New Connections

" New places can mean new opportunities to grow, experience and find an even better version of yourself."

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I wake up to my nana knocking on my door.

"Lesha, honey, are you up?" she asks as she continues to knock on my door.  I open my eyes and close them again due to sunlight that is shining through the windows of my room.

I turn over onto my back and put my hands over my eyes. "I'm up nana." I call back to her.

"Okay, sweetie, good, because breakfast is ready." she replies. I stay in bed for a bit longer, willing myself to get up and face the new day.

I slowly creep out of bed, getting up and rubbing my eyes. "Ouch! Son of a bitch" I scream out in pain as I hit my toe on one of my suitcases that was laying on the ground.

I sit back down on my bed, holding my toe, trying to ease the pain. "Lesha, your breakfast is getting cold." I hear my nana say at my door. I get up from my bed and leave my room, going to the bathroom to brush my teeth and hair. I go downstairs and sit at the dining table. I look down at the pancakes and eggs my nana prepared for me, thinking about how much Aunty Cath never cared enough to make breakfast for me. I let out a sigh before I began eating my food.

After I finish eating, I put my plate in the sink and go back to my room to get dressed. I put on some dark jeans and a black blouse.

I decide to spend the rest of the day unpacking and arranging my room.

Hours pass and it's around dinner time when I finished arranging everything.

I leave my room to find my grandmother in the kitchen cooking my favorite chicken and rice.

"Hey, are you finally finished with arranging your room?" my nana asks me.

"Yes I have, is there anything I can help with?" I reply.

Nana tells me, "Oh, yes, we need juice, would you mind running to the shop? I'll get my neighbor's children to show where the shop is, is that okay?"

I nod and smile at her. We walk outside into the yard and my nana shouts to get her neighbor's attention.

The neighbor left the house and my nana introduces her to me. She is a tall and gorgeous brunette named Ms.May. She and my nana talks for a while before she goes back inside to get her children so they could follow me to the shop.

Ms.May comes back out with two people behind her, a boy and a girl. The boy is really tall, looking to be around 6'1, with neat curly hair on his head. The girl is around my height but with a more curvy body, and she is gorgeous with her curly hair as well.  "This my son, Dave, and my daughter, Xeno." she says as she points to the boy and the girl.

"Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Lesha, Ms.Ox's granddaughter. Thank you for agreeing to show me where the shop is." I say warmly as I look at them with a smile.

Xeno, Dave and I leave to go to shop after I got the money from my nana to buy the drink. We walk towards the shop in an awkward silence that I simply can't bear.

I decide to break the silence. "So, how long do y'all know my grandmother for?" I ask.

"From when we were young. I guess you could say she is like a grandmother to us as well." Dave replies.

"Oh okay, so how old are y'all? I'm 16, turning 17 in November." I say.

"Xeno is 15 and I'm 18," he answers. We walk a bit more and stop in front of a small shop. "We're here" Dave announces.

I enter the shop and buy the orange juice. We then start to go back. We continue to talk and make jokes with each other. I'm glad to say that with time I can be friends with them.

We make it back home and part ways to enter our own houses. I give my nana the orange juice to put in the fridge and I see that she is almost finished cooking dinner. I help her set the table and plate the food.

I go to my room after dinner, but a few moments later my nana calls for me to come out, letting me know that Dave and Xeno wants to talk with me outside in the yard.

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"Opening a new chapter and making new connections doesn't always mean closing or putting an end to the previous chapter, it just mean you're widening your horizon and growing from your past self"

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I leave my room and go outside to be greeted with two wide smiles. "Hey, what's up?" I ask, smiling back.

"Nothing, we just wanted to hang out with you a little more, " Xeno replies.

"That sounds great." I say, nodding in appreciation that they wanted to hang out with me.

We spend the rest of the night talking about random stuff while sitting on the ground in my nana's yard. They tell me about the other teens our age that live around our neighborhood. They tell me who to avoid and who I can talk to.

Xeno makes a point to tell me about the Old man Dax who hates when teens like us walk past him without a greeting.

They share information about the neighbor that lives in front of my nana's house, about how much he brings a new girl home with him every night. They even tell me about an incident that happened with him, in which apparently one of his past flings thought they were together and went to his house and made a whole scene when she found him with a new girl.

A few hours pass and it's now one in the morning. We make plans to hang out later that day and say our goodbyes.

I go inside after locking up to find my nana smiling at me. "I see you've taken a liking to Dave and Xeno. I'm glad y'all hit it off, at least now you won't be stuck with hanging out with me all day." she says, giggling a little, showing all her wrinkles.

"Yes, they are nice, I'm glad that I bonded with them as well, but Nana, your company is always the best." I reply as I kiss her on the forehead before heading into my room to go to bed.