Slice of Heaven

I walked into the house and put my pink Jansport backpack on the hooks next to the door. “I’m home!” I yelled walking into the kitchen, I was starving after a long day of volleyball. As I walked to the pantry I saw my parents sitting at the dining table. And they looked anxious.

”Hi honey, can we talk for a little bit.” My dad said, I could tell in his voice this sounded serious. “Yeah of course. What’s up?” I asked. I pulled out one of the cold wooden chairs that sent goosebumps up my arms.

Mom passed me a grilled cheese and exchanged a look with dad.”We want to talk to you about moving.” My dad announced. I stopped eating my grilled cheese and a thousand thoughts entered my brain. “Why?” I asked.

”Your father got a job offer, in New York. It’s a great opportunity and we thought you might like living in the city.” She said. I felt a tear start to form and drip down my cheek. “That’s on the other side of the country.” I reminded them.

”Look honey, we know this will be a big adjustment but it’s only a two-three year job. Plus they offered us a really nice apartment on Times Square! How cool is that!” My mom tried to cheer me up. “No.” I firmly stated.

”Excuse me!” My father questioned raising his voice. “I don’t want to move! I have so many memories and friends here! I’m not going to throw it away for a polluted place with rude people roaming the streets!” I snapped back. “Young lady watch your mouth and listen to your tone!” He yelled, now it was real.

”Okay everybody, let’s calm down!” My mother said trying to stop the argument, but I refused. “I’m not going to throw my perfectly good life here, for you to sit in front of a computer and type for eight hours a day! Think about me for a second and what I want!” I screamed.

“Honey you think I’m not thinking about what you want! That’s all I think about! I go on and on about decisions like, what if this new school doesn’t have a certain sport you like, what if people aren’t nice to you! I do so much for you and I think about if this is a right idea or not!” He yelled gain.

The room turned quiet and the silence took over. I took another bite of my grilled cheese. “Well what do we do now!” My father asked. “Don’t take the job!” I told him. My parents exchanged another look.

“No.” I said feeling a crack in my voice, “We already said-“ I shoved my chair back so I could make an escape to my room. I opened the door and slammed it shut behind me. As soon as I saw my bed I collapsed and sunk into the soft mattress. I felt tears stream onto my pillow.

I can’t leave San Diego! What about my friends! What about all the memories I have here! Knock…….knock………knock…… I could tell it was mom who was at my door. “Go away!” I screamed. She opened the door anyways. She walked over to my bed and sat down, then let out a big sigh.

”I get you probably have a lot to say about why we shouldn’t leave, but think about why we should.” My mom suggested. My mind was blank and I didn’t say a word. “Think about all the tall buildings, and the shopping, remember that great pizza place we went to when we visited Aunt Gabbie?” She asked me.

”Yeah that was a really good pizza.” I admitted, “You know we live two blocks away from that restaurant right?” Mom said. “Really!” I said now getting excited to eat there again. “I tell you what, you can order what ever you want for your new room when we arrive! Deal?” She asked.

I was now bouncing off the walls. I had been stuck in the same cluttered room filled with three year old toys, but as a thirteen year old that is all about to change. “Deal.” I responded. She started to smile “Come on.” She said, “We have a lot of packing to do.”

A month later everything was packed up and into a moving van heading to New York. “Everybody ready!” My dad announced. “Ready!” My mom said, we loaded our bags into the car and got in. “Wait!” I yelled, I unbuckled my set and ran back into the house one more time.

I looked at where I took my first steps, the corner were I first talked, the room I grew up in. I started to cry and everything turned blurry. I started walking out the door and gave it one last look. Then softly closed the dark green door behind me. “Bye San Diego!” I said, tears now flooding by eyes.

“Are you okay?” My dad said. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just sad.” I said leaning my head against the cold window. I then fell asleep and woke up when we arrived at the airport. Six and a half hours later we made it to our apartment.

”Here’s your room.” Mom said. I walked around the white walled room with a small balcony allowing light into the room. “It’s gorgeous!” I exclaimed. “The moving van arrived!” I said looking down at the street below.

The rest of the week I was getting my room makeover done. There were LED lights around the walls and posters of my favorite singers and bands. A pretty bed with fluffy white blankets and two big pink pillows and one small light blue one. A light yellow carpet covering the whole floor and big white desk will a light and some pens.

I have to admit life was going great in the new city, I love it here! Change is really hard for me to get used to, but I did it! And I’ve already made a new best friend in the apartment across from me. Oh we also got a cat named Rusty!

Every Friday after my parents pick me up from volleyball practice we go over to Slice of Heaven for dinner. The workers know our orders by heart now, so we just get our food instantly since they know when we’re coming! We then go to Ben and Jerry’s for dessert when we’re walking back to the apartment.

At the beginning I wondered if New York was going to be terrible, but so far it’s been way more awesome than I originally thought. What I’m trying to say is even though change is so hard to get used to, I promise it’s not going to be as bad as you think.

- Eloise Kramer, 11 years old