A New Life

The sound of laughter drifted up from the street below, making him feel very alone in this new town. His parents had moved them here a month ago, and he still hadn’t made any friends.

It didn’t help that school wasn’t in session in June. It also didn’t help that he refused to leave the house and meet the kids in his new neighborhood. It was a scary proposition. They had lived in his old home for all of his twelve years.

Who did they think they were to make this decision for him? They didn’t even ask what he thought of the idea. Well, he would tell them what he thought. He thought it was the worst idea he had ever heard. It was crap-tastically bad, as a matter of fact.

Why did his dad have to lose his job just as he was getting ready to enter middle school?

How was that fair?

He and Alex and Tom had so many plans for what was sure to be their best year ever. They were going to try out for the football team. Despite being in 6th grade, Tom was sure to be the quarterback. Everyone knew that his spiral pass hit the target every time. Zack himself was going to be a running back and get more touchdowns than Herschel Middle School had ever seen. They were going to be a force to be reckoned with!

And what about Mindy?

Okay, so she wasn’t his girlfriend. She might have been, though. He liked her all last year, but he didn’t say anything to her. What if she didn’t like him? What if she laughed at him? This year would have been different. He would have been a football star. He would have…

“Hey, are you going to just sit on that balcony dreaming your whole life away?” a voice interrupted his misery.

He looked down at the street for the first time today. All he saw was the red hair. As his eyes began to focus, he saw the emerald eyes then the generous sprinkling of freckles. Then he saw that it was a girl speaking to him!

“What are you so down in the dumps about?”

Zack cleared his throat and his brain and said, “I just moved here from this really great small town. I don’t know why my parents had to move to this crazy big city, but here I am.”

“My name is Yvette. What’s yours?” she asked with a squint of her eyes.

“I’m Zack.”

“Well, Zack, why don’t you come down, and I’ll show you around our corner of this crazy big city.”

He turned, opened the patio door, and yelled, “Hey, mom, I’m going out for a while!” as he rushed to the door.