I've always wanted to be a writer. I've got about three I'm-going-to-finish-this-and-I'm-serious novels sitting in my hard drive (half-finished, of course). I idolize J.K. Rowling and J.R.R Tolkien. I've always aced narrative assignments in Creative Writing.

But I really wanted to write something from my life, something nonfiction. Something interesting, mind you. I wasn't about to write a story about the first tree I climbed.

And suddenly I had my own story.

This is my story.

The bell chimed three times, signaling the end of the day (and the start of winter break) at my new middle school. In London. As in, London, England.

Yeah, sounds kind of strange, right? Here's how it all happened:

Okay. so a few months ago I found out that my best friend for life, Will Stanton, was moving to London. I was like, AWOL? What's not to love about America? We've got burgers while those English people have frog legs.

But since my mom and Mrs. Stanton have a reaaallly close friendship (sort of like me and Will… do you see a recurring theme here? I do) they let me go with them. Believe it or not, I'm allowed to stay with the Stantons until I call home and say I'm coming back. My mom's not a bad person or anything. She's a dreamy kind of person, and she thinks that it's good for the artistic mind to travel the world. Yup. She's been to China, India, Japan, England, Mexico, Australia, and the Philippines. She wants to go to South Africa next.

What am I missing? Oh yeah, I'm Tess by the way. Tess Johannsenn.

But back to school. So I'm standing there in the middle of the hallway like a rock in a stream- British students just flowed left and right by me. I'm claustrophobic, and believe me that was NOT a good experience. Everywhere students were yelling, calling and texting the same four words I've heard for six hours: "Have a good holiday." I looked around wildly, hoping to see someone I knew.

There was Will, Thank God. He was standing by his locker, not getting his books but his iPod. But I would have never seen him if his hair wasn't sticking up all over the place like a pineapple. See, his twin brothers, Robin and Paul, got him this bottle of hair gel last Christmas and he's used it every day ever since. Actually, I think Will is the only one in his family that has blonde hair- everyone else has got a light brown color. Otherwise, he looked totally normal- red jacket, striped shirt, and blue eyes like the sky.

I snuck up on him and mimicked a British accent. "Cheerio, mate! Fancy a cup of tea?"

He jumped, and I laughed.

"Jeez, Tess," he said, picking up the fallen papers that spilled from his backpack. "I thought you were some random English kid."

"I'm a random American kid," I giggled.

He closed his locker and we walked through the pandemonium. "So, do you have anything in mind for your birthday? You've survived this world 14 years. That's an accomplishment." I remarked.

"Nothing really," he said. "But I have-"

He never got to finish his sentence. Robin and Paul, who had snuck up behind us, broke him off. Robin plucked out Will's headphones and practically screamed: "Let's get outta here, man!" Robin raced up the corridor.

"School's out!" said Paul, following him.

"What's up, little brother?" asked James, the third-oldest. "I'm catching up with the twins."

When James left, that's when Will stopped and stared into space. Or so I thought. I followed his gaze and found my eyes upon a girl a few yards in front of us. She had olive-colored skin and long curly hair. Her red scarf was dancing in the wind.

I prodded him. "Someone's got a crush"

He looked at me and blushed. "Do not."

"Do too."

"Whatever."

We rounded the corner and nearly ran into Gwen, Will's only sister. She's got long brown hair and a really great smile.

"Hi, Will, Tess."

"Hey Gwen, what's up?" I asked her.

"Nothing much," she shook her head. "But Mrs. Lacey gave us like 5 pages of math to do over winter break!"

I grinned. Gwen sucked at math, a subject I prided myself in.

"Walk now, talk later," Will said, rolling his eyes. "We're gonna miss the bus."

"Race you," I challenged.

"You're so on."

The three of us bolted, melting through the slush of students. The cold wind felt refreshing on my face, giving me more energy.

When we got on the bus, our faces were flushed from the sudden burst of energy and we were gasping for breath. We joined James and the twins at the back, plopping ourselves in the seats in front of them.

"So Will, any thoughts on your first semester as an American overseas?" inquired Robin, shoving his camera in Will's face.

Will covered up the camera's lens with his hand. "Guys stop."

"Just answer the question," Paul urged. "And in English, please," he said, putting on an exaggerated British accent.

"At an English school," laughed Robin. "The people want to know if you've made any friends. That's their question to you."

But Will wasn't listening to them. His eyes had found that of the girl with the red scarf. For some reason that really ticked me off.

"Any, uh, lady friends?" Paul asked in an undertone.

"Hey guys, back off," I said, suddenly defensive. "It's his love life, not yours."

"Why don't you go talk to her?" asked Gwen. "I mean, why not?"

Right around then, the brakes squealed, and my bag, placed just so by my foot, went skidding down the aisle. At the same moment, the girl with the red scarf got up, accidentally dropping her scarf.

Will jumped up like a jack-in-the-box, and dashed down the aisle, snatching up the velvet scarf. But by this stage the girl was already off the bus. That didn't stop Will- he shouted through the window, "Wait! You forgot your scarf!" But the bus pulled away.

"Thanks for getting my bag," I said sarcastically as he came back down the bus aisle. Robin and Paul laughed.

"Whatever," he mumbled, cramming the scarf into his bag.

"Hey guys, look who's home!" called Mrs. Stanton as we came through the door.

"Max!" we all cried. Max was the second-oldest. He'd been away at college for the past couple of years, and I haven't really seen much of him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised.

"Family Christmas," he said simply, hugging Gwen.

"Still doing tai kwan do?" Robin asked.

"Ah! You dare challenge me?"

"Bring it," said Paul. They then proceeded to tackle Max to the ground. Both of them weigh like 100 pounds, so I was surprised that Max wasn't crushed underneath them.

"Oh, Will, I got your room," said Max over the twins.

"Great. Just great," I heard him mutter.

When we got to Will's room upstairs, it was crammed floor to ceiling in boxes- of Max's stuff, of course.

"How long are you staying?" Will asked and Max fretted around the room.

"Oh, maybe… a week or two."

"All this for a week or two?" I said in disbelief as Max loaded up Will's arm with a box and his pillow. "Where's Will supposed to sleep? Where am I supposed to sleep?" For the past month and a half I've been sleeping in a sleeping bag on Will's floor.

"You can take the attic. You're younger… more versatile. And as for your birthday… 13 years. They grow up so fast." Then Max held up a pair of boxer briefs.

I stifled a giggle as Will said, "14, actually." Max put the briefs on Will's shoulder, and we left.