Unexpected

Chapter 2

The sun was still settling to its highest peak. I checked my watch, its now 7:30 am. I looked around the street, not many to see. Joggers passed by, people walking with their dogs, minding their own business. Almost all of the houses are alive. Some of them have other people outside, talking, laughing, probably about their years of stay here. If someone would come up to me and ask 'How are you?' I would say "Besides feeling an unexplainable feeling of sadness, despair, and longing for all of my friends back at my old country. Well, kind sir, no, I'm not feeling good."

Anyway, I saw Mom talking to a woman over by our mailbox, probably that's Mrs. Darling. Judging from her looks, she's kinda rich but has a considerate look on her face that she thinks about what she buys. I walked over to them. Mrs. Darling was surprised to see me, she giggled a little.

"Oh. You're up early, did you eat breakfast?" Mom asks me, slightly forgetting about their topic and focused on me. I nod to answer her question. She then introduced me to Mrs. Darling.

"Nice to meet you, Mark."

Her voice sounded old, but she didn't look old. How do people do that? Not to talk like an old person, but how to be younger looking. I wish I could do that when I get old.

"Oh he's a handsome young boy. You know I also have a 16 year old daughter. But sadly, she's not in the mood in meeting new people today." Mrs. Darling says, with a frown on her face.

"Uhhh its ok, Mrs. Darling. I'm sure I'll meet her someday." I say to her. This made her happy a little and gave me a thumbs up.

As Mom and Mrs. Darling returned to their conversation about the economy or whatever, I looked at the house of the Darlings. It was as big as ours, almost the same color. But the main difference was the house is abundant with windows. Maybe they prefer natural light instead of electrical.

I examined every detail of the house. The garden in front, the cracks on the walls, but I was surprised to notice a girl standing on a room, looking out the window. I can't exactly see her, but I know she's thinking and looking right at me. I didn't know what to do. Out of my mind, I waved at her. She waved to and I think I saw her smile, then she went inside. Well, that was awkward.

•••

After lunch, I decided to take a stroll around the neighborhood. Get to know every part of it.

The question that stayed pit in my mind is that who was that girl. I got curious, I was planning to go by the Darlings and meet this girl. But no I couldn't. That would be awkward. I decided to wait for school to start and meet her their instead. At least that won't be awkward.

I passed by many houses, some looked alike, some were different. Some had gnomes, while others had flamingos. Some had a ball pit, some had basketball rings. But this particular place I found interesting, the park.

Its not some extravagant park, but a simple one. I have a high appreciation when it comes to something simple. I don't know why, but it makes me feel better. The park was like the size of a soccer field. Benches were placed beside a tree for shade, a playground settled in a corner, some street vendors were scattered around the park, offering food, newspapers, magazines and the like. Then I thought to myself, 'This is cool.' The best thing was the basketball court. Its not a professional type, but the rings were shiny, the boards were made of glass, and the markings were newly painted.

A group was playing around on the court, and I can't help but watch for a while. Some of them were professionals, some were good enough, others were beginners. When the game was over, I figured it was time to head back. This is enough for an adventure in one day.

"Hey wait up." A guy with brown skin, buzz cut hair, and some pair of glasses stopped me.

"You're the new kid right?" He asks and wiped a drop of sweat dripping from his face. I nod.

"Cool, the name's Theodore Breed, but you can call me Theo." He reached out his hand for a shake. I took it.

"Mark, Mark Anderson."

"Well, nice to meet you, Mark. *he picks up his bag and gestured to walk with him* So how long have you been here?"

"Well, we moved about a month ago and stayed in an apartment for a while when my Dad readied the papers for our house. Then yesterday we just moved here. You?"

"Well, way longer than yours, obviously. We moved here when I was 8 years old."

"And how old are you?" I thought He would be like 22 or something, because he looked like a grown man wearing kiddie glasses."

"I know what you're thinking. And no, I'm not 20 and above. I'm just 16, man."

Whoa, he's good.

"Heh. Sorry."

"Nah. Its ok. Many people tend to think the same. So you play ball?"

Oh. I think this is the reason he introduced himself to me. He wanted to know if I play ball. Well, I do but I'm only great in perimeter and three point shooting, and a little driving and dribbling, so yeah. I do play ball.

"Yeah, I do play."

"Cool. Well if you want to join us, just head towards that court, and play. Oh and one more thing, we only play ball during Fridays and Saturdays, for us to not disrupt our education. So study hard ok?"

"Oh. Good point. Yeah I get it."

"Nice, well see you next week. Where you live at?"

"Just pass by this road, we're the maybe tenth or twelfth house. Our house is in front of the house with many windows."

"Oh you mean the Darlings?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Well, they have a mailbox."

"Good point. Hey can I ask you something? Do you know the Darling girl?"

"The little one or the girl with the same age as ours?"

I never thought that she had a little sister.

"The tall one."

"No idea, but I think she goes to Gilmore National High school. That your school too?"

"Yeah."

"Well, see you there bro. I think this marks a beautiful friendship."

"I think so. Well, nice meeting you Theo."

"Yeah you too Mark. Oh by the way, if you want to come over to my house, we live next to this park, the road is on the opposite side, all right?"

"Yeah. I gotta go. See ya."

We shook our hands again and bid farewell. I can't believe it, my first friend. Turns out this big move was not bad after all. I hope it gets better soon. And I hope that I can meet that girl someday. I just hope she's like Lisa, or more.