Unfortunately there’s only about a month and a half left before school starts again. Thankfully it’ll be my senior year, so I won’t have to deal with Emily and her rumors much longer.
“I’m going for a walk, Ash. Don’t answer the door for anyone!” I shout to my sister, Ash. She’s probably still sleeping, but she knows the rules—don’t answer the door, stay inside, call if you need something, call if you’re going to cook—although that rule is mainly for her ever since she almost burned the house down when trying to make hot chocolate with chocolate milk on the stove. Dad’s drilled the rules into our brains since we were just little kids. He’s always been scared that we’re going to get kidnapped or die or something.
I slip on my shoes, and grab my keys, clipping them onto one of my belt loops before walking out the door. I add keys and chains to my pants in hopes that I look cooler even though I know no one will think that. Well, maybe some random person on the streets.
It’s hot again, and again I’m not wearing shorts. I’d rather get heatstroke than wear shorts. And of course I didn’t fulfill my wish of working out. I’m just as weak as I was at the end of last school year. Well, I’ve been walking a lot, so maybe my legs are stronger. As I step onto the sidewalk I notice a moving van pull up to the house next door. I noticed the others leaving but didn’t go to say goodbye because they were from my school. Just as I’m passing their house a few kids hop out of the van that was following behind the truck.
The two older ones—a girl and a boy—are both fairly attractive with the same dark brown wavy hair and sharp jawline. There’s also a young boy who looks similar to them, too. I nod at them as they stretch from their probably long drive and keep walking. I don’t want to get involved with them. In case the rumor spreads.
After maybe fifteen minutes I come back to my house. I notice that they’re still moving things from the truck. Just as I’m unlocking the door, Dad appears. He must’ve gotten home early today. I wish I could pass the threshold into the cold house but he stops me.
“Hi, Leo,” he says with a warm smile, placing a kiss on my head. “I’m gonna send you over to help the neighbors, ‘kay?”
I nod reluctantly and trudge over to their house. I’m sure he’ll make some sort of cold treat for when I get back, so I guess that’s a plus. I wave to the boy as he walks out of the house, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead.
“Hey,” I say, nodding.
“Hi!” He smiles. “I’m Ricardo.” He holds out his hand and I grab it.
“Welcome to the neighborhood,” I say, shaking his hand. “I’m Killian. Uh, my dad wanted me to ask if you guys needed any help?” I chuckle nervously.
Ricardo smiles, wiping his forehead with the work gloves I just realized he’s wearing. “That’d actually be great,” he says. “But are you sure you wanna wear shorts?”
I look down at my black jeans, my cheeks warming a little more than the sun had made them, then back up at him. “Uh, n-nah.”
He studies me for a second before shrugging. “You wanna help me move a desk?”
I nod and follow him down the driveway to their truck. The truck blows fuel up into our faces as we lower the desk from it. “You got it?” he asks as he slowly climbs down.
“Yup,” I call back. He starts carrying it backwards towards the house.
“Did you know the kid who lived here before?” he asks as we continue walking.
My chest grows a little tighter. “Uh, yeah,” I say. The edge of the desk digs into my palms as we finally enter the house, and between that, the heat, the itch on my thigh, the yells between his family, and talking about school, I’m completely overstimulated. I plaster on a tight smile and try to take a few unnoticeable deep breaths.
“Oh, yeah. What school do you go to? Unless you’re a lot older than you look,” he laughs nervously.
“No, I’m going into twelfth at Boys’ International Academy of Learning.”
Ricardo’s face lights up. “Me too!” he exclaims. “Well, me and my sister. Well, she’s going to Girls’ International Academy of Learning.”
A chill goes down my spine despite the heat. “Oh,” is all I say. Ricardo seems to notice the shift, but he doesn’t say anything. I know for sure I can’t get involved with these people, because as soon as they hear the rumor they’ll turn on me. And I don’t need to be going around thinking I’ve got friends.
We carefully navigate the desk up to the second floor and set it down in a random corner of one of the rooms that Ricardo says is his sister’s. Just as we step out, a beautiful girl comes up the stairs with a box so huge I’m surprised she hasn’t tumbled down yet. It’s the same girl from earlier but now that I’m getting a closer look, I can’t help but be mesmerized.
She smiles softly at me, glares at Ricardo, and shoves past him into her room. Five seconds later, a tall man walks out of a room at the end of the hall. He has a similar complexion to Ricardo and the girl, but he looks slightly more matured. If that’s their father he must’ve had them young. He nods in my direction before heading downstairs, and I can immediately tell we’re going to get along—by that I mean we’ll probably never talk because we’re both introverts.
“Uh, is there anything else you need help with?” I ask, scratching the itch on my upper thigh.
I can feel his eyes on me as I stare at the ground. “Nah. It was nice meeting you though, dude,” he says, dabbing me up.
I nod with a tight smile before running down the stairs and out the door. I just barely miss running into the man from before who’s carrying a large box.
“Sorry!” I shout as I sprint down the driveway and back over to my house. My cheeks burn as I open the front door. Dad’s in the kitchen stirring something, but he doesn’t get the chance to say anything to me before I run up the stairs.
All I want to do is flop onto my bed and go to sleep, but I’m a hot, sweaty mess right now, and I don’t want to contaminate it. I stare at it for a good minute before working up the motivation to grab a towel and some fresh—nah, I just haven’t worn them all day—set of pjs, which is actually just an old t-shirt I got from Dad and a pair of sweatpants.
The cold water makes me shiver like I’m stranded in the Antarctic, but it starts to feel nice after a bit. I scrub my skin until it starts to burn, then my scalp.
I don’t really like the process of getting into or taking a shower, but I like how I feel afterwards. Like I’ve been stripped of every worry in the world. Of course that feeling only lasts for a few moments before I suddenly have major anxiety again. When I step out of the shower I slap a fat glob of lotion on my now bright pink skin. If I don’t put any on I’ll have extremely dry skin.
I slip into my old Darth Vader shirt and dark gray sweatpants. The sun has almost set when I finally get to my room and throw my dirties in my laundry basket. I close my door and lock it before flopping onto my bed. My thoughts almost instantly shut off and I fall asleep.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IiHMAbqEy
and then Add to home screen.