I loved living in the city. I had lots of friends, plenty of things to do, and a park right down the street.

My friends would always come over, and we would play for hours. 

 We would ride our bikes down to the dollar store next to the gym down the street.

Though always busy with cars and buses, I enjoyed living in the city.

Franklin Institute

My family visited downtown all the time. 

We went to see the  Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the Franklin Institute all the time

School

 My school was in the heart of the city. It was a small school, but that is what made it fun. Everyone knew each other there.

I always hated when things changed, like when my friend moved away. 

I hated that change a lot, even though I could still drive to see him.

My mom always said

“ Change can hurt, but it can help you grow.” 

 I never believed it because I thought all change was for the worst.

One night, my parents called a family meeting, so we all met up in our living room.

That was when they told us that we were moving an hour away to a house in the woods. That night we got to see our new house for the first time ever. 

The next day in school was hard because I had to tell all my friends that I was moving an hour away. That day we were all sad for the entire day. That weekend we started moving to our new house. 

For the first couple of weeks, it wasn’t so bad because we kept going back to my old house to move things, so I could still see my friends.

When we finished moving to our new house, we did not need to go back to the city.

That was when all the problems started. I was homesick and in a place where I had no friends or family living nearby. I missed my friends and family.

School

When the school year first started, I had no friends, and I didn’t know anyone in the whole place. That was a huge change compared to my last school.

At the start of the school year, I didn’t know where anything was, and I ate lunch alone. Usually, I would sit with all my friends in a circle and eat lunch while talking and laughing.

The move had some nice parts in the first couple of months. We didn’t have a working kitchen, so we had fast food every night. 

I also grew a lot closer to my sister. I hung out with her a lot more, and we did everything together.

I felt like my life was ruined because I had no friends, and I didn’t know how to make any. Then one day, I met a boy named James.