Sydney was watching her reflection in the window while the outside world was zooming by in a blur, just passing the freckles on her pale white skin she could see glimpses of the trees as she traveled further from the home she knew. She studied the faded lavender color her short undercut hair had turned from the vibrant purple she had dyed it weeks beforehand. She started to feel her eyes burn as they welled up with tears. She didn’t want to leave her childhood home but her parents had to move because of their new jobs.

They finally got to their new house and it looked rundown with long green and brown vines growing up the sides of the old stained walls. Sydney got out of the car and the door made a loud thud as it shut behind her. She gazes up at the tall two story house, looking at the upstairs window that belonged to her new room. She slowly made her way up the old rickety wooden stairs that creaked loudly as she made her way to the old wooden porch. She gazed at the wooden door, it looked as if it were once white but now it was only a tinted yellow from age with cracks around the edges. She grabbed the rusty handle of it and turned it slowly with some resistance. Sydney nearly lost her balance when the door suddenly opened with the force after she yanked on it. 

She gingerly stepped in the house, when she did the floor made a loud creak and she gazed around at the interior. The ceiling towered over her head and she could see glimpses of sun coming in through a tinted skylight at the top of the stairs.

“Honey, can you come help us with some boxes in the car? The moving van will be here later today,” her mother said in a voice she could only describe as smooth as honey.

“Sure mom, let me just set my backpack in my room and I’ll be out,” she replied as she started up the dark wood stairs.

She grabbed the railing but let it go as soon as she realized it was covered in dust and cobwebs. She wiped her hand on her worn and torn jeans as she continued up the stairs. She got to the skylight and looked up outside the house. There was a tree branch creating a menacing shadow over her as she headed down the hall towards her new room. She threw her bag down and didn’t take in the room, she raced down the stairs knowing her mom needed help.

She gets to the car and grabs a stack of boxes from the trunk, just as she’s setting the boxes down the moving van pulls up and parks. She rolls her eyes as she sets back down the front steps towards the van.

She hears a male’s voice come from somewhere behind her holler, “Hey! Are you moving in here?” 

“Y-yeah, We just got here this morning,” She replies to the unknown person, her voice straining from the stack of boxes she just picked up.

“Do you need some help?” the boy asks, as he puts his hand on the bottom of the stack grazing her hands.

She jumps back practically throwing the boxes on the ground praying that there’s nothing breakable in them. Sydney never really liked physical contact from strangers, well, physical contact from anyone really. She looked up and saw a tall boy with short bleach blonde hair, freckles practically covering his face and arms, with torn up jeans, and a blue short sleeve muscle shirt that clung to his skin in the heat. Sydney felt her face burning and went to pick the boxes back up, making sure he was at a good distance.

“D-don’t ask m-me. Go talk t-to my mom if you w-wanna help,” she replied shakly as she set the stack down in the house. Smooth Sydney she thought to herself heading back out for some more boxes.

Just then the boy was throwing boxes out of the van and another group of people walked up. There were three of them, one boy and two girls. The girls looked as if they were best friends, their arms linked together and walking really close to each other. One of the girls was wearing a pair of jean shorts that seemed a little too short, a Blink 182 band T-shirt and a pair of bright neon pink converse. She had long dark brown hair that was done up in a braided bun on the top of her head. Sydney turned her attention to the other girl who looked completely the opposite to the first, she was wearing black jeans with torn knees, a grey hoodie, earbuds draped around her neck and a pair of black vans. The boy that was walking with them was sporting some khaki shorts, a baseball t-shirt that had the number 19 on it, and a pair of running shoes. His hair was a really dark brown, it was almost black and it looked greasy along with his face looking as if it were breaking out near his forehead. 

They approached the van and started picking up boxes. Without saying anything theta started towards the house but Sydney, being a prideful person and not accepting help easily, cut them off from the house.

“What are you doing?” Sydney questioned.

“Helping,” replied the first boy that showed up.

“That’s right,” said one of the girls.

Sydney started fuming but held her tongue when she saw how full the van still was. “Fine..” she retorted with a huff of frustration.

When the van was completely unloaded her mom waved the driver off and he left. She looked at the people who had helped and thought Why did they help today? She snapped out of her daydreaming, realizing that she was staring. 

“Hey!” one of the girls screamed with glee out of nowhere. “I have an idea! Why don’t we go on a hiking trip tomorrow? So we can get to know each other better,” she jumped up and smiled, clearly proud of herself for her idea.

“Well I have a way to start,” Sydney said with subtle sarcasm. “Who are you people?” She looked around at the four friends and blushed a little at the boy with the sports shirt.

“Oh.. Yeah,” said the girl who was now standing. “I’m Mallisa, most people call me Mali”

The girl with the hoodie went next, “And I’m Nova,”

Then the blonde haired boy, “My name’s Josh”

Finally the boy with  black hair, “Matt.” He said this shortly and looked at the ground, showing some anxiety.

Nova asked “So what’s your name?”

“Oh right,” Sydney shook her head, snapping back to reality. “I’m Sydney, but my friends just call me Syd.”

Syd thought for a second and looked at her new found friends, then up at the window to her room. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all. She considered all the possibilities and all the fun she could have here as she thought about her new life. 

“Sydney, are your friends gonna stay for dinner?” Syd jumped at her mother’s voice that came from the doorway. She turned  to her friends and offered for them to stay. In turn they each nodded eagerly, except for Matt. He never looked up from his shoes until this point. He and Syd made eye contact and he quickly looked back at the ground.

“Y-yeah,” he shyly said in a voice so quiet Syd could barely hear him.

“Great!” her mother exclaimed going back into the house to finish up dinner. 

“Do you guys wanna come in?” Syd inquired and she made her way in the house, holding the door open. She hated to admit she needed help carrying boxes up to her room but mustered up the courage to ask, “I could use some help getting the boxes to my new room.”

“Sure!!” Mari pepply said as she grabbed a box and raced up the stairs, nearly slipping at the top. 

Syd rolled her eyes and smiled as she picked up a stack of boxes and followed behind her. Matt followed closely behind her, maybe a little more closely than she was comfortable with. She finally got the chance to take in the room. It had light blue painted walls, the large window adjacent to the door, and dark tinted wood flooring. She could hear her mom singing in the kitchen through the small vent in the floor. She started to set the bed frame up as the others went down for more boxes, making two more trips for everything. 

When she finally got the rusty bed frame together and pushed up to the left corner of the wall right next to the window. 

“Do you think you and Matt could get the mattress up here? Nova, do you think you and Mari could help me with the dresser and the tv?” 

After they got everything set up Syd decided to just relax with her friends and watch a movie. Once again, however, Matt sat uncomfortably close to her making her uneasy.