Chapter One:
The Newest Beginning
Rain drops slowly and heavily dropped from their hulking, dreary, gray puffball homes in the sky. I looked out the bleak window of my room. I hadn't quite fathomed the fact that my family and I had moved...again, hopefully for the last time. In the last year we had moved to three cities and with it brought new schools. New schools with new teachers, peers, but similar classes as the school before. It wasn't so much the moving and slight change that bothered me, it was more the unpacking and packing that bothered me.
My parents had a slight problem with staying in one place for too long. Whenever I asked why we moved, my parent's reasoning happened to always be the same. They would say, "We need change" or "Moving helps with your social skills". All in all, I'd get over it within a couple weeks and move on to some other part of life for me to consume my thoughts with.
This move summoned us to an early Victorian home that had some modern touches added on. Two stories, five bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a furnished basement, and a two-door garage. It was a good thing that my parents have very well-paying jobs, both are Lawyers, because if they didn't we wouldn't be in this house.
My bedroom was on the top floor with two of the other bedrooms and the one-and-a-half bath. It was larger than rooms I've had before. Two big windows stretched over and out of the wall with a window seat attached. Perfect for days like this when I could curl up with a blanket and read a good book or do homework. There was the full bath in my room and down the hall the half bath. Hung from the ceiling was a Victorian chandelier, which once held candles and now holds light bulbs; which have hand-crafted iron designs and decorations.
My parent's bedroom, of course, was on the main floor with the other full bath and one other bedroom. But there I stood, in the middle of my room, looking around as if I didn't know why I was there. I knew exactly why I was there though, because this was my new home. I looked over at the boxes by the door.
"Wow, I have a lot of crap," I said to myself and the empty space of room.
I walked over to the boxes, picked up one of the bigger ones and put it on the unmade bed.
"I'll have to make my bed if I want to sleep on it tonight," I thought.
Slowly, I opened the box; inside lay my clothes, some hangers, and some mixed undergarments. I put them away and began working on all the other boxes.
"Hey, Christabel Marie Meridith! Come down here, dinners ready!", My Mom, Christie Mary Meridith, beckoned. Gosh, I really disliked it when my parents used my real name for no reason. But, I didn't let it bother me too much.
"Yeah, If you don't come down in the next five minutes all the food might just be crumbs," joked my dad, Stephan John Meridith.
"Alright, be done real soon!", I replied with a smile.
I walked downstairs, into the kitchen, to find that pretty much the whole entire main floor had been put into pristine order. I was amazed at how fast everything had been put up and arranged. In the 3 ½ hours we had been here my parents already had the living room, kitchen, and their room completely stocked with the things that belonged there. The room that wasn't completely done was the dining room, that didn't matter much though.
"Wow, you guys worked pretty fast! I've barely started on my bathroom", I told my parents matter-of-factually.
"Well, honey there is two of us and only one of you, so of course we are going to be done quicker," Mom retorted.
"Well, that's obvious," I said rolling my eyes. Mom and Dad didn't like it when I rolled my eyes at them, but I did every so often when they weren't looking.
"Come eat dinner Christabel, before I eat it all!", Joked Dad.
I walked to the table and sat down to a hearty meal of beef stew and homemade bread, the best meal anybody could ever have. I filled my bowl to the brim and began eating, I ate three bowls total. On the last bowl, a sudden chill filled the air around me. I looked up from my bowl and looked around the room at all the fans. None of the fans were on and I asked,
"Is the air conditioning on?"
My parents gave me strange and confused looks.
"No honey, why would the air conditioning be on?", Dad asked worried.
I sat, thought for a second and replied,
"All of a sudden I feel cold. Its probably nothing though I'm probably just panicking over nothing."
"Are you sure?", Mom asked
"Yeah, I think I'm going to go back to my room and finish packing. Thanks for dinner," I said with slight confusion.
I walked to my room and sat on the still unmade bed. Why was there a sudden chill? Why was I worried about it? I felt puzzled and groggy. I was freaking out over something I had no control over.