Amy

"And we're here!" My dad informs us excitedly and I smile. Opening the door to let the fresh air in, the sound of birds immediately sets the perfect picture in my mind. This is going to be a good thing, I tell myself silently, this is going to be a good thing for everyone.

"How big is it?" I whisper to my older brother next to me.

"FUCKING MASSIVE!" He replies in an equally low voice; my dad makes him give five pounds whenever he swears. I laugh at his enthusiasm and bring my cane out, tapping the smooth flagstones of what I'm assuming is the driveway.

I wait there for a minute, just taking it all in. I'm at our new house, our new home. A big sense of apprehension mixed with hope takes over and I take a deep breath. If I can make it this far, I can manage to get through this right?

The long echoes in the hall validate my brother's words from earlier. It must be a GIGANTIC house if this is only the entrance. My brother, Dylan, leads me across the hardwood floor and up to where my room is supposed to be.

"This is so unfair!" He suddenly mutters and I raise my eyebrows "Your room's like twice the size of mine!"

"HA tough luck!" I tell him laughing and I imagine him scowling at me. 

"Ugh I hate you so much!" He replies playfully "This is obviously just Dad's favouritism!"

"Can't help being the favourite!" I point out smiling and drop the grip on his arm to locate the bed. Luckily it doesn't take me as long as usual which is always a good thing. "Do you know what's happening with the boxes?"

"Dad's getting them out of the van now I think?" He doesn't sound so sure about it and it honestly feels like the mood of the day. I don't even think my dad knows what we're doing here. "Ugh and he'll probably get me to take them up for him!"

I laugh and he sighs loudly before mumbling the word 'unfair' again and exiting the room. I feel around for the bed, attempting to understand its dimensions better than before – you don't want to be sliding off it any time soon. The mattress is sturdy under my weight and I collapse onto it, sliding right into the middle. Double beds are amazing in the fact that if you get dead centre and splay your limbs right out, it feels like you're on an endless cloud. I know that it sounds a bit weird but it actually works for some reason. See this is a benefit of moving, I try to tell myself and then sigh.

I'm still in two minds about moving and going over it in my head is still a massive mess, to be honest. I had friends back home (I know like actual FRIENDS) and we were undeniably really close but at the same time, I wasn't so fazed when Dad announced we were moving. I mean, I was upset but I wasn't absolutely devastated or anything. To be fair, I'd only been at the school there for two years anyway so maybe it was all still new. I have a feeling I'm slightly overanalysing this (just a little feeling) so it's probably best if I actually explore more of the house. I am slightly concerned about getting lost but, you know, it's just a house – it's not like I can get properly lost or anything.

Descending the stairs, I hear the sound of voices coming from the front door. Who could they be? I strain my ears, hoping that I can't be spotted from the bottom steps. Unfortunately, the thing about blind peoples' other senses being heightened is really all a myth - which is actually really disappointing - so it's not like I have superpowers to help me or anything.

"Hello?" I recognise the deep voice of my father immediately.

"Hello, I'm Ruth Winters and this is my daughter Verity." The voice is a woman's – fairly high-pitched but definitely emphasised to sound posh. I'd like to say middle-aged, but ages and voices only correlate to a certain point so I could be way off. "We just thought we'd pop around since we're neighbours and everything!"

I can't take away from her enthusiasm, but I have a feeling the pronoun 'we' is being used very lightly in this case considering that her daughter hasn't said a word. I bet she's a moody teenager who's been dragged here by her mum. That or that she's just really shy.
I walk across the hall to the front door.
"It's nice to meet you, I'm Will Rivers" The familiar fabric sound – they're shaking hands then. This is very formal isn't it? "And this is my daughter Amy."

I outstretch my hand quickly; for obvious reasons it would be a lot more awkward if the reverse happened. A cold hand takes mine and shakes it firmly, almost like a transaction taking place. I try not to laugh about how weird this is.

"It's nice to meet you!" I smile in their rough direction (if I've got their rough direction right of course), almost forgetting for a moment that there's two of them there not just the one. The daughter is really quiet – she really must be shy or something. I wonder how old she is – it would be nice to have at least one friend for school next week.

"Oh you too dear!" It doesn't sound so genuine and unnerves me slightly. Do you think she's figured out I'm blind yet? According to most of my friends, it's not obvious because my eyes aren't glazed over or anything. That and I don't usually wear sunglasses. But surely they've noticed that I'm not making eye contact? I hate missing out on so much because I can't pick up visual cues but I can't help it so there's no point crying over it. "Well that's good – you and Verity must be around the same age, right Verity?"

"Hmph" Wow she really must be shy mustn't she? It is good that we're around the same age though.

"OK we'll we'd better leave and let you get sorted!" Ruth's ever-so enthusiastic voice cuts through the silence and I relax my stance slightly.

"yes, well I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of you!" My dad replies and I can't tell if he thinks that's a good think or not

"Well they seemed nice?" He says after the door shuts and my face breaks into a smile at how strange that whole thing was. "Oh come on, they weren't that bad!"

"Oh hello we're your new neighbours!" I mimic the posh voice between giggles and my dad gives a small chuckle.

"What are you on about now?" My brother's voice makes me jump slightly – he's at the stairs no doubt.

"We just met our new neighbours," My dad fills Dylan in and I try to keep a straight face "and they were very... interesting."

"What do you mean by that?" He asks curiously and I laugh.

"From what it sounds like, they're very posh" I whisper and hear a short laugh from my dad from the side of me.

"Ugh they're all gonna be like that though aren't they?" He sighs – let's just say his old friends weren't exactly the kind that Ruth Winters would approve of. "School is gonna be so shit on Monday!"

"Dylan!" My dad warns and I smile smugly. 

"Fine!" The crinkling of paper – him handing the money over. I really don't get why my dad is so strict on things like swearing but you know, that's just the way he is I guess. He's pretty much the best father anyone could ever wish for, so I think it's pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. 

"You know, I never used to swear at your age!" He tells Dylan.

"Yeah But you were probably the most boring nerdy person at the school as well!" He replies and I bit my lip.

"Hey! I can easily keep the wifi password to myself you know!" I laugh again and find the stairs to climb up "Oh Amy – I'm going to make lunch if you want to come and help?"

"Of course!" I say. Leaving my dad to prepare any food himself would be pretty catastrophic – I'm not joking. He could genuinely burn water.

"Whatever weirdos - I'm going up to my room if you want me!" Dylan announces, his footsteps loud on the stairs. 

"Well at least he keeps us entertained," Dad says to me in a low voice and I smile, finding his arm as the kitchen is still completely foreign to me. "You're not too worried about school next week are you?"

"Erm... yes and no," I confess, the kitchen tiles cold on my feet. I should have put some socks on really but they're in one of my boxes and I have no idea where they are, "What do we have in at the moment?"

"I think Mrs Reading packed us some things for a casserole?" Good old Mrs Reading. She used to be our neighbour and always looked after us like an adopted aunt, especially after mum left us. It's funny to think that we're not going to see her every day. "But you've got nothing to worry about – you proved that with your old school."

"I know I'm just... well... the people here aren't like the people there are they? The neighbours are perfect evidence of that,"

"They're all people though – they might seem different, but deep down we're all the same – trust me on that one." He reminds me "And if things get really bad there, you can always sort something else out"

"Thanks dad" He pulls me into a hug and kisses my forehead like he used to when I was younger. It reminds me of old times, when everything was so much different.

"It's ok sweetheart." He replies. School isn't going to be that bad though is it? I only have one way to find out it seems.

Hey guys! Hope everyone is having a good week :) and I really hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!
Mouseymouse144 xxx