, not completely alone, I mean Jeff was here. I went into my room, searching for a good book to read. My mind wandered back to Lexi, wondering what she was doing right now. Over the past weeks, we had been sending letters to one another, but so far she had nothing interesting to say. I on the other hand, did. Living here was an entirely new experience. Jeff had taken our family to go sight seeing, and it was pretty cool. We had seen Big Ben, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, and much more. It was really cool. She was keeping me posted on Abbi, by spying from our tree house. "Nothing interesting,"she would say. "Just a normal boring family." This was much to my pleasure.

I glanced at my calendar, and marked off another day. So far we had been here for 2 weeks and 3 days. I still hadn't made a friend. My mind slipped back to the directory with the name Remy Thompson in it, she was my age and everything. I guess I could go over to her flat and see if we could become friends. I could be a bit like Lexi and go talk to people first. I shook the idea from my head, and flipped the calendar page so the month read JULY.

School began in just a few weeks. I was a bit nervous, but also a little excited. I would get to hopefully make new friends. Then I remembered the feeling I had when I went to school in Georgia for the first time. That feeling that nobody will want to be my friend. And really, why would they? I was foreign to them! I decided right then and there that I would have a friend before school began, so that at least I would have someone to talk to.

I flopped back onto my bed and opened up my book again, determined to read some. Just as I was beginning to get into it, Jeff popped his head into my room.

"Do you need anything?"

"I'm okay."

"Anne, you need to go do something."

"What do you want me to do?" I asked.

"What do you want to do?"

"Read," I replied, motioning to my book.

Jeff laughed and rolled his eyes. "C'mon Anne, you must be bored stiff!"

I really was. "I'm okay," I said.

"Look, I am going to take you to the rec center today. and you are going to make some new friends."

"No! I-I actually was about to go and talk to this Remy character that lives right in flat number 12," I said, narrowly dodging a building full of people I would be forced to talk to.

Jeff narrowed his eyes at me uncertainly. "Okay... I will take you over there," he insisted.

I nodded, and he left my room, leaving me to get ready. Minutes later, we were walking out of the flat, towards number 12. When we reached it, I gazed at the door, eager to have a friend, but nervous about making one.

Jeff knocked on the door, and a few long seconds later, a woman answered the door.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Yes, actually," Jeff said, pushing me out from behind him. "This here is Anne, and she wants your daughter to be her friend."

That was an awkward introduction.

Surprisingly, the woman clapped her hands and shouted Remy's name back into the home.

"Remy, darling! Someone is here to see you!" she said. Then she turned back to Jeff and extended her hand.

"Angela Sampson. And you are?"

"Jeff Myers," he said, taking her hand. "Pleasure to meet you. I live in number 21," he said, motioning in the direction of the flat.

Just then, a girl that I assumed to be Remy popped out from behind Ms. Sampson. She had shoulder length dark hair that was pin straight. Her skin was a milky white, and her lips were curled up into a small smile. But the thing that struck me as odd were her eyes. One was the brightest blue I have ever seen, and the other one was a deep green. Now this was definitely something I had to tell Lexi about.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Remy."

"Anne," I offered.

"Cool."

I didn't really know what else to say, but luckily Ms. Sampson broke the silence.

"Well, girls, why don't you come on in. You are welcome to stay as well, Jeff."

Jeff glanced at me, wondering if that was okay, and I nodded, not embarrassed by Jeff at all.

"Come this way!" Remy said, leading me to what I assumed was her room.

"Okay." She was certainly friendly.

"This here is my room!" she said, excitedly.

"I like it," I said. The walls were painted all different colors. One wall purple, one green, one blue, and one pink. Her comforter was made of patches that matched the exact color of the walls. She had furniture like mine, except it was white.

"When did you move here?" she asked me.

"How did you know I moved?"

"Obviously you're American."

"Oh. I guess I didn't think about that. I came here about two weeks ago," I said, embarrassment flooding my cheeks.

"Cool. What part are you from?"

"Georgia."

"Okay, Anne from Georgia, what do you like to do?" Remy asked.

"Anything really. I've been bored stiff these past weeks, but don't tell Jeff that."

Remy looked at me, puzzled. "Why do you call your dad by his first name?"

I laughed. "Oh Jeff isn't my dad!"

"Oh. So he's like your step-father. I hate my step-mom. She's so mean. Like the one in Cinderella!"

"Jeff isn't my step-father either," I explained, "he's just my dad's friend that we are living with while we are here."

"Wait, how long are you here for?"

"I'll be leaving in January."

"Then why did you come here in the first place?" she asked, and I could clearly see the confusion on her face.

"For my dad's job."

"Okay, I'm confused. Just don't even bother trying to explain," she said, waving me off.

I laughed, and she continued to talk to me. I actually liked Remy a lot, and I hoped we would become friends over the summer. After a while, Jeff brought me back home, and I went straight to my room to tell Lexi that I had started to make a new friend.