Jack leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, watching his little brother build with his blocks and send each tower crashing down. "I have a new drinking game," he proposed. "Drink every time you say we're done moving and then we move again— oh, wait. I already have alcohol poisoning."

"Jack!" His mother gestured at Rylan who gleefully smashed his fist into his construction and watched as the blocks loudly clattered to the floor. "What have I told you about your language?"

Jack flinched as Rylan sent his blocks flying again. Loud noises always sent his anxiety spiraling, and he hated these heavy wooden blocks which were deafening. "I didn't swear. And it's not like he even understands what I said."

"And it's not like you participate in drinking games, right?" she mocked, waiting expectantly for his answer.

"Yup." Jack took that as his cue to leave.

His mother sighed. "You need to think before you speak," she muttered, and Jack ignored her as he escaped to his room (or rather, his old room). He rolled his eyes and kicked at a box that he hadn't bothered to unpack when they moved here. He always knew that they would leave this town at some point, but nevertheless, he had hoped they might finally stay somewhere. Jack didn't care about leaving this town, necessarily. It was boring with two dimensional people that were merely tolerable, but the last thing Jack wanted was to relive the awkward new kid experience again. Especially not halfway through the school year. He was tired of reintroducing himself and never truly belonging anywhere. At least his parents were letting him finish this semester, so his classes would transfer easier, and he wouldn't be scrambling for credits.

Jack grudgingly reached for the box he had kicked. The tape was pulled off which meant at some point during his brief stint here, he had removed an item or two, and there was therefor space for him to cram his stuff in. Knowing his procrastinating self, it would take the entire four weeks to fully pack all of his stuff away. He cleared most of his desk off: highlighters he had never used (and was never going to use), keychains he had collected from various places, and a couple books. There was still a mountain of notes, but he had to resist the urge to throw them out. Technically, he still had to get through midterms, and he would need to use them. Jack glanced around his room, realizing there wasn't much else he could pack away. Most of his clothes were still in the suitcases and duffle bags, There was the actual furniture like his desk, but after that, there wasn't anything left. With each move, he had gotten lazier. He hadn't even put the posters up this time, but then he remembered that he donated them to Goodwill before coming here. Jack's belongings had diminished as he was continually selling or throwing things out to make packing easier.

With not much else to do, he flopped onto his bed and pulled his phone out of pocket. He made a group chat and started composing the usual "hey guys, I'm moving" text. He was met with the usual sad emojis and people telling him not to leave as if there was even the possibility of Jack staying behind while his family moved hundreds of miles away.

He promised them twenty-eight more days of hanging out and cramming for tests, but they slipped through his fingers and suddenly he was staring at the brick house with his backpack slung over a shoulder. He felt detached like he was just leaving some kind of dinner party his parents dragged him to. He lived here for almost five months and there were only a handful of memories worth keeping. It wasn't supposed to be like that. The first time they had moved, Jack was hesitant to leave his childhood behind. He didn't want to stay in that house- couldn't- but it was also hard to part with his best friend. Jack sighed and dropped his bag in the car. He helped Rylan buckle his carseat and waved to his mom who was driving the rented truck. The road trip had begun.

——

His new (temporary) home was on the coast in Seaford, California. Jack cracked the car window open, enjoying the light air. It was at least three times warmer down here than back in Oregon. The Pacific Ocean opened up before them, the waves rolling against red rocks. The sidewalk was busy with people, and down on the beach, people sat on picnic blankets. Smoke trailed from barbecue grills, and a group of people played volleyball. Something about this town seemed... above tolerable. For the first time in years, Jack was excited to be in a new town. Maybe it was because it was 70 degrees and not the dead of winter, but he actually liked Seaford. "What do you think?" his dad asked.

Jack glanced at his brother who usually never stopped talking, but the four year old was gaping at the palm trees. "It's fine," Jack said. If he showed too much interest, it almost guaranteed that they would move sooner.

"You look happy to be here."

"Yeah, until we leave again." Jack knew better than to get attached so fast. They would be packing up as soon as he graduated in June.

"This is the last time. I promise."

"Did Mom tell you about my drinking game?" Jack took an over-exaggerated drink from his water bottle. "You've said that the last three times, but here we are. Here we are."

His dad sighed, not impressed by his son's antics. "We're staying here, Jack."

"I'll believe it when I see it," he said under his breath. His father started to say something, but the GPS cut him off, directing them to the new house. Jack crossed his arms and stared out the window.

Seaford was a very nice town, especially with the sunset over the pier. He had been looking for a reason to pull his longboard out again. Or maybe he could rent a surfboard. It had been a while since they lived so close to the water. Everyone here looked happy from the old lady walking her dog to the group of kids sitting around a picnic table and eating ice cream.

Jack's mouth went dry. He twisted in his seat to look back. It had been a long day of driving, and maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. Blood rushed in his ears. He caught a glimpse of dark hair, and suddenly Jack wanted to get out of this town as fast as possible. Boring, uneventful Oregon was suddenly appealing. The car felt too small even as they drove farther away and the group of people shrank behind him. He tugged at his seatbelt as if it would loosen and reached for his water bottle, dimly realizing he was still holding onto it. "What'd you see?" his dad asked, glancing at him and away from the road.

"Nothing." They were driving along so quickly, and he only saw them for a fraction of a second. Maybe he had fabricated it all. "I think I'm getting carsick," he said quietly.

"We'll be there soon." Jack nodded, but he couldn't stop the feeling that he just saw Jerry. Jerry from Minnesota, from when they were eleven. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window; Jack didn't want to think about Jerry being here or what it meant. He didn't want to think about his old friend at all.

It didn't take long until his dad pulled into a driveway and parked the car. "We're here," he said, taking the keys out of the ignition.

The thought of living in the same town as Jerry made Jack nauseous, but he was still staying here for a few months and was curious to see the new house. He expected it to look like all the others- two-story houses with three or four bedrooms- but this place was not like those modest homes. The first word that sprang to mind was mansion. his dad was horrible with direction; he must have taken a wrong turn, but the his mom was already moving boxes in. Jack knew there was enough money for this estate to be theirs, but it didn't make sense. His parents were wealthy, but they chose to spend it on all these houses, buying and selling the houses, so they could drag their miserable son they bought this house... maybe they really were staying here. He swung his door open to help unpack.

The house amplified every sound, encouraging Rylan to yell as he ran between the rooms, sometimes purposefully getting in everyone's way as they tried to move furniture inside. After being in the car all day, Jack couldn't blame his brother for having so much energy. He longed to go for a run himself. He dropped the last box of kitchen supplies off, and went back to the garage for his own things. He grabbed his backpack and the boxes of necessary supplies. Almost everything was inside already which meant they either didn't have a lot of stuff to move or they were very efficient. Both, Jack decided. They had plenty of practice, after all. He went back inside through the twisted hallways that led to various empty rooms until he was in the foyer where they had dumped all the boxes. Even with all their belongings, the house (mansion) still felt empty, and there was still a floor above them that had yet to be explored. Judging by the sound of Rylan's stomping feet and slamming doors was being accomplished.

He made his way up the dark wooden stairs. Walnut, he guessed. At this point he was very good at identifying different flooring. Rylan slid along the polished floor in his socks, knocking into Jack at the top of the stairs. "Careful, Ry," he murmured, grabbing his brother's shoulders and trying to steady him. "Did you find a room?"

"I want those three." He pointed at three doors, and Jack started to argue that he couldn't have three rooms, but he was caught off guard by the sheer number of rooms.

"How many are there?"

"Ten. I counted! But these two are bor-ring." Rylan opened the doors to prove his point, revealing an ornate bathroom and towel closet. Just the bathroom was bigger than his last room; he couldn't imaging what the bedrooms looked like. "Where's your room?"

There were eight bedrooms total. Three of them were apparently Rylan's and Jack didn't feel like arguing with him. The master bedroom was their parents' by default which left Jack with four to choose between. Usually there were only four rooms total. What were his parents thinking when they bought this? He knocked a few doors open, deciding on a room with paneled windows facing the last rays of the sunset. Rylan followed him and started a game of pirates as he walked along the window seat (it was still walnut). After several minutes of talking to himself and brandishing an imaginary sword e looked at Jack, satisfied. "Can I have this room too?"

"What? No."

"But the pirates-"

"I'm sure your three other rooms work just as well."

"I need to walk the plank!"

"Rylan." The four year old stuck his tongue out and fled the room, yelling about the Kraken chasing him. Jack sighed and folded himself into the corner of the window seat. he watched the sun fall under the horizon as night finally closed in. This town was not going to be boring.

——

Jack sat on the curb with his phone, trying to figure out where the he was. He spent all day yesterday helping his parents move in, and now he finally had the freedom to walk about the town, but he couldn't find his way out of the neighborhood. It was a maze with long roads leading to more mansions and no cell reception.

"You look lost." He jumped and almost dropped his phone in the storm drain. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Where are you trying to go?" A girl with platinum hair plopped down next to him, waiting for his answer.

"Who said I was lost?"

"Because I've never seen you before, so you're either a recluse who's been hiding forever or you're my new neighbor. And I know how impossible this place is. Oh! I'm Kim." She stuck her had out, and Jack shook it, wondering the last time he shook the hand of someone his age.

"Jack," he said, trying to figure this girl out.

"Great! Now that we have 'formally' met, where are we going?"

Jack stared at her. He didn't expect to meet anyone today, and included any outgoing tour guides. "I just wanted to find my way out of this neighborhood."

Kim jumped up waved him on. "Follow me, friend. Adventure awaits!" she declared. With no other options, Jack pulled himself to his feet and followed her. "So. Where are you from?"

He hated that question. His family was nomadic; they weren't really from anywhere, but usually people really wanted to know where they were moving from so he simply answered, "Oregon."

"Ah, a man of few words. Like Calvin Coolidge." She said the weirdest things, but Jack was strangely grateful for it. Kim seemed to march right by the awkward small talk stage even as she asked the typical questions. "It's fine. I talk a lot, but you probably already figured that out." Jack shrugged. "Okay, I get it. I need to, like, pry the conversation out of you. So tell me, Cal, did you surf in Oregon? If you want to fit in here- and not that I encourage conforming- you'll want to know how to surf."

"No it was always too cold."

"It's not cold year-round, Cal. There's this nifty thing called summer."

"I wasn't there for a year."

She squinted at him. "You're an interesting person, Cal."

"My name is Jack-"

"Shut up, Cal!" She clapped her hands over her ears and repeated, "Cal, Cal, Cal..."

"Fine, if you're going to call me Cal, I'm going to call you..." he trailed off, unable to find a clever nickname.

"You can't come up with anything," she smirked. "Face it, Cal, Kim fits me pretty well."

"I'll come up with something," he promised. Somehow, they had made it out of the neighborhood and the beach was just across the road.

"Hope you were paying attention 'cause you'll be leading the way back." Jack knew he would get lost, but that was a problem for later. "What now?"

He shrugged. "I was just going to walk around and see what was worth my attention."

We can go down to the water if you want, but we have to stop by the ice cream place because it's literally the best."

"I'm lactose intolerant."

"Oh, well, I'm sure they have something..." she tried to recover from her mistake and Jack couldn't stop himself from laughing. "You were joking weren't you?"

"Yup."

She smiled as they walked along the boardwalk packed with people. "the last people who lived in your house were an old couple that had been together since the beginning of time. I'm so glad you understand sarcasm and jokes because lord knows they didn't."

"I'm glad to be a source of entertainment- is it always this busy?" he asked as another person rammed their shoulder into him.

She gave him a sideways look, like he should already know the answer. "It's New Year's Eve. They have extra activities and and stuff all day."

Oh, yeah. It's the holiday season. After living in mostly Northern climates for the past couple years, New Year's was mostly associated with cold and snow. Suddenly being in sunny California, Jack had forgotten it was technically still the middle of winter. "Right. Anyway, tell me about yourself, Peppermint Patty." Jack had learned early on that most people were happy to talk about themselves which made it easier for him to avoid questions about himself.

"Peppermint Patty?"

"She talks. A lot."

Kim laughed. "Alright, fair enough. Um, I guess I have two brothers, and I collect seashells which doesn't make sense when you live on the ocean, but whatever."

"How old are your brothers?"

"Freshman in high school and freshman in college. Sorry, Cal, but they're not really the befriending type."

"Oh, I just thought that there might be a friend for my brother, but he's four, so that probably won't work out."

"My younger brother has very low standards. Also, spoiler alert: my mom was going to bring a housewarming gift and introduce our family."

"We'll make sure to introduce them, but don't keep me waiting- what's the 'housewarming gift'?"

"Certainly not homemade brownies that are really made from a box and a vegetarian cookbook we've been trying to get rid of!"

"Well, then, if I'm getting brownies, do we even need ice cream?" Jack turned away from the ice cream shop, teasing Kim. Twenty minutes after meeting her and they were already laughing like they knew each other for years with inside jokes.

Kim pulled on shirt and dragged him back. "Yes, because my family is selflessly giving away the brownies, I still need my sugar fix, and I won't let you go anywhere until you try the best ice cream."

Jack crossed his arms. "I'll have you know I've lived in eight states, and they all have 'the best ice cream ever'."

"So you're basically an expert-"

"Or a skeptic-"

"Awesome, I await your five page, double-spaced review. Keep our spot in line, yeah? I'm gonna grab a place to sit."

Jack watched as wandered off and started talking to someone at the picnic table he had driven by the other day. When he saw Jerry. Part of Jack wanted to find out if he has indeed seen his old friend or just someone who looked eerily similar. but the other part of Jack wanted to leave it alone. It had been a long process to reach a place where he could talk about what happened without falling apart. He wasn't sure if he wanted to dig it back up just because he saw Jerry. At the same time though, he missed his friend. He wanted to know how he was doing and what was going on in his life now. He could ask Kim if she knew anyone by that name without risking the possibility of running into him, but something stopped him. He was a complete stranger to everyone else here. He could be whoever he wanted to be in a new town, and he had even made a friend who was strange and fun. He was tired off being a guest in all these houses, but maybe he could make this place feel closer to a home.

"Next," the employee drawled. Jack walked to the window and Kim popped up at his side just in time to order.

"A friend of mine is here if you want to be introduced," she said as they stepped to the side to wait for their ice cream.

"Yeah, sure." He might as well make another friendly face before the first day of school, and it would make today pretty successful.

She beamed, delighted by his answer and took her ice cream, leading him back to the table where a girl with long brown hair was waiting. "This is Grace. Grace, this is Cal."

Jack didn't even bother correcting her; he already knew it would be pointless. Instead, he smiled and said he was pleased to meet her. Yes, he was from Oregon. No, he hadn't surfed for a while. Yes, he was also in his senior year. Yes, he was enjoying his holiday break. Yada yada yada. Throughout their (predictable) conversation, Jack played with his spoon, watching the sugar and cream melt.

"So, Cal, what do you think of this wonderful, frozen treat?"

"I asked for chocolate, but if someone said it was vanilla, I would believe them."

"Oof, that's harsh," Grace said with a laugh. "Don't let Miah hear you say that."

"He's our other friend, but he got caught up with his family today," Kim explained.

Grace, who hadn't been eating anything, but was playing with a paper cup, scoffed. "For some reason, Miah and Kim swear by this ice cream. I'm with you though, Cal. I think it tastes like crap."

"Yeah, right? This is, at best, nonfat frozen yogurt."

"I can see it now," Kim cut in dramatically. "You'll start your own business called Cal's Critiques' and move around, taste-testing ice cream."

"Minus the moving around that sounds great. Actually, speaking of that, my mom texted that some weird neighbors came over? I'm supposed to go meet them."

"Oh. right! The vegetarian cookbook. How could I forget?" She tossed her empty bowl in the trash, and Jack exchanged pleasantries once more with Grace (it was really so nice to meet you.) Kim gestured in front of her. "Lead the way, Calvin."

Hope you liked it so far! This is just a little school-related assignment. It gets a little out of character because it was originally with my OC's, but of course I can't publish that on here. Also, I had to make it a certain way for my class, and I was going to change it so it was closer to how I wanted it, but I'm honestly too tired. So.

Not quite sure when part II will be posted so stay tuned!

—loughlin