New Horizons

“I don’t even understand why we had to move halfway across the country, Mom,” Marcella groaned, grabbing a box from the U-Haul. They had just finally arrived after days of driving to Huntington Beach, California, their new home in a new city.

“Marcey, you know that I had a promotion and we had to relocate. I didn’t want to leave Oklahoma either, all of our family is there but this opportunity was just too great,” her mother said, taking the box in her hands. “Oh, this is so heavy, what did you even pack, lady?”

Marcella rolled her eyes. “It’s right on the box, they’re my books, specifically my hardcovers.” She sighed, pushing open the front door. She took the box back from her mother, “these are mine, thank you very much.”

Her mother had gotten a job promotion which led her to the company’s headquarters in California, making her move the entire family across the country from Oklahoma. The benefits were alright though, the company paid for the move along with movers and trucks. The house was also bought for them, and compared to their small house in Oklahoma City, this house was nearly a mansion.

Although for the area it was quite small, it was still a four bedroom house, enough for her and her sister Tonia, to have their own rooms, and to turn the remaining bedroom into a movie room.

Marcella sighed, pushing her hair out of her face while looking around her room. So far it was pretty bare, having only a bed frame, an empty dresser, and a desk. She had to make sure to guide the movers upstairs with her three bookshelves, so once she finally got the books all unpacked it would clear up so much space. She continued guiding the movers upstairs, helping with as many boxes as she could start unpacking as soon as possible.

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“Okay, that seems to be the last of the clothes unpacked,” Marcella mumbled, sitting down on her bed. She had been unpacking all morning and most of the afternoon and she was exhausted. “I can’t do this anymore, I need a break,” she said to herself. She stood up and made her way downstairs where her mom was unpacking the kitchen boxes.

Her mother looked up with a dinner plate in hand. “Hey Marcey, you want to help me with these dishes? We won’t get to eat until everything’s put away.”

“Mom, I need a break, I’m going crazy. I just need to take a walk for a little bit.” She sighed, walking towards the front door. “I’m sorry, I’ll be back in a little while. I have my phone on me if you need me.”

As she left the front door, she finally got a good look of the neighborhood. The house was near the beach, only a few streets away, so she decided to take a walk over there. Marcella had never been to the Pacific Ocean, so she was excited to dip her feet in the water. She loved the beach, but preferred the mountains and forest more. I’m going to miss the snow, she thought, or what little snow we got. Maybe she could ask for winter break to be somewhere in the snow.

Marcella made her way towards the beach, walking fast enough that she was out of breath by the time she got there. She was so excited to feel the sand between her toes, and to lay down and enjoy the sunshine. Sitting down and kicking off her shoes and socks, she dug her feet as deep as they would go into the sand. She laid back on the ground, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths of the salty air. I can get used to this peace and quiet-

“Matt throw it over here!”

“Are you freaking kidding me?” She grumbled to herself, sitting up. She lifted her hand to shield the sunlight so she could get a look at who was disrupting her relaxing time. It was a group of a few teenage boys, throwing a football on the beach. How did she not notice them when she was walking up? They were laughing and yelling as they tackled each other into the sand. Not wanting to get hit by a flying football, she decided it would be best to just walk along the beach towards the ice cream stand. Ice cream is a good relaxer, right?

After deciding what flavor would be best- and that’s chocolate of course- she sat down at the picnic table next to they stand and watched the boys playing. It was a group of five of them, and they all seemed to be having a good time. One of the boys, a tall lanky boy with sandy blond hair looked over at her and his face seemed to light up.

“Oh my god, I need ice cream! Right now! Johnny, come with me, we need ice cream!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. He grabbed the shortest of the boys and dragged him towards the ice cream stand.

“Jimmy, ow! Let go of me, I can walk- dude ow! Stop trying to rip my arm off!” The short boy, Johnny said, trying to yank his arm out of Jimmy’s grasp. “I want ice cream, I’m not your hostage!”

They both stopped in front of the ice cream stand, and after letting go of Johnny’s arm, Jimmy’s hand immediately began stroking his chin. He looked like he was about to have a mental breakdown.

“I just don’t know what flavor to get, there’s so many to choose from! What flavor should I get- oh no you wouldn’t understand my needs! I could have cookies and cream, birthday cake, orange sherbet, rocky road, or more! There’s too many flavors!”

Marcella looked over at him, confused and a little nervous. She had wondered if something was wrong with this boy, but before she could look away, his had snapped over to her. “You! What flavor did you get, you have to help me, I’m just in so much emotional turmoil!” He wailed, flinging himself into the bench of the picnic table. Johnny slapped a hand over his face.

Her eyes were about to pop out of her head. She wasn’t good with children, let alone a teenager who acted like a child. “Um, I guess get a little of everything? Maybe do half scoops of whatever you are craving?” Jimmy’s face lit up like a little kid on Christmas.

“Oh my god, you’re right! I have to get everything!” He exclaimed, sprinting back to the ice cream stand and telling the cashier what he wanted. After getting his giant cup of colorful ice cream, he plopped right back down at the picnic table, and this time, Johnny following. He looked like he had secondhand embarrassment. “My name is Jimmy and we’re going to be best friends! You helped me in my darkest time, how can I ever repay you? This is Short Shit, he’s one of my best pals, and so are those dumbasses over there playing football.” He rambled, making Marcella even more confused. She just wanted to eat her ice cream alone but instead she just made her first new friends.

“It's Johnny, not Short Shit. They always call me that and it’s so annoying,” Johnny said. He had his brown hair spiked up in a mohawk. She thought he was pretty cute, but in more of an adorable little brother. He took a bite of his strawberry ice cream.

“Hi, um, my name is Marcella,” she said quietly. She never was good at meeting new people. “I got chocolate ice cream.” She inwardly cringed to herself. “I got chocolate ice cream”, are you kidding me Marcella, why would you say that?

“That’s too long of a name, you’re Cella from now on!” Jimmy stated, shoveling a huge colorful spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. In the amount of time she had eaten half her ice cream, Jimmy had nearly finished all of his, even with his “emotional turmoil”. He continued shoveling the rest of his ice cream in his mouth. “We have to go now, it was nice meeting you, bestie!” He screamed, dragging Johnny back to the others, making him drop his unfinished ice cream.

Wow, she thought, are all Californians like that? She shook her head, spooning some more of her almost melted ice creaming into her mouth. The cold ice cream cooled her off from the hot August sun. She watched as Jimmy and Johnny returned to the group, and Jimmy yelling and pointing at her. She decided to get up at that moment, not wanting anymore human interaction for the day. Today was just too stressful with moving and unpacking.

Picking up both her ice cream cup and Johnny’s cup splattered across the sand, she threw both away and headed back towards the direction she came.

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Marcella straightened the books on her bookshelves, pulling the spines of the books flush to the edge of the shelf. At her old high school, she was a library aid and was taught the proper way to care for books and to shelve them to look their best. It’s a habit that has spread to her personal shelves. She ran her finger over the book her favorite librarian gave her before she moved. Her name was Mrs. Thomas, and her and Marcella were very close. She was fresh out of college, and very close in age and they talked about everything when they weren’t busy. Mrs. Thomas would be very supportive of her, and helped her when she could. She was who Marcella would miss the most back in Oklahoma.

She sighed and looked around the room. The only things left to put away were her wall decorations, but those could wait for another time. She finished unpacking everything except those few things, and she was tired. Marcella walked into the bathroom attached and began to get ready for bed. Tomorrow was the big day, the first day of school at her new high school. She was looking forward to it, especially seeing the library. This school was much larger than the one in Oklahoma, so she was hoping it would be bigger, and that she could possibly be an aid there too.

She turned off the main room light, and crawled into bed with her current book, lit by her nightstand lamp. She was reading A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin, and she was really loving it so far. The writing was just so complex and amazing, and the story itself was outstanding.

Marcella continued to read for about an hour before looking at the clock and realizing how late it was. She couldn’t be late to her first day of school. She closed her book, setting it on the nightstand, and switching the lamp off. Sighing, she curled up under the covers and hoped her anxiety would let her sleep tonight.

Notes

Hi everyone! This is my first story I've written in literally like 5 years! I'm really hoping everyone likes it, I've been working hard on it and will continue to update regularly! I'm also posting this on Mibba!

Some of the original characters are based loosely off of me and my friends, and its set during the present but they're teenagers, and Jimmy is alive. I don't think I could ever write a story without him being in it.

Thanks for reading!