Moving to Italy

"We're moving." Those two, simple words changed my life. Not in a small way either. No, not at all. I wish it was that simple...

"Where?" What a stupid question. I should've just left it alone. I knew asking questions before hand was a bad idea.

"Italy." Yup...Italy. Home of gellato, the Leaning Tower, and let's not forget Nutella. You say I should be excited, maybe even eager to arrive in the one and only magnificent Italy. Who wouldn't be? Me - that's who. If you were suddenly told one day that you had to leave your friends, your dream job, and the house you've been living in for fifteen years, would you be jumping with joy? I think not.

"Go pack, we're leaving on Tuesday." Three days from now. Three days. I would have to pack my whole room in two days, say goodbye to everything in my life...

"Why?" Just another stupid question.

"We felt like our lives needed a little bit of change. Expecially yours - you've never even been out of Texas." And I need to now? I'm just a sophomore - I have at least ninety whole years left in my life to do whatever the heck I want to do.

And that's basically how I was told that my life was going to change. I know, pretty straightforward, huh? I guess that's just the way my parents are. The next worse thing after that was telling my friends.

"Hey, Rachel." I invited her and John for lunch the next day. Rachel's been with me through my ups and downs, craziness and laziness. Same with John - but he was more of a comic relief.

"Alli-poo!" John beat Rachel to the hugs. Of course, he always does.

"Hey Alli." Rachel gave me a grin the tore my heart out. They were so happy - how could I tell them?

"I need to tell you guys something..." How could I do this? Leave my friends and go to a place full of strangers?

"Finally! You're going to confess your undying love for me, right?" I rolled my eyes at that one. John really needs an ego check. I decided to be like my parents and get straight to the point.

"I'm moving." They didn't move, just stared at me trying to figure out if I was serious or not. But they could tell that I was. I never lied to them.

"That's effin crazy!" Rachel was the first to respond. I nodded in agreement and John grabbed my shoulders.

"Then we will never have a chance to be together!" I knew he was kidding - he had a girlfriend so I never worried about stuff like that. 

"When." Ah - back to the questions. They never seemed to stop coming...

"Tuesday." Only a day away. My friends were understanding...that's why I chose them as friends. No matter what I say or do, they always either back me up or just go with it. Unless I decided to do drugs - in that case they would stop me in a heartbeat. 

A day later, we left. The plane trip was exhausting...it took about seven hours. Not to mention I was stuck next to a little girl who wouldn't stop crying. The only plus was a man who looked about in his twenties that helped me with my little portable TV. I used it to drown out the sound of crying and screaming.

I guess our new house was okay. It was pretty big but not as warm and welcoming as our old one. Then there was school. I had expected everyone to talk in italian but I guess every one there spoke english. I was glad it was that way or else I would've been very lost.

But after all of the misfortune change has given me, there was two things that made me rethink the mentality that moving was bad. The first thing was friends. I was surprised at how welcoming the kids were. There was a girl who was in my class that was the first person to say hi. Well - something like that.

"Hey! You're the new student...right?!" I nodded.

"Yay! Omg, we can be best friends! So I'll show you around cause I've been here forever..." And that was the day I met Kayla. I'm glad I did, too. She never left me alone the first day to be uncomfortable by all of the questioning stares and has become the person I go to for unloading my problems.

Then there was Kyle. Remember the nice guy on the plane? Yeah, that was him. Ironic, right? He, thankfully, was also new to Italy so we both adjusted together. He laughed when I told him I thought he was in his twenties. Turns out he was seventeen - only a year older then I was.

And I didn't forget about John and Rachel either. Every Spring Break and summer they visit. I thought change would only bring loneliness and regret but I was wrong. I found love, strength, and new friends. Maybe even a boyfriend...

I was definitely wrong. Change isn't bitter. Change helps us become who we are today. Change is sweet.

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Hey guys! This is a story I wrote for a short story competition! I hope you liked it! :)