✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

Act I: 1. A Plan

"I can look after myself! I'm not a baby," Tess growled, and stormed out of the lounge. They were words she'd been saying for as long as she could remember, but that didn't make it any easier for her to cope when people insisted on treating her like a child. It was bad enough at school; she'd probably started at a new school a dozen times already, and every time there was someone who treated her like a baby just because she was a couple of inches shorter than everyone else. Her family would just repeat things like "Good things come in small packages", they could never do anything to actually help with the bullying. And even if the school took it seriously, by the time she could make some real friends they would be moving on again.

Tess didn't like being underestimated. She wanted everyone to know that she was almost an adult, just like everyone else her age. She wondered if she should write in her diary, nurture the anger like a flame. If she kept on arguing, perhaps she would be able to make her parents give in. But then she thought about something that Spike had said; he always had the right words. He'd told her that the feelings that grow are the ones you feed, and she knew that she didn't want him to see her like this. She needed to get over it, and work out if there was some way to change their plans. They said she wasn't old enough to look after herself, and throwing a tantrum would just prove them right.

She thought about writing in her diary, but she didn't want to be reminded of these feelings in future. She thought about calling Spike, but she didn't want him to see her in distress. Not when he couldn't do anything to help. So she sat and thought, hoping that a solution would present itself.

Twenty minutes later there was a faint knock on the bedroom door. That had to be her father. She barely noticed, still desperately hunting for a solution to her problem.

"Tess?" his voice came from the hall, but she didn't respond. Another few minutes passed, and then the door whispered open. Her father was still in his business suit; he hadn't found time to get changed after work. He found his daughter hunched over the computer, head in her hands and trying to hide the tears.

"Tess, dear? Are you okay?"

She shook her head slowly.

"Is it changing schools again?"

A nod.

"New places are always scary, I know that. It's taken me a long time to get used to moving. But San Lorenzo is going to be fun. They've got museums, and galleries. We'll be living in the Orange Quarter, so there's modern art all over the place, statues on the street corners and murals on the walls changing every couple of weeks. Won't that be a thing to see?"

Tess didn't say anything. She wanted to yell, but she couldn't deny that it sounded interesting. Still, interesting places were for vacations, a couple of weeks over the summer break. Not for moving to in the middle of the school year, and having to start over learning a new set of rules.

"Okay, you're worried about school, I know that. But you've managed it before, haven't you? Remember your first day at Raybridge High? You were crying like it was the end of the world, like you'd never have friends again. How did that turn out?"

"It was hard," she mumbled, not even sure if he would be able to hear. "Cobbles and Wrench were making up stories as soon as they saw me, and it took months before..."

"Before you could make friends? But you've got friends now. People who care about you. And how long did that take? Less than a year before you were spending every weekend with Chloe and Liz. It feels like they're your world, doesn't it? But if you think about it you haven't even known them for long. You'll have new friends, you did every time before. You can still keep in touch with them, Chloe will still email you with her drawings. You'll still know them, and you'll have new friends too."