Troublemakers

Chapter one

Moving down South to the small town of Rose Field wouldn't exactly be my first choice of a dream location. Living next to the sea would normally give people the sense of satisfaction and tranquillity. For my case though, not so much. Moving from the busy city of London to a calm village by the seaside is quite the abrupt change. I'm used to the hospitality of London: you have barge your way past business men and women; shake your head mindless tourists who stand in the middle of the pathway taking pictures of every shape and form. One man even went out of his way to take a selfie of himself and Buckingham Palace while standing in the middle of the road whilst the traffic lights were red. Good ol' London.

Now, we're moving to the sunny seaside town of Rose Field - well, it's England so it's more like not-so-sunny-stay-in-like-a-hermit-because-it's-raining town of Rose Field. It's not quite my version of paradise. Rolling hills and shorelines aren't really my thing. I absolutely hate it. Can you blame me? The quick change in scenery is bound to deter one's thoughts and emotions. Moving away from your friends and family is quite annoying. Not to mention the fact that there are plenty of schools around London. In the peaceful, quiet and idyllic town of Rose Field, there's two... Two... And they're right next to each other. I'm talking about rival schools sitting next to each other. Literally. They're practically joined at the hip. I was lucky enough to attend to the original Rose Field School. My rival school is Rose Valley. Alike in names but different in people. Personally, I think it's silly.

Dropping the cardboard box in the door way of my new bedroom, I wiped sweat from my brow. Three of the four walls was covered in a typical girly pink paint. The singular wall to the right was brick, a double bed resting in front of it. I'm planning to make my room aqua blue. I'll have to paint that later on.

"Julia, come downstairs and help with the lunch!"

Pushing my sleeves up my arms, I skipped down the stairs to help my mum with the lunch. My parents aren't the strict kind, they were laid back. Especially now we're away from the busy London. I guess that's a bonus. They were normally quite serious, my curfew being nine o, clock at the latest (and that was on a good day). Much to my surprise, they said they'd let me stay out later here. How much later I don't know.

I could already tell the difference between their personalities and we've only been here a couple of days. They seem more relaxed than they were before. Their smiles are more frequent and the stress bags under their eyes are less prominent. As I walked into the kitchen mum was humming while packing everything away.

"Have you started packing your stuff away?"

"I was about to."

We had to spend a couple of days in the nearest hotel as dad 'misplaced' our keys when we went out for dinner the evening we moved in. Our neighbours, a sweet elderly couple, had said they found it on their doorstep. I have no idea how it got there.

"Julia!" My flustered father flew into the kitchen his glasses crooked at an awkward angle, "I need your help!"

Grabbing my hand he went to drag me out of the room, not before he snatched a packet of Oreo's off the counter. Yes, my father - as do I - has an addiction for Oreo's. As he pulled me outside, I took the time to examine his clothes. He's not in his usual attire: business suit and tie. He's wearing denim jeans and a pale blue shirt. His hair was in its usual messy form. Most people would normally think I look like my dad. Though, the only thing we share is our ginger locks whereas my mum has brown curls. I'm one of the lucky few who has manageable hair - not a frizzy and untameable mane.

Our house sits a ten minute walk away from the beach so I was surprised when dad didn't take me down to the beach but up a hill. It wasn't a long walk but it wasn't a short one either. As we reached our destination, I scanned my surroundings; we were standing on top of a cliff overlooking the sea below. It was beautiful. I know I'm going to be coming here often. I saw dad sit down and I followed his lead.