I sat in the front of a Volkswagen next to my mom with a U-Haul attached to the back. We were moving and I wasn't exactly happy about it. It wasn't the moving part that I was upset about because I could use a change of scenery, but this wasn't the change of scenery I was looking for. I wanted somewhere like Nashville or Savannah, or maybe even Harrisburg, but not Madison, Delaware. Delaware was a state that was famous for being the first state and nothing else. The only person from Delaware that I could think of was Vice President Joe Biden.
"Mom, do we seriously have to move to Madison, Delaware?" I asked.
"Honey, we've been over this. They offered me a job and your aunt lives here." She explained. "Plus, a small town like this will be good for your writing."
It was true that I was working on writing. My dad had been a writer and I wanted to be like him. He was never too famous, but he did get a few books published. I was Taylor Cooper, his daughter. I was not even sure if I still wanted to write anymore after he died.
"Hey, at least we have a yard here. You don't get those in New York." She stated.
"Mom, I'm here. I may not like it but I love you and I'm not leaving." I replied. "There are laws that say I can't."
She smiled and waved the keys at me before heading inside. I hoped she would at least let me get my license in this town. I looked over at the house next door. The owner must have seen me because the blinds closed. I thought I was antisocial.
I walked inside the house. I would need to set my computer up somewhere. It was weird looking at it because my dad wouldn't be there to give me pointers.
"This kitchen is bigger than our apartment." Mom gushed.
"Yeah, that would be great if we actually cooked." I quipped.
"Well there's plenty of counterspace to put take out on." She responded.
Suddenly, my aunt popped in. Maybe we shouldn't have left the door unlocked. She was very eccentric.
"Taylor, give me a hug, my favorite niece." She said before she embraced me. I reluctantly hugged her back. "Alright, let me take her in. She is such a beautiful girl. She was such an ugly baby."
"Thank you, Aunt Lorraine." I remarked. I really hoped she would leave soon.
"It's fine. She's beautiful now. It's not she's going to go back to ugly." Lorraine explained. I was pretty sure that was every girl's nightmare. She then reached into her bag. "I got you a present. This is from my young adult line."
She handed me a bedazzled pink Yankees hat. It was hideous. I wasn't even that big of a fan of pink but when it came to the Yankees, I preferred the traditional navy blue.
"Awesome." I responded with fake glee.
"It's limited edition so a lot of girls won't be wearing them." She added.
"Yeah, I don't think any girls will be wearing this." I retorted. Most teenagers were past the bedazzled stage, if they ever went through one at all.
"Try it on." Mom suggested. I hoped that she didn't want me to wear it often.
"Right here? Right now?" I asked. I put it on and tried to smile. They seemed to like it. I needed an escape. "I'm going to go get boxes."
"Taylor, leave the hat on. I don't want you to get sunburned." Mom requested. I was pretty sure my hair would protect me from that. I wasn't sure why she was humoring Lorraine so much.
I grabbed some boxes and once I was I carrying them I realized one was upside-down which caused the contents to fall out. Luckily, there was nothing fragile in there.
"Nice." A voice replied. I looked to the window next and saw a girl about my age with chestnut brown hair. I walked over. "So, you're the new neighbor. How was the drive from New York?"
How did she know I was from New York?
"I could tell from the pretty hat you're wearing." She stated. I blushed and took it off.
"No, this was from my aunt. It was a gift." I said.
"It's also a gift for anyone who gets to see you in it." She retorted. I was pretty sure I would like this girl. I wondered if she was bicurious. "I'm Hannah."
"Taylor." I greeted her. It then sounded like someone called for her.
"Gotta go. Bye." She declared before she ran off. At that point, a man with glasses popped out. I assumed he was her father. There was a little bit of resemblance.
"Hello, I'm your new neighbor." I introduced. I figured if I was ever going to hang out with Hannah, I should be friendly with her dad.
"Look at that fence." He ordered. "Don't cross it. Don't come near my daughter or me and there will be no problems."
Well, it seemed like he was not just antisocial, but he didn't want anyone socializing with his daughter either. That probably wasn't healthy.
I then headed back into the house with the boxes.
"So, I just met our new neighbor. He seems scary, but his daughter seems okay." I commented.
"Mr. Shivers, he and his daughter moved here a few years. I don't think I've ever seen her, but he's kind of sexy." Lorraine declared.
At that point, Mom pulled out a picture of me and my dad. I looked at it and I almost started to cry.
"Are you okay, Sweetie?" Mom asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I declared quickly as I looked at her. "I need to go and decorate my room and maybe I'll try to write something."
I quickly hurried up to my room. My mom said I could pick my room and she didn't seem to care if I took the master bedroom. We were both going to have our own bathrooms anyway. I sat in my room and listened to an old tape of him. Along with writing, we were both big on baseball.
"Are you okay in there?" Mom asked from the other side of the door.
"I'm fine." I lied. "I think I'm going to take a shower."
The following day, my mom drove me to school. One could argue that it was eco-friendlier to do so, but I still wanted my own car. It also meant that I would have to wait for her to be done unless I wanted to walk home. I was wearing a leather jacket with a blue lace dress and black Reeboks.
"Mom, I am the new girl and I would appreciate if I could go one day without having to be associated with you. I just don't think that it would help me gain cool points if people saw me with the new vice-principal." I explained. "Not that I don't love you or anything."
"Well will you at least try to make some friends?" She requested. I was hoping to see Hannah so I could talk to her some more and maybe I could find out why her dad was so cranky.
When we got to school, there was an assembly. I didn't see Hannah, so I decided to sit by myself. I shouldn't have been surprised when a kid sat next to me. He had a bit of a overbite and wore a green t-shirt that said "This kid is cool.", which was probably the least cool thing you could do.
"So, you're the new girl." He stated. I wasn't sure if he was hitting on me or trying to be friendly. We then noticed a jock walk by. "Hey Davidson."
"What up, Chump." Davidson said.
"Did he just call you Chump?" I asked.
"Yes, he did. My real name is Champ, but he's never talked to me, so we're making progress." He explained.
At that point, the assembly began. Mom made a reference to twerking and I was glad that people didn't know that I was her daughter because I wouldn't have to immediately live with that embarrassment.
"She is worse than the last one." Champ whispered.
"That's my mom." I whispered back. I wasn't sure why I was so quick to defend her. Someone else could have heard me say it.
"The last one was the best ever." He tried to remark. "So, are you going to the dance by any chance?"
"I don't think I'm going, but I wouldn't want to go anyone as more than a friend." I declared.
"I'd be perfectly okay with going as a friend." He stated. Something told me that he had never gone to a dance with a girl before…or maybe at all. "Here's my contact info."
He then proceeded to give me a business card that said he was the equipment manager for the football team.
One thing that I noticed was that I didn't see Hannah at all at school. As one of the few people that I actually recognized, I figured that it would be easy to find her, but this was not the case. I thought of saying that I had a boyfriend or maybe even girlfriend in New York so people would stop trying to ask me to the dance.
Later that day, I was taking out the trash. I thought I heard something behind me as I opened the lid. I hoped that I wouldn't have to punch some pervert.
"Hello? Is someone there?" I asked as I wondered if I should have brought a can of mace with me. I heard a branch crack and quickly turned around to see Hannah.
"Boo." She stated. "Did I scare you?"
"No." I lied as she came over through a hole in the fence.
"Really because it looked like you jumped pretty high." She declared.
"You know it's not a good idea to sneak up on people." I told her as I put the bags in the barrel. "I could have been carrying pepper spray or something."
"I'll keep that in mind." She quipped.
"So, I didn't see you at school." I remarked with a little bit of a blush. I was trying not to blush.
"Were you looking for me?" She flirted.
"I was just…looking for…" I babbled.
"I'm homeschooled." She explained with her head hanging. It didn't seem like it was her idea.
"By your dad? He seems nice and grumpy, yeah kind of grumpy." I said.
"Don't take it personally. He doesn't like anyone." She answered.
"What do you do for fun around here?" I asked. "I mean do you like to do anything besides scare your new neighbors?"
She looked at her house. I wasn't sure why.
"Well there is one thing that I like to do." She stated before she looked at her house again. I was beginning to wonder if she shouldn't be out. "Come with me."
So I wanted to write a story with Taylor as the main character. It will be similar to the movie, including a possible relationship between her and Hannah. Please don't forget to review.