not waving, just drowning

Chapter 1

New beginnings are hard to handle, I don't want to come across too excited about leaving my past behind but I also don't want to appear to sad and make my parents feel guilty for making us move 140 miles away from everything we know. A new start does intrigue me though, a new house with a new room which will be mine to decorate however I please. There is just this sense of freedom about moving which is keeping from breaking down.

I've already said goodbye to everyone who is important but with Snapchat and Twitter and FaceTime it's not like we're never going to speak to each over again. All that's left now is say my final goodbye, to the place I have called home for the past 16 years of my life. The place where I took my first steps, spoke my first words, fell down my first flight of stairs, it was a hard goodbye. But the prospect of new beginnings and new firsts was waiting for me and there was no point holding on to something which some new family were soon going to live in. It was there turn to discover their firsts and to have their own adventures.

Handing the key over our Landlord was harder than it should have been. My keychain felt lighter and didn't seem to make as much noise when I stuffed it back into my jean pocket. As I walked towards the car I turned to have one last looked at my old home and like always I noticed the cracks in the paint down the right side of the house and the bright yellow walls piercing through the guest rooms window, it was sad to leave.

"Good luck with the future Lucas, I will be waiting for my signed copy of your first published novel." We had formed a good relationship with our Landlord and there was never any trouble. His family often came round for BBQs and the occasional Sunday Roast.

"Novel need to be completed before they can be published." I've been writing stories now for almost 10 years but I have never managed to create something with enough substance and drive to become a novel. And it may be my dream to become a published author there were still multiple hurdles which I had to jump over before I got there.

"You'll get there, just wait, a change in scenery will do some good."

"Thanks Andy, hopefully it won't be too long before we see you next,"

"Just enjoy your time and don't scare anyone away with your obsessive Harry Potter knowledge,"

"I'll try my best not to." I walked to the car with a smile on my face, thinking how it was weird that no one would ever get to know me as well as my family and friends here do. I'll only be at this new place for a couple of years before I move away to University, it will be strange opening up to new people who I will only know for such a short space of time.

My parents and my younger brother were waiting for me in the car as they'd already said their last goodbye and knowing my dad he would be eager to get on the road. 'Early bird gets the worm' as he always says. As I climbed into the backseat next to Dylan I was even given time to put my seatbelt on before my dad put the car in first and drove off towards the motorway.

*

It was just like the scenes in the movies, I was staring out my window at the trees and fields which rushed by outside. Except there was no rain trickling down the car and the sky was anything but dark and cloudy. The sun was out and shining through the gaps in the clouds, the sky was a perfect blue.

The atmosphere in the car was optimistic, my phone was connected to the car my playlist was keeping the mood up tempo. It did worry me that my playlist would end before we got to our new home and someone else would get there chance to connect because I do love my family but they need to keep some of there music preferences to themselves.

We still had over an hour to drive and there was only a few songs left in my playlist which meant that Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood were inevitable. And it's not as if I hate country music or what my parents choose to listen to it's just that it's no where near the same level of hype as Stormzy, AJ Tracey and Dave. My music taste is weird to be honest, it doesn't reflect either my mum or dads and my playlists can often become extremely bipolar. Going from the sad, slow songs of Billie Eilish to the upbeat, bouncy tracks of Khalid, my playlists are often unpredictable which is what I love most about music. If you find a connection with an artist or a song it can be hard to explain why you love it so much but ultimately it's because you can either relate to the message behind the song or it just brings you happiness. Although the aggressiveness of Carrie Underwoods 'Before He Cheats' is enough to get anyone singing along, country has just never been my favourite.

As we approach our new home we have had to resort to the radio to end all debates about whether Taylor Swift was ever really a true country artist. But as we pull up the drive I am instantly distracted from the music and drawn to the building we are going to be living in. It is on the outskirts of some town that I can't even remember the name of and it's massive. It has a porch which runs along two sides of the house and must be at least 4 if not 5 bedrooms. The drive way wasn't to long but their was enough space outside the front of the house for 3 cars. And the river, the river was only about 20 metres away and a beautiful stone banking.

Everything on the outside was perfect. It was more than perfect it was extraordinary. I honestly couldn't believe what I was seeing. The grey stone building was 3 floors high and had a balcony on one side above the porch. The fresh air which the wind blew through the trees made everything more peaceful and bliss.

It was like our very own Utopia, it was, it was ... euphoric!

A/N - this is probably really shit but I tried. I will try and update it as much as possible and I'm basically writing to pass the time before I go to Uni.
If you read it a hope you enjoyed it and I will try to make the next chapters better.

Also I promise I did proof read this but I can't spell and my grammar and punctuation is shit so please to judge.