Ella

"Isabella!" My mother yelled from downstairs, "Get up!" I moaned. Today was my first day at a new school. It wasn't that I was scared it's just I had switched schools so many times because of my dad's job and it was getting old. Same routine for every school year: Get introduced in every class, get asked a lot of questions, make friends, and then I get the news that we are leaving again. This time was different though. My father had promised that this place was permanent. That was a rarity in my family. I hoped that my father was right though because I was sick and tired of loosing my friends. Just then my door burst open. My 6 year old sister, Annie, ran and jumped on my bed. 

"Get up get up get up!" She screamed at me, "It's time for school!" Just then her twin, Mason, marched in banging pots and pans. Then Leo, my three year old brother waddled in. I had a big family. I jumped out of bed and scooped up Leo in my arms. He giggled and squirmed in my arms. I gently tossed him on my bed. He squealed with joy. 

"What are you guys doing in here?" I said in a playful tone. They laughed and ran out of the room. As I was changing I could hear the pitter patter of feet throughout the house. Sometimes it was hard being the oldest in the family. Especially out of 5 kids. I had a 9 year old sister named Hannah, and a 6 month old baby brother named Lucas. My family was crazy. I ran down the stairs and into the brightly lit kitchen. In the kitchen was my mom and my brother Lucas in his high chair. 

"Morning mom," I said, I walked over to Lucas and gave him a kiss on the head. I sat down. 

"Good Morning honey," she said flipping pancakes in a pan, "Are you excited for your first day?" 

"Yea I guess so," I said. My mom set a plate of freshly made pancakes in front of me. I dug in. 

"Just remember to make lots of friends," My mom said joining me at the table, "Don't be shy, and most of all be yourself!" I smiled. This was the usual pep talk my mom gave me every single time. 

"Thanks mom," I said finishing off the last bite of my pancakes 
"And sweetie could you take Hannah to her class," My mom asked cleaning up my plate, "I need to take Mason and Hannah to theirs." I nodded. I was used to helping out a lot in my family. I went back upstairs to finish getting ready. As I was passing Hannah's door I heard crying. 

"Hannah?" I asked lightly tapping on the door.

"Go away," She said quietly. She kept on sobbing. I slowly opened the door. Hannah was sprawled on her bed crying. 

"Han's," I said crawling on her bed, "What's wrong?" She sat up, her eyes were all red and tears were dripping down her face. 

"What if nobody likes me?" She asked. I hugged her.

"I'm sure you'll make some friends," I said cradling her in my arms, "Do you remember what dad says?" My heart ached when I mentioned his name. The reason that we were staying here permanently was because my dad was in the army and he recently got deployed to Afghanistan. We usually moved a lot because he never actually fought in a war. But we moved here because most of my family members lived here. I worried about him everyday. 

"What?" Hannah asked. 

"Standing alone doesn't mean your'e alone," I said in a loving tone, "It just means you are strong enough to handle things alone." I smiled. This was my dads favorite quote. Hannah stopped crying. 

"Thanks ella," She said. I got up.

"Come on," I said smiling, "Lets get ready for our first day of our permanent school."