“Do you guys want to meet the new family that moved in at the end of our street?” my mother asked my older step sister, Nina and I.

We had been casually sitting on my bedroom carpet, pondering what we were planning to do for the day until my mom strode into the room. After she finished her sentence, both our ears perked up at the word, “new.” I had heard of this other family moving in, although I wasn’t expecting it to happen this promptly. Turning our heads towards each other in unison; I immediately started nodding my head in growing excitement with a wide smile while Nina showed the usual thoughtful look in her ice blue eyes. Although this time, paired with her rarely seen smile. We looked back to my mom expectantly. “Well come on, then.”

Soon after, we were all stepping out the front door, turning the corner, and strolling directly towards the house I had been inside plenty of times before.

Feeling the mid August heat on my chocolate brown hair, recollection of the older family entered my eight year old mind. The boy with whom I used to play with, long gone from my neighborhood. Anticipation pushed irrelevant thoughts of the past away. I wasn’t sad about the previous family moving. In fact, it was soon to be the best decision the family had made in regards to myself.

On the opposite side of the sidewalk, I saw the faded white house clearly with the familiar chestnut trees surrounding it, their leaves turning orange already. I stared curiously at the boat parked on the front lawn while briskly walking along next to Nina and my mom. Opening the front door, stepping foot onto the porch, and grinning awkwardly towards us was a young, fair girl who I assumed was the family’s daughter.

“Hello! My name’s Kristina, it’s nice to meet you all,” the girl chirped.

My mother smiled back politely, strode forward, and asked the light haired girl if she knew where her mother was. Listening intently, Kristina nodded and told us her mom was inside and would be out soon. Just as she informed us of this, an older, more sophisticated version of the fair-haired girl sauntered towards us from behind the boat I was staring at earlier to stand next to her daughter and introduce herself. Our moms instantly found topics to talk about and chatted away while me, Nina, and Kristina were exchanging quiet glances until one of us was brave enough to break the silence.

“My name’s Diana, and this is Nina,” I enthused while pointing toward my step sister.

Nina raised her hand, timidly waving to Kristina. A complete opposite to her, the grin wouldn’t be able to be wiped off my face as I realized I may have a potential new friend.

Kristina nodded her head back in acknowledgement.

“So where did you move from?” Nina queried.
“Washington,” she responded.
“How do you like it here in New York so far?” I added.
“I like it, but I miss Washington and the close friends I had,” she admitted.

Looking away in thought, I tried to come up with an acceptable reply that would comfort her about the move.

“You could always call them on the phone or make new friends here,” I assured.

“I guess you’re right”

Nina unexpectedly squated down to pick up a non ripen chestnut and started to rub it against the sidewalk we were standing on, making designs on the concrete from the green trail it left behind.

Shortly, Kristina and I went ahead to do the same with the other bright green spiky chestnuts scattered around us. I gawked at the spikes as I pressed the fallen chestnut against the concrete, they were gradually getting duller and duller. Sitting in a squat, the chattering of Kristina and Nina became background noise to me as I scanned over my surroundings with my forearms resting on my thighs while balancing on my feet. Welcoming the last moments of summer, and the new beginnings of new friendships. I smiled happily to myself while my mind was drifting off, not thinking of anything in particular, simply enjoying the pleasant August sun that was shinning through the venerable trees of which the leaves were noticeably altering in color, as if they were acknowledging Autumn early. The talking ceased. We were all left in a serene setting.