The house was cold. I mean Maryland was freezing cold compared to this but it at least had the comfiness that your house might give you when you are sitting on your armchair sipping hot chocolate. As for the coldness here in London was unwelcoming. It was unfriendly. I swear no one would want to be in London if they felt how uncomfortable it was no matter how much they appreciated all the glamorous and luxurious pleasantness of this city. I mean, of course, those who were born here had no problem living here but it was different for me and my family or so I thought because my sister was still booming around and exploring the house. In fact, she was already unpacking her stuff. Wow!

I started exploring the house too. Well, what’s the point of being upset about leaving your hometown if there wasn’t a single chance of going back? I would rather be grateful to have a chance of living here. The house was splendid. It was so big compared to my old house back in Maryland. I wondered if all the other houses here were the same. I soon began to explore the house just like my sister. On the first floor, there was a big living room with a sofa, a big round dining table in the middle of the room with exactly five chairs around it, and a huge television in front.

At the back of the living room, there was a small kitchen where my mom could cook. It was really small compared to the living room but I didn’t think my mom would have a problem with it. I tried finding my mom but then found out she had already gone out grocery shopping.

In the middle of the way from the living room to the kitchen, some stairs led you upstairs. I soon climbed up to see what was there. It was like a hotel with a long hallway and doors to enter different rooms! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing because I’d wanted that kind of house for as long as you could imagine. However, soon I had to calm down because I realized that there were only three bedrooms. I mean even though my house in Maryland was way smaller than this, we at least had one room for ourselves. What does this mean?

I was trying to calculate how this was going to work out until I finally noticed the balcony. I rushed to the balcony and examined the view of London. I felt like all the frustration was being washed away. London was going to be great!

Then I heard my dad calling for me. “Diana, come down here!”

I quickly ran down the stairs to where my dad was. Aurelia and Theo were both sitting on the couch so I sat next to Theo. I could tell that he wasn’t as thrilled about London like me and my sister was. Just when my dad was about to give his speech, my mom came back from shopping with all those rustling plastic bag noises.

“Oh, you weren’t planning to call for a family meeting without me, did you? I mean I am a part of this family too,” she said.

My dad ignored the comment and started, “As you all must’ve noticed, there are only three bedrooms upstairs. One will be used by me and your mom and the other is going to be used by Aurelia. The other is Diana and Theo’s.

“What? That’s not fair! Aurelia is older than me by just three years! It can’t be possible if u ask me,” I argued.

Yep. My sister was only sixteen years old. She was just sixteen and she already had a boyfriend and a phone.

“However, it makes more sense than you having the room because even if the age difference is by a month, it’s an obvious fact that she is older than you,” he said.

It was logical. What my dad says is always on the right side. I had nothing to say to stand against it. I didn’t have any problem when my dad proved me wrong but the most annoying part of it was when my sister would stick her tongue out and tease me. I expected her to do the same like all the other days but today it was different. She remained silent.

I think my mom noticed something wrong with her too so she asked, “Honey, is everything okay? Are you feeling well?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I think I’m just tired because of the long flight we took. May I just go up to my room and unpack my stuff so that I can take a rest?”

There was definitely something going on. My sister used to be so energetic and lively no matter what. She should go and take a rest but of course, my dad wasn’t too sensible to realize that.

“Let me finish our meeting first. Life in London is going to be hard for a couple of weeks. You all need time to get used to the lifestyle and your school here. So if you don’t listen carefully now, you won’t know what to do.”

By now, I could tell that my sister had given up and sat quietly to listen to my dad’s so-called important speech.

“You will all go to different schools since Aurelia is in high school, Diana in middle school, and Theo in primary. You must all walk to school because your mom and I’ll have to go to work early so Aurelia, you must be responsible for making breakfast for Diana and Theo.”

Normally, I would stick out my tongue to Aurelia in this kind of situation, but I could tell that things were not going so right for her so I decided to stay still without any fuss.

After listening to my dad’s forty-five-minute speech, we finally went off to our room (sadly, I had to share it with Theo and his stinky socks) to finish unpacking. Although sharing a space with my younger brother for another couple of years was not such a pleasant thing, it was not a big deal since our room was still much bigger than our old one.