The New Girl

I stared up at my house before glancing at the “Sold” sign that was planted in the yard.

I sighed before turning and walking back inside.

“Dad!” I called out, my voice echoing through the now-empty halls.

“Upstairs!”

I walked up the stairs to the second level, looking into each of the rooms before finding my father in the master bedroom, grabbing the last box.

“Here,” I said, taking the box from him. He smiled before walking back down the stairs.

I followed him down out of the front door and over to his 2018 Chevy Silverado.

I pushed the box onto the truck bed, then slammed the tailgate shut.

“Where’s Whiskey and Lucky?” I asked Dad as he came out of the house.

“I’m not sure where Lucky is. She’s probably on the back porch, asleep. But Whiskey is running around in the backyard.” Dad ran his fingers through his graying red hair.

“I’ll be right back, then. Where’s the cat carrier?”

“In your car, I think.”

Why was it in my car? I didn’t remember putting it in there.

I shrugged to myself, then went to grab the cat carrier and, luckily, found a leash as well.

I walked back through the house before walking out of the back door.

I looked at the porch swing and found Lucky curled up asleep. I reached down and rubbed the black cat’s head.

“Come on, girl,” I whispered as I picked her up and put her in the carrier. She was a beautiful Burmese cat that was missing part of her ear.

She looked up at me with angry eyes before meowing. I laughed gently as I shut the door. “You’ll be let out soon enough,” I told her.

“Whiskey!” I yelled as I looked around for my gray pitbull.

I heard him barking before I saw him running out of the woods toward me at full speed. I laughed and bent down with my arms open.

He plowed into me, licking my face. He had two different colored eyes.

“Yes, yes. I love you too,” I cooed. He barked again. I clipped the leash to his collar before grabbing the cat carrier.

Once I made it to the car, I put the cat carrier in the back seat before opening the passenger door and pushing Whiskey into the car.

I shut the door and turned to my dad, who was covering the truck bed with a tarp.

“Need help?” I asked, grabbing one end of the tarp. A few minutes later we had everything strapped down and ready to go.

“All ready?” he asked, glancing at the house briefly.

“No. I don’t want to leave,” I whispered.

“I know, honey. But you know we have to. Is Ramona coming by?” he asked, probably trying to change the topic of conversation.

“Yeah. She should be here soon.”

“ROSELYNN!” I turned when I heard my best friend’s voice calling my name.

I walked toward her when I saw her running down the street, her red hair streaming behind her. She didn’t slow down and barreled right into me.

“Jeez, Ramona,” I laughed.

“Don’t laugh! You’re leaving me!” she cried.

I sighed and hugged her tightly. “I’m sorry. But maybe one of us can visit on weekends, or something like that. After all, I’m only moving an hour or so away.”

“Oh, we definitely will,” Ramona promised.

We smiled at each other before my dad spoke up. “Come on, Rose. We’ve got to go.”

I sighed, forcing down tears. Ramona let hers run freely down her face.

“Call me, and text me every day. When your wifi gets set up, we’ll video chat with each other. Deal?” she said in a rush.

“Deal.” We hugged again before I climbed into my black, 2015 Dodge Dart.

That was one of the perks of having a dad who was a renowned vet—although he often threatened to take away my car if he felt like I was abusing it.

“Having a car is a privilege, not a right,” he’d told me when he gave me the keys, the Christmas after I had gotten my license.

And he was right. He trusted me with the car, and I wouldn’t do anything to betray his trust.

Besides, it had once been his friend’s car, before he bought it from him, so it wasn’t new.

I waved at Ramona one last time while Whiskey barked at her, his tail hitting my arm.

“Calm down, boy,” I grumbled and shoved his butt away from me.

He sat down in the seat before looking over at me. I smiled and mumbled “good boy” as I rubbed his head.

Then my dad pulled out of the driveway, and I followed him.

I waited patiently while Dad pulled into the paved driveway of our new house before pulling in behind him.

I killed the engine and got out of the car, telling Whiskey to stay.

“What do you think?” Dad asked as he came around the truck.

I looked at the house. It had light paneling, the roof had dark shingles, and there was a two-car garage connected to it.

The first level of the house and the garage were connected, and the second story went over the top of the garage. The covered front porch stretched around two sides of the house.

“It’s nice,” I mumbled. I glanced at the garage doors. “Looks like that moving company just left our stuff in the garage and left the doors opened.”

“I noticed that, and I’ll definitely be calling the company and filing a complaint,” Dad said before turning back to me.

“Why don’t you go let Whiskey run around the backyard? It’s fenced in, so don’t worry. But keep Lucky in the house for now.” He handed me a key to the house.

“Aye, aye.” I mock-saluted before getting the two animals out of the car.

I walked down the driveway, then across the stone walkway. I made my way up the wooden steps before unlocking the door.

Once I stepped into the house, I set Lucky’s carrier down beside the door on the light wooden floor. I looked around the room.

I was in what would be the foyer. I shut the door behind me and unlocked Lucky’s carrier. Slowly, the cat stepped out of it, then she walked off, probably to find a place to sleep.

I unlatched Whiskey’s leash and set it on the carrier. The dog ran off, leaving me standing by the front door.

I opened up one of the doors on the left and looked into the garage.

I flicked on the light and stared down the stairs that appeared to lead to a basement. Then I switched off the light and shut the door.

I walked further down the hall and came to two archways. One led to a large kitchen, and the other to a dining room.

The foyer ended with what I supposed was the living room and the stairs that led to the second story. I walked into the living room and found one door that was just a closet.

I walked back out of the living room and into the kitchen. It was really nice, with granite countertops, dark wooden cabinets, and very nice appliances. It had a very rustic feel about it.

I went over to the door that led outside and opened it. There was another covered porch, although it was much smaller, and it led to the backyard.

Dad was right. It was fenced in, and looked like it had enough room to hold a dog park and a pool.

“Whiskey!” I called.

I heard the dog running towards me and looked at him before pointing to the yard outside. “Go play.”

He barked, running out of the house and into the yard. I shut the door and made my way upstairs, flipping the switch to turn on the hall light before exploring the rooms.

There was one very large master bedroom with a nice ensuite and a walk-in closet, and two other smaller bedrooms.

Only one other bedroom had an ensuite, but both of them had large closets. There was an office up here as well, which I assumed would be for Dad’s use.

I walked back down the stairs, then into the garage.

“Dad?” I called out.

“Yeah?” I heard him answer.

“Want to start moving furniture?”

“Yeah. Come on out here and help me, please!” he called.

I walked outside and began helping my father move the boxes inside.

Hours later, we finally finished moving the boxes and putting everything back together.

I sighed and leaned against the wall of the living room, staring at the messy place.

I was so happy it was only Thursday. That meant I had all weekend to get Dad to help me organize everything before I started school on Monday.

I stood up and walked around the house, looking for my dad. I found him in the office upstairs, setting up his desktop computer.

“Hey Dad, do you want me to run to the store really quick? We kind of need food,” I said, leaning against the door frame.

“Sure. Here.” He handed me a credit card. “Take a jacket with you, though. It looked like it was going to rain. Also, try and get Whiskey back in before you go.”

“Alright. See you in a few,” I called over my shoulder as I left the office and entered my chaotic new bedroom.

I dug around the piles of clothes for a jacket before finding one, then grabbed my keys, phone, and wallet before heading back downstairs.

I went to the back door and yelled for Whiskey. Just as the dog made it onto the porch, the clouds above opened up, and rain started to pour.

As I shut the door behind Whiskey, I mumbled, “That was lucky.”

I rubbed the dog’s head before grabbing a sheet of paper from one of the many notebooks already shoved into one of the kitchen drawers, along with a pen.

I began making a list of everything we needed before leaving the house.

By the time I was finished in the grocery store, it had stopped raining, so at least I didn’t have to load the groceries into my car in the rain.

That also meant I didn’t have to take them into the house in the rain, either.

Once I parked the car in the garage, I shut the door behind me after figuring out which button to push on the remote clicker thing.

My dad came into the garage and helped me carry all the groceries in and put them away.

After getting the dog and cat food inside, I found the animals’ water and food bowls, then gave them some food.

“What do you want for dinner?” I asked Dad, who was about to exit the kitchen.

“Something simple is fine,” he replied. “I’ll be in the office.”

I fixed some grilled cheese and soup, and brought my dad some. He thanked me for the food before he went back to putting files in a filing cabinet.

I left the office and walked back into the kitchen to enjoy my dinner at the large island in the middle of the kitchen.

After cleaning up my mess, I headed up to my room. I quickly changed into my pajamas, then collapsed onto my bed.

I huffed a sigh and snuggled into the bed.

It was a nice house, it really was, but I hadn’t wanted to move back when my dad had first told me about selling the old house, and I still hadn’t wanted to move today.

But I supposed there was nothing I could do about it.

I sighed again and closed my eyes, hoping I could fall asleep in this unfamiliar place.