So Long Soldier
Chapter One - Moving
Alex’s POV
I was moving today. Moving away from London. Moving away from all of my friends. For sure, I was excited to see how America was, but I just wondered how school life over there would be different than it was here in England.
I’d been sat in the car on the way to the airport for an hour now, shaking, and my palms sweaty from being anxious. My mum turned round and looked at me, a frown forming on her face. She looked forwards and began talking to my dad. “Do you really think this is a good idea?”
“It’s for the best.”
“I can hear you ya’ know.” I spoke, looking out of the window with a blank expression. “Honey we know you don’t want to move away from all of your friends, but just think of the new ones you’ll make in Baltimore!” I sniffed and folded my arms, ignoring them for the rest of the car journey.
The flight was terrible. 9 hours of non-stop snoring from the incredibly obese man beside me, and a kid behind me kicking my chair constantly. I just hope Baltimore wasn’t as bad as this was.
We landed in Baltimore, collected our luggage, and drove to our new home. It was quite a big house and it had a lake out the back. I dropped my bags in the hallway and sighed. “Why don’t you go and pick a room upstairs son? You can have any one of them.” I nodded and took my bags up the stairs and went to the nearest room on my left. It was a reasonable size to put all of my posters up, etc. I leant my guitar against the wall, pushed my bed up against the wall and put the new sheets on and sat there, observing the new room I’d be sleeping in and sighing to myself. Kids were playing in the street outside on their bikes and I thought to myself, maybe this place isn’t too bad after all. Maybe there will be a kid I’ll become close with, or maybe a couple of kids, and they’ll have good music taste. I just hoped everything was going to turn out okay.
My mum poked her head around the door. “You okay honey?” I nodded, looking down at the floor. She walked over and sat down on my bed next to me. “Your room looks nice.” I sat there, still, thinking. “Why don’t you play your guitar and sing for a bit? That normally helps you.” She got up and walked to the door. “We’ll have dinner soon.” I was left alone in my own thoughts. I stuck up a small poster on the front of my door saying ‘Alexander William Gaskarth’ and grabbed my guitar from the wall and lay back on my bed, strumming and singing the lyrics to I Miss You by Blink-182. I didn’t know my window was open at this time and I heard someone shouting the lyrics back to me from outside. I stopped playing and made my way over to see a kid standing outside my house. He was quite tall, had dark hair in a strange cut, and was wearing a Green Day shirt. “I LIKE THAT SONG”, He shouted up to my window. I smiled. “WHAT’S YOUR NAME?”
“JACK!”
“MINE IS ALEX.”
“YOU JUST MOVED HERE?”
“YEP!” The kid smiled up at me and I smiled back. “I’LL SEE YOU AT SCHOOL TOMORROW THEN!”
“Erm… OKAY BYE!” I’d already made one new friend then. There was something about Jack I couldn’t quite put my finger on just yet. I’d see in the morning at school what that kid was all about…
I was moving today. Moving away from London. Moving away from all of my friends. For sure, I was excited to see how America was, but I just wondered how school life over there would be different than it was here in England.
I’d been sat in the car on the way to the airport for an hour now, shaking, and my palms sweaty from being anxious. My mum turned round and looked at me, a frown forming on her face. She looked forwards and began talking to my dad. “Do you really think this is a good idea?”
“It’s for the best.”
“I can hear you ya’ know.” I spoke, looking out of the window with a blank expression. “Honey we know you don’t want to move away from all of your friends, but just think of the new ones you’ll make in Baltimore!” I sniffed and folded my arms, ignoring them for the rest of the car journey.
The flight was terrible. 9 hours of non-stop snoring from the incredibly obese man beside me, and a kid behind me kicking my chair constantly. I just hope Baltimore wasn’t as bad as this was.
We landed in Baltimore, collected our luggage, and drove to our new home. It was quite a big house and it had a lake out the back. I dropped my bags in the hallway and sighed. “Why don’t you go and pick a room upstairs son? You can have any one of them.” I nodded and took my bags up the stairs and went to the nearest room on my left. It was a reasonable size to put all of my posters up, etc. I leant my guitar against the wall, pushed my bed up against the wall and put the new sheets on and sat there, observing the new room I’d be sleeping in and sighing to myself. Kids were playing in the street outside on their bikes and I thought to myself, maybe this place isn’t too bad after all. Maybe there will be a kid I’ll become close with, or maybe a couple of kids, and they’ll have good music taste. I just hoped everything was going to turn out okay.
My mum poked her head around the door. “You okay honey?” I nodded, looking down at the floor. She walked over and sat down on my bed next to me. “Your room looks nice.” I sat there, still, thinking. “Why don’t you play your guitar and sing for a bit? That normally helps you.” She got up and walked to the door. “We’ll have dinner soon.” I was left alone in my own thoughts. I stuck up a small poster on the front of my door saying ‘Alexander William Gaskarth’ and grabbed my guitar from the wall and lay back on my bed, strumming and singing the lyrics to I Miss You by Blink-182. I didn’t know my window was open at this time and I heard someone shouting the lyrics back to me from outside. I stopped playing and made my way over to see a kid standing outside my house. He was quite tall, had dark hair in a strange cut, and was wearing a Green Day shirt. “I LIKE THAT SONG”, He shouted up to my window. I smiled. “WHAT’S YOUR NAME?”
“JACK!”
“MINE IS ALEX.”
“YOU JUST MOVED HERE?”
“YEP!” The kid smiled up at me and I smiled back. “I’LL SEE YOU AT SCHOOL TOMORROW THEN!”
“Erm… OKAY BYE!” I’d already made one new friend then. There was something about Jack I couldn’t quite put my finger on just yet. I’d see in the morning at school what that kid was all about…
12/14/12