Beware of the Neighborhood.

13 - I swear it is still a Misunderstanding

As the week went on I continued getting more and more paranoid and ultimately stopped opening my curtains altogether. It was a weird feeling, of being watched in your own room. I had already tried talking to mom about this, but she had casually ignored the topic. Perhaps there was nothing going on at all. Perhaps the house was just a house. But I wasn't so sure. I gazed at the house every-time I went near the window. Nowadays, I was spending as less time in my room as possible. But I couldn't go on like this forever. The house gave me chills every-time I looked at it. But I was sure, whatever it was; Peter Dawson would be able to tell me. We still hadn't managed to find any lead on that matter. Kevin was searching for a week but still hadn't found anything. As long as we were concerned, Peter Dawson probably never existed. In the meantime, Jason had probably decided to move on and had started attending the after-school basket-ball practise sessions. So I was mostly left alone. We saw mom less and less the entire week and there was still no news from dad besides the postcard which he had sent with a big camera and a kangaroo sitting on top of it. So now, as I sat on my bed, gazing at the evening sky, I thought back to all the events which had happened ever since I moved in. Just then my phone buzzed. I picked it up to see the text which I had received. It read...

Got a lead on Peter Dawson,

Come to my place after school, Tomorrow.

-Kev.

So he had managed to track him down!

The next day after school, I waited outside the cafeteria for Kevin, as he had gone to meet his history teacher for some assignment. I was standing alone staring at the students passing by when I noticed Angela and Candace directly heading towards me. Angela gave me the cold stare, which made me nervous yet again for some reason, while Candace smiled politely but didn't say anything else and followed Angela. I was watching them go when Kevin returned. He followed my gaze and said "Oh, I told them that I won't be coming with them as I am going with you" he said with a crooked smile.

Great I thought; another reason for Angela to get angry.

"Should we leave?" he asked, smiling.

We walked the rest of the way, all the time talking and laughing. His house was further down the street on the other side of the town. Finally we arrived. His house was at the beginning of the street, painted white, with bright green lawn and a mailbox standing crookedly at the entrance with the word - Heart. He opened the door and we went in.

His house was small, compared to ours. But as soon as I entered I stopped in the doorway. His house gave off an aura of genteel neglect. The hardwood floors were scuffed but squeaky clean. The décor was a bit traditional and the air smelled stale, as if the windows had been closed for a long time. There was no clutter anywhere. No piled up mail or half folded stack of laundry. I felt dizzy. One glance told me everything. The house looked as if it was barely lived in! The carpet was fraying, the colour was peeling off the walls and the curtains, well whichever way you looked, it was what seemed like curtains, had more holes than Swiss-cheese.

He led me down the short hallway to the kitchen. It felt empty and soulless. There were a few mismatched tea towels and a plain grey countertop. The sink was full of dirty plates and dustbin was full of the cartons of take away food. I found a can of Jam, which was so far past its sell-by date that it was more useful if kept in a museum. Next to it was a two year old calendar featuring a picture of a vast landscape which was flipped to February.

"I know what you are thinking" he said guiltily. "But it's like; ever since mom, we never gave a thought to make sure that this house looks more like a Home. It's just that, dad is mostly out and I am alone so..." he trailed off.