Maybe moving isn't so bad Read online

  Maybe moving isn't so bad

  Moving house and making new friends,

  argh great just what I needed!

  By: Jackie C Myrtle

  Chapters....

  Squirrels for friends? Has my dad gone mad!

  Just died of embarrassment where is an exit when you need one!

  And then there were four

  Squirrels for friends? Has my dad gone mad!

  As Celia gazed out of her new bedroom window she sighed with disappointment. When her father received a promotion that also meant a move to a new town, Antaca, was not exactly what she was expecting. They had lived in a suburb of New York City, not the City itself but close enough to enjoy all of the culture and still have the peacefulness of a small neighbourhood.

  Celia was not sure this was even a neighbourhood She could barely see the rooftop of another house from her window. Instead there were trees and more trees surrounding a gravel road that led to their large Victorian home.

  She brushed her long pin straight dark hair behind her shoulders and sighed again.

  “Great, I’ll make friends with squirrels.” She muttered. She longed for her friends back home. They would come home from school and all gather together at the neighbourhood park. No one was ever left out, and they never had time to be bored. But this was a whole different story. Here she did not know anyone, and she doubted she would be noticed, let alone make as many friends as she had once had.

  Her father stepped up behind her, resting his hands reassuringly on her shoulders.

  “It will be okay.” He promised. “It may seem strange now, but I promise you, I would not have brought you here if I did not think it would be good for both of us.” He smiled warmly at her, his dark blue eyes glimmering with hidden amusement. He and Celia shared their eye colour, but not their hair. Her father was as blonde as the sun, and as porcelain as snow. She on the other hand, had tan skin and waist-length dark brown hair.

  “I know Dad.” She forced a smile. “I am happy that you are happy.” She said in a sugary sweet tone that made him quite certain she was not happy at all.

  “Give it a chance Celia.” He pleaded, and gave her a light pat on the head. “We’ll finish unpacking later, why don’t you go check out the property. It is huge!”

  Celia shook her head as she turned back to her window. “No thanks, I’ve seen plenty of squirrels before.” She sat down on the edge of her bed, determined not to like her new home.

  “Suit yourself.” Her father said and shrugged as he left the room.

  Celia reached into one of the large moving boxes and pulled out her special box. It was square and covered in butterflies. It was where she stored all of her secrets and memories. She sat back down on the bed with it and careful pulled off the lid.

  Inside where photographs of her friends and notes they had passed back and forth in school. There were party favours and keepsakes from the going away party they had thrown for her. Underneath all of that were special school papers and awards she had won over the years. All the way at the bottom, buried under scribbled artwork from when she was a toddler, was her biggest secret.

  She reached down and picked up one of the pictures hidden there. She smiled sadly at it, and reached up to run her fingers through her dark hair.

  Just died of embarrassment where is an exit when you need one!

  The next morning Celia did not put much effort into choosing what she would wear. She shovelled down a few bites of cereal and gave her father a half-hearted hug on the way out the door. Back home, she had been able to walk to school. Here school was a forty-five minute bus ride away! Celia was only thirteen, it would be years before she could get a license! That meant she would be banished to bus riding for most of her high school career.

  She sighed heavily as she trudged to the end of the driveway. As she waited for the bus, she became a little uneasy. Her Father had left, passing with a cheerful wave that only irritated her. There was no one else around, and yet she felt strange, as if someone was watching her. She heard a rustle in the bushes beside her, and turned her head quickly to see what it was. A bushy tailed squirrel emerged from the bush. It chattered as it darted past Celia.

  “Of course.” Celia fumed as she kicked the toe of her shoe into the mixture of gravel and dirt. She stretched out her neck to see as far as she could down the road. Not a single car had passed in the twenty minutes she had been waiting, and there was certainly no sign of a bus. Still, the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up, and her stomach flipped anxiously.

  Maybe she was just nervous about her first day?

  Just then she spotted the bus rumbling down the road. Relieved she stepped up to the edge of the road and waited. Just as the bus pulled up, and the doors swung open, someone jumped out from behind the bushes!

  “Boo!” A loud voice hollered.

  “Ahh!” Celia screamed loud enough for the bus full of kids to hear. Angrily, she spun around to find the culprit that had frightened her. She looked behind the bush and the nearby tree, she even checked inside of the garbage can. There was no one.

  “C’mon kid!” The surly bus driver demanded with a roll of his eyes. “We’re already running late.”

  “Did you see who that was?” Celia asked as she reluctantly climbed the steps to the bus.

  “All I saw was you screaming.” The bus driver chuckled, and as Celia reached the top step of the bus, the rest of the kids were laughing as well. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment as she stalked to an empty seat. There was only one available, next to a very tall, very thin, girl with wild red curls and more freckles than skin.

  “Uhm, can I sit?” She asked shyly. She was never shy at her old school, but she and her friends had gone to preschool together!

  The girl smiled and revealed a mouthful of braces. “Of course!” She giggled. “As long as you didn’t bring your ghost with you.”

  Celia frowned as she sat down. She thought the other girl was making fun of her.

  “I’m Dawn!” The girl said and offered her hand politely. When Celia refused to look at her, she realized she might have hurt her feelings. “I didn’t mean anything by it.” She said honestly. “Don’t you know these woods are haunted?”

  Celia looked up at her, searching her bright green eyes to see if she was teasing her. “Are you serious?” She asked hesitantly.

  “Of course I am!” Dawn answered and leaned in closer so that she could whisper in a conspiratorial tone. “Everyone knows it. But nobody talks about it.” She pointed to the book in her lap, the cover of which read.

  ‘Antaca’s Most Haunted’. “It’s all in here.” She thought a moment, peering at Celia closely. “Here, you can borrow it if you like.”

  Celia smiled gratefully and took the book. She was happy that Dawn was so friendly, but she did not believe in ghosts. No matter what had jumped out at her, she was certain it was very real.

  During classes Celia kept to herself. The kids seemed nice, and the teachers were interesting, but all she could think about was how much she missed her old school and her old friends. At lunch, Dawn waved her over to her table. Celia was relieved not to have to eat by herself, but she hoped that Dawn would not want to talk about ghosts. Another girl was sitting beside Dawn. She was fairly short, and had strawberry blonde hair that fell in waves to the shoulders of the expensive blouse she wore. She looked tiny next to Dawn who grinned at Celia.

  “I was just telling Amber about your ghost!”

  Celia sighed as she set her lunch tray down on the table. “Dawn, I don’t really think-”

  “Oh don’t mind Dawn.” Amber said loftily. “She has a very wild imagination. She will be a wonderful writer one day.”

  Dawn
glowered for a moment at Amber’s words, and then brightened with the compliment. “Yes and all of my stories will be true stories, about ghosts!”

  Celia laughed a little and began to relax. She really did enjoy their company.

  “I have a great idea!” Dawn declared. “We should all go to Celia’s house this afternoon, and have a real ghost hunt. It can be my first book!”

  Amber rolled her eyes. “There is no such thing as ghosts.” She pointed out. “Scientists have proven that.”

  “Hah!” Said Dawn. “Then what scared poor Celia out of her wits this morning? You should have seen her screeching!”

  “I didn’t screech.” Celia tried to defend herself, but Dawn rushed on.

  “I mean really, she said someone shouted boo. What do ghosts say?” She held up her hands as if it was an obvious connection to make.

  “Well, what happened is strange.” Amber said in a quieter voice. “And there are a lot of rumours about strange things happening in the woods. Maybe we should investigate!”

  Celia’s smile widened. She and her friends back home had loved to read mystery novels. Any time there was even a hint of a mystery they would investigate it together. She was starting to think she might like it here, now that she had met Dawn and Amber.

  “It sounds like fun.” She agreed. The girls made a plan to meet up after school. Dawn could ride her bike from her house, and Amber’s big brother would drop her off and pick her back up after work.

  And then there were four

  That afternoon Celia packed a bag with a few snacks in it. She added a small notebook, her digital camera, and a flash light When she heard a knock on the front door she rushed down the stairs and answered it, expecting Dawn to be waiting for her.

  Instead only a few leaves blew across the porch of the home, with no sign of anyone who might have knocked on the door. Celia shivered a little as a cool wind blew past. She grabbed her jacket and hurried outside. She hoped it would not take Dawn long to get there, she was feeling a little scared being alone. Soon a car pulled up to the driveway and Amber climbed out. She waved to her big brother and hurried over to Celia.

  “What’s wrong?” She asked. “You look pale.”

  Celia frowned. “Someone knocked on the door, but no one was there.”

  Amber shook her head. “Very strange.”

  As the two girls waited for Dawn they both had a weird sensation that someone was watching them. Amber looked to the right, and Celia looked to the left, but they could not see anyone anywhere.

  “What are you guys looking for?” Dawn said, startling both of them as she rode her bike up the driveway. She giggled when they jumped. “A ghost?” She raised one red brow and smiled smugly.

  “No!” Amber said sharply.

  “No way!” Celia said as she put her hands on her hips. Dawn shrugged mildly, but her smile remained.

  “I am sure it is not a ghost, but something very strange is happening.” Celia said.

  “Let’s investigate!” Amber said as she pulled her flash light out of her fancy purse. It was still light outside, but the trees were so dense that it was darker once they started to wander through them.

  “Stay close!” Dawn hissed. “We have to stick together.” Celia and Amber nodded. The girls walked carefully through the woods, their eyes wide and their flash lights shining.

  Dawn spotted a blur of blue ducking behind a tree. “G-ghost!” She said as she pointed at the tree. Celia and Amber exchanged glances. As quickly as it moved, it could have been a ghost.

  “No way.” Celia repeated, and shook the thought out of her head. “Come on, let’s get closer.”

  Amber put her finger up to her lips to tell the others to be quiet. Carefully all three girls began approaching the tree.

  “Aha!” Amber shouted as she jumped around the side of the tree and shined her flash light right at who was hiding behind it.

  “Is it a ghost?” Dawn asked, her eyes squeezed shut, her flash light aimed toward the tree.

  “No.” Celia said with a frown as she looked at the small figure huddled behind the tree. He was wearing a blue jacket, and appeared to be about their age. He was covering his eyes with his hands as he cried out.

  “Get that light out of my eyes!” He wiped at his eyes. He had spiky green hair that clashed with his blue jacket.

  “Who are you?” Celia demanded, not lowering her flash light

  “Shaun!” He said as he squinted through the light at the three girls, who were starting to come into focus.

  “Doesn’t look like a ghost.” Dawn said with disappointment.

  “Told you so.” Amber replied smugly. Dawn glared at her, but before she could speak, Celia continued questioning Shaun.

  “Why are you trying to scare me?” She scowled as she took a step closer to the boy, who did not seem very threatening as he cowered against the tree. His cheeks burned bright red as he spoke.

  “Uh, I wasn’t. Well I mean, I didn’t mean to.” He frowned and kept his gaze to the ground. “I just wanted to meet you.” He said shyly.

  “You don’t go to our school.” Amber accused. She would notice a green haired boy, that was for sure.

  “No, I’m home schooled.” He said, still avoiding looking at any of them. “My family travels a lot.” He tipped his head toward the one roof Celia had seen from her window. “We’re neighbours”

  Dawn smiled warmly at the boy, but Amber and Celia were still staring him down.

  “That doesn’t explain why you were trying to terrify the poor girl.” She said flatly.

  “I wasn’t terrified!” Celia said with a growl.

  “I’m sorry.” Shaun said, and hung his head. “I thought it would be funny. I wanted to say hi, but I was too scared.” He cleared his throat and added. “So I thought if I did something funny, you would want to be friends. But then you were scared, and I was afraid you would hate me.” He sighed as he shoved his hands into his jacket pocket. “I tried to come over and apologize, but I chickened out. I just figured you would be angry.”

  “I am!” Celia said with a frown. She had spent her whole day wondering if a ghost was haunting her.

  “Aw, come on Celia. Everybody makes mistakes.” She beamed at Shaun. “I’m Dawn, and it’s nice to meet you.”

  Shaun looked up a little, his brown eyes tentative as he wondered if she was serious. Then Amber gave in and smiled too.

  “We’re all a little shy sometimes.” She said. “I’m Amber.”

  Celia folded her arms and tapped her foot against the ground. Dawn shot her a pleading look. Shaun lowered his eyes again as he spoke to Celia.

  “I am really sorry.” He said. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  Celia could not help but smile at his good nature. “It’s okay.” She finally said. “It made for an exciting first day.”

  Dawn sighed as the four began walking back to Celia’s house. “I guess the woods are not haunted after all.”

  Shaun looked up. “I don’t know about haunted.” He said, then dropped his voice to a whisper. “But there is a secret tunnel.”

  “A tunnel?” Celia asked.

  “Yup.” Shaun said as they sat down on Celia’s front porch.

  “Where does it go?” Amber asked sceptically

  “Are there ghosts?” Dawn asked eagerly.

  Shaun shook his head. “I don’t know, but I know where it is.”

  Dawn, Celia, and Amber exchanged long glances. “Tomorrow!” Dawn declared and shone her flash light into the air. Amber and Celia laughed and shined her flash lights with Dawn’s.

  “Tomorrow!” They agreed.

  Table of Contents

  Squirrels for friends? Has my dad gone mad!

  Just died of embarrassment where is an exit when you need one!

  And then there were four

 

 

  Jackie C Myrtle, Maybe moving isn't so bad

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