England.
Zackary Mooneyham frowned as he threw his last bag into the nearly full boot of the taxi that he, his mum and his dad were getting to the airport.
It had been two weeks now, since his parents had told him about their big move to England. He had expected a cake for his 10th birthday that was in three days, not a move.
The whole band had gathered outside his house, which was now bearing a SOLD sign. He said goodbye to everyone, and given them his new address. He shook all of the boys' hands and gave all the girls hugs. Katie seemed to be the saddest about his moving to Europe. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.
'Hold on dude,' said Dewey, as Zack was about to climb into the taxi, 'we have a little something for you.'
He produced a glossy black guitar case with flames on it. Zack took it from him. He twisted the small key in the lock on the side and opened the case. Inside was a red, white and blue electric guitar with a union jack design. Zack picked up a red guitar pick from in between the strings and strummed the strings gently. He then put the pick back and shut the case.
'Thanks guys,' said Zack, tucking his new guitar under his arm.
'There's somebody we'd like you to meet too,' said Dewey, motioning towards another boy. He had dark blonde hair that was in spikes on the top and in the middle of his head. He was slightly shorter than Zack, and a bit chubby. 'This is Duncan and he will be your replacement guitarist.'
Duncan glared at Zack as if to say. "Why did you have to leave? Do you think I want to be in a stupid band and throw away all my spare time?"
Shrugging it off, Zack climbed into the yellow taxi, staring out of the window when his guitar was positioned comfortably on his lap. He looked at the group of friends that were really the only ones he had. The taxi engine started, and the group got further and further away, until they were a speck in front of what used to be his home.
They arrived at the airport half an hour later, and had to lug their suitcases and bags around for ages before they boarded the plane.
Eight hours later, the Mooneyhams were taking their bags out of a black taxi. Zack dragged his things into his house that was roughly in the middle of a road called Jubilee road. He opened the front door and saw a staircase straight in front of him. He climbed up it straight away and saw three rooms. Looking in one he saw a king sized bed, probably for his parents. Shutting the door, he moved on to the next room, which had a sink, toilet, and shower/bath. Shutting that door he walked slightly further up the hall. At the end was one more room. Zack opened the door and saw a single bed. It had a white sheet over it and a bedside table that sandwiched a wardrobe with a chest of drawers. Zack sat on the bed and swung his suitcase next to him. He unzipped the zip and took out a shirt. He opened the wardrobe and hung it on a hanger. He did this with his t-shirts and trousers until his wardrobe was full. Then he moved on to his chest of drawers, with things like underwear and socks. He began putting his books and other things. Shoving his empty suitcase under his bed, he picked up the new guitar. He opened up the case and started strumming the chords to 'School of Rock'. He finished after the first chorus, and put his guitar in the spare drawer of his chest of drawers. Then he went downstairs and explored there. The living room was to the left of the entrance, and his parents were there, covering up the dusty sofa with their pale cream suede sheet. Zack went into the kitchen, behind the living room, and found a lot of boxes. He picked up one labelled ZACKS COMICS and took it upstairs.
Tearing the tape off, he took out his most treasured two comics. The Simpsons #1 and the Simpsons #100. They were probably the last ones on earth. He read through them, studying every little speech bubble and put them away, shoving them in front of his bedside table. By now it was 9:00 pm, and Zack went downstairs to get his bedclothes. He carried the duvet, which was already in its sheet up to his room, and got into his pyjamas. He climbed in to bed, thinking about the first day of school, and drifted off.
Zack's mum woke him up at 7:45 the next morning.
'Honey, wake up,' she said, shaking him gently. 'You'll be late for your first day of new school.'
She left the room, leaving Zack to change into his new school uniform, which was at the end of his bed. Zack slowly climbed out of bed, rubbing his eyes. He picked up a white polo shirt from the top of his pile and unfolded it. He put it on, then his trousers, then a jumper, which had a beech tree logo on it with the words 'Beechfield School' above it, in bold white letters.
He then went downstairs and had a breakfast of marmite on toast. It was 8:15 now. He went into the living room and sat, thinking about his friends at school and how much he missed Horace green. Even if it was snobby and stuck up. Soon it was time to go to new school.
Zack and his mum walked to the school, through a big park called Callowland Park. It was about seven minutes before they emerged. They walked on, seeing several children walking. The turned and walked up to a big building, not as big as Horace Green, but big. Zack's mum knocked on the door and was buzzed in by the secretary.
The office was warm, and it had a display board with pictures of a class on a pebble beach, with the writing 'School Journey, 2005, Isle of Wight'.
The secretary walked out of the small office and greeted the two.
She had short red hair, and was tall. She had dark lipstick on. She shook hands with Zack's mum and said hello to Zack. She then left Zack's mum at the entrance and took Zack to his new classroom.
They came through two doors and saw a group of children in a wonky circle at the end of the room. They were playing a game. One person was in the middle, blindfolded, and another person picked up a bunch of keys and hid them behind their backs. They stopped this though, when the teacher and Zack came in. Mrs. Newman – the secretary – introduced him and left him standing in between two tables. The teachers name was Miss. Roberts.
'Hello Zack,' said Miss Roberts, 'Welcome to 5LR. Would you like to take a seat just between… Charlotte and Charlie.
The quoted people raised their hands and Zack sat in the space that was in the middle of them.
Charlotte looked tall, and she had ginger hair. It was in two plaits hanging down by her ears. Charlie looked slightly smaller, and had brown hair.
'Okay, let's continue,' said Miss Roberts. 'Would you like a go Zack?'
Zack shrugged and got up. He sat cross legged in the middle of the carpet and tied the scarf around his eyes. He heard the keys drop just to his left. About a minute later, he heard the keys being picked up. There were steps going in a circle around him, and he thought he heard the keys go down behind him. A new voice said 'you can take the blindfold off now.'
Zack untied the scarf and stood up. He looked behind him, as that was where he heard the keys drop. He then looked in the selected area. He saw a girl with shoulder length hair in a ponytail, a boy who had blonde hair and was a little on the chubby side, a boy with a blue shirt, and a girl with brown, bushy hair and blonde highlights.
He then sheepishly pointed to the girl with shoulder-length hair in a ponytail. She then revealed she did not have the keys. He motioned towards the blonde haired boy. He revealed the keys.
'OK,' said Miss. Roberts, 'Simon, would you like to put the blindfold on?'
Simon then got up, handed the keys to Zack, and tied the scarf around his eyes whilst sitting in the middle.