To Whom It May Concern

To whom it may concern,

In my last entry I forgot to mention that my family has moved to a new state, new city, new home. Got to be honest and say I didn’t mind this at all. Mom owns her own health food store called Health Hut which was a big success in our hometown, and so my parents decided it was time to branch out into the world and build a second store in another state. Finally, after two years of planning and buying and building, the store is ready to open. So here we are. New Jersey.

Moving from Connecticut to New Jersey isn’t a big deal to me, like I said. Sure I had to leave friends and family, but I wasn’t close enough to anyone that it would kill me and ruin my life and cause hysterics. Not like Brock. He had made new friends in his first year of middle school, and now he has to start all over again for seventh grade. He is not happy at all. I’m positive he’ll get over it though. Summer ends in a few days and then school starts. Brock maybe a pain in the ass to me, but people like him and actually want to be his friend. It’s crazy because he’s a jerk. I guess all preteens are jerks.

Ugh, every part of my body hurts so much right now. We moved all of our furniture and belongings ourselves, and spending the entire day loading things out of a U-Haul and up steps in the hot sun is something I never want to do again. Just had to save money instead of hiring movers. YOU JUST BOUGHT A NEW STORE AND HOUSE FOR CHRIST’S SAKE. I don’t get it, I really don’t.

There’s this really big tree in front of our new house that reaches the roof. While I was dying outside, I noticed that there was a family of squirrels on top of the tree. I walked backwards onto the sidewalk and covered my eyes from the sun so I could see up. “Dad, you see that?” I called over.

He poked his head out of the back of the U-Haul. “What, Lulu?” he asked. (I will take the time out here and say that I have accumulated a ton of nicknames during my lifespan).

I pointed up towards the top of the tree. “Look at all of those squirrels.” There were at least four of them. “It looks like they are going on top of the roof.”

Dad waved his hand at me and dismissed my concerns. “I wouldn’t worry about it, kid.”

Let’s take a moment to get to know my parents a bit more. Rachel and Roger. R&R 4 life. How these two found each other is an absolute mystery to me. They are basically the same person and that scares me because I have a 100% chance of becoming like them one day. I already drabbled on their weirdness. Let’s add some more.

Rachel is a modern day-stuck-in-the-70s-kinda-sorta type of person. Mom is always sporting chopsticks in her hair, a maxi skirt, and some handcrafted necklace made out of elements from the Earth. She definitely is a natural beauty, and she knows it too. Doesn’t wear a lot of makeup. Just enough to cover her inevitable wrinkles, which she hates. It’s all natural stuff, though. Don’t forget the woman runs her own health store.

Dad is a little more low-key with what he wears. Although he does share the same interests as my mom, he dresses pretty casual. Mostly sports shirt and jeans. What everyone loves about him is his handlebar mustache. He is a pretty young looking father, and it’s really weird when I notice girls probably a year or two older than me staring at him. Dad was a baseball hero in high school and some of college. Busted his knee one game and that was that. He was offered to host a sports radio show in Connecticut, so he did that for a while. Now he’s going to be helping my mom out with the new store.

Back to my squirrel dilemma… After my dad assured nothing was wrong, I still wasn’t so sure. I once again walked backwards, looking up at the roof, and was not paying attention to where I was going. Of course I didn’t realize the step off the curb, so I fell backwards onto my butt in the street, scraping my calf in the process.

Dad didn’t seem to notice, so at least I was spared that embarrassment because I knew he would make fun of me. But of course… someone did notice my fall. “Hey, are you ok?” Jesus, Mary, Joseph. Who is this beautiful creature…who just…saw me… embarrass myself.

I swear it was out of a scene from Baywatch, except no water was involved. He came jogging over and knelt down next to me. His hazel eyes…oh god his hazel eyes. And the muscles on his arms… “You’re bleeding a lot, do you need help getting up?” he asked, bringing me out of my fantasy. My mouth opened but my mind wasn’t cooperating and no words came out. “I’m Brandon, or Brand” he introduced himself. “I live two houses down.”

Just say your name. “Tallulah Wren.” Why did you go with the full name?

Brandon smiled, his teeth perfectly straight of course. “You okay to stand?” I nodded and he grabbed my hand to help me up. “What were you looking at anyway?” he laughed.

Of course he noticed that. “The abnormal amount of squirrels trying to get up to the roof,” I answered. Once again he laughed. I guess I’m just soooooo funny.

“I noticed you guys are bringing in all of your stuff by yourselves. Need any help?” he offered.

I shook my head. “Oh, no we’re fi-”

“Of course, that would be great!” my dad yelled from the truck. Now he notices. I grounded my teeth together as Brandon left me to introduce himself to my dad. And great my mom and brother came out of the house too.

Brandon helped out for the rest of the day, and refused the money my dad offered. Brandon wanted to welcome us to the neighborhood and help out. During the day I found out that he is in his second year of college, so I kissed my fantasies goodbye. He also plays baseball and now he’s my dad’s new best friend. Great. I embarrass myself in front of a very attractive guy, which in turn creates a special bond between him and my dad.

Let us pray that I will not make friends at school the same way.

My leg hurts,
Tallulah Wren