Say You'll Stay

Mickey's POV

It was my sophomore year of highschool; the middle of the second semester. My dad had gotten a new job, in Los Angeles. We were moving across the country from Pennsylvania. I had to leave my school and all my friends. It was very upsetting. I kept trying to convince myself that I would make new friends in LA, but every time I saw the people I've known for years as I walked down the halls of the Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School, I would lose hope.

When the day of the move came, I was probably the most depressed person you would ever see. I was silent. My parents and my brother Josh all tried bringing up my spirits, but were unsuccessful. I just sat in the car on the way to the airport and stared out the window, wondering how much my life would change, and if the changes would be good or bad.

When we got off the plane at LAX, I took off my Hollidaysburg Volleyball t-shirt and just wore my tank top. California was a lot warmer than Pennsylvania, and extremely sunny. I went into the airport restroom and changed out of my skinny jeans and into a pair of shorts. During the ride to my new house, I was again silent. I'd been crying for the majority of the plane ride, so my eyes were still a bit puffy and red. My brother was sitting in the back seat beside me, and I noticed him looking over at me every once in a while.

"C'mon, Mick. Cheer up," he said. "I know it's hard moving away from your friends. I am going through the same thing you are right now. But if you don't look at things positively, then you definitely won't meet any new people."

I sighed.

"I know, Josh," I responded, annoyed. " You've already said this to me sixteen times in Pennsylvania. A seventeenth time isn't going to make a difference."

Josh is twenty-three and still living with us. I think it's really nice, though. He may be 7 years older, but he understands me better than my parents do. I was glad to admit that if I had to move across the country with anyone, it would be him. We pulled into the driveway of the new house. It was bigger than the one in Pennsylvania, which was a good thing for me. A sixteen-year-old girl can always use a bigger bedroom. I got out of the car, looking around to get a sense of the neighborhood. I looked to my left and noticed a group of kids playing basketball in their driveway.

"See, Mickey," my mom said. "There's other people here you can hang out with."

"I know, Mom. But I've never been good at making friends."

"That's funny, considering you had a crapload of friends back in Hollidaysburg."

"Well, yeah, once I talk to people, I'm fine. But I struggle with interactions."

"Whatever you say," she answered, realizing that it was pointless to argue with me.

I began unpacking things from the car that we'd brought with us. All of the big things like furniture pieces were being shipped out later on. I took my bags up to my room. It was spacious, and already painted lavender and light green, the same as my old room. I set down my suitcases and sat on the floor (my bed was being shipped with the other furniture). I pulled out my phone to find that I had a text from my best friend Camille.

'Hey, Mick. I know you're upset, but we'll see each other again soon enough. Love you (: -Camoley'

I smiled and shut my phone, throwing it on my bag. I heard my mom yelling to me from the kitchen. I ran downstairs to see what she wanted.

"Why don't you start off by going over to the neighbors and introducing yourself?" she asked me when I appeared into her view.

"I..I don't know-"

"McKenzie Leigh Ryan! You have to make some friends! Since you start school tomorrow, it would be nice to know somebody."

I cringed at her calling me by my full name. I hated it. I nodded to what she'd said and walked out the door. She was right. Going to a new school would be easier if I knew at least one person. I looked over and saw those six kids playing basketball. I started to walk over, thinking about what I should say. I got to their driveway and stopped dead in my tracks. They all stopped playing and looked at me.

"H-hi. My name's Mickey. I'm new in town and I just thought I'd introduce myself. I live in the house nextdoor," I said awkwardly. A tall blonde girl moved closer to me, a bright smile on her face.

"Nice to meet you," she said. "I'm Rydel." She pointed to a blonde boy even taller than her. "This is my brother Riker." Next was a brunette boy, about the same height as the first one. "This is Rocky, another brother." Then her gesture moved to a darker blonde boy, who was a bit heavier than the rest of them. "This is Ryland, a third brother." She smiled with a bit of embarrasment. She lastly referred to another tall blonde boy, who was younger than Riker. "This is Ross. No more brothers, I promise," she said with a laugh. Riker pointed to the sixth kid, a brunette with shaggy hair.

"This is Ratliff. He's not blood related to us, but he's definitely family," he said with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you guys," I responded nervously. I noticed Ross looking at me, but every time I tried making eye contact with him, he kept looking away.

"Would you like to join our game?" Rocky asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"Uuhh, y-yeah. Sure." I walked with them to the basketball hoop and we all huddled together.

"You can be on my team with Ross and Rocky," Riker said. I nodded in approval and we began the game.

Afterwards, Rydel invited me inside for ice cream. We all sat down on the two couches watching football since, of course, it was Sunday. They were fans of the Denver Broncos. Growing up in Pennsylvania, I'd preferred the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"So, you just moved here?" Ratliff asked.

"Yep. Just got here like two hours ago."

"Oh, wow," Rydel responded. "Where from?"

"Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania."

"Woah, that's far," Ross said, sounding more surprised than I expected him to be.

We all talked for about an hour. I told them about my life back east; about how my entire life was volleyball, how I'd taken dance lessons for ten years, and those kinds of things. They explained about how they were all in a sibling band called R5 and Ryland was the manager, which I thought was very cool, and told them that I would love to hear their music sometime.

When my mom called my cell telling me it was dinnertime, I politely said goodbye to my new friends.

"Do you want me to show you around school tomorrow?" Ross asked just before I walked out the door.

I smiled.

"Yeah, that would be awesome!"

"Cool. Meet me outside tomorrow morning and we can walk together."

"Okay," I said, smiling a little. "See you tomorrow."

"Yep."

I walked out and back over to my house. Surprisingly, I didn't do a bad job at making some friends for once. It was really nice to live by them, too. I had someone to show me around my new school the next day, and I wouldn't seem like a stranger to the neighborhood anymore. They were all really nice people. I had a feeling that maybe, just maybe, moving across the country wasn't such a bad thing after all.