The Neighbors

Chapter 2

Sam

Crap. What am I supposed to do? I was flinging things out of boxes and bags all around my room. “Goddamn, where is that splint?” I shouted out to no one in particular. “It’s in your medicine bag, in the corner.” Kat was standing in the doorway, licking a cherry lollipop.

Sure enough, when I opened the red bag I used for lifeguarding at pools, there was a splint, right on top. With me being a klutz and falling all the time, we had random medical supplies all around the house. “Thanks Kat! You’re the best!” I flung her into a tight hug, before I raced out of my room and down the stairs.

When I opened the door, Nate was just standing there. He was really hot. I remember he used to play a lot of baseball; maybe that’s what made him so ripped. His brown hair was a little shaggy, but just the way I like it. And his eyes. Dear god, his eyes were beautiful. A deep green with flecks out gold. Woops, I was just standing there staring. I shook my head.

“Did you find the splint?” He asked, his voice deep, and really sexy-sounding. I wiggled my fingers in a sorta-wave. “They’re all fine and dandy now.” “Hey, do you want to walk around the neighborhood with me? Maybe catch up on our lives?”

Yes, yes, yes! “Um, sure. That would be good.” I just realized, Char left. “Where’s Charlotte?” I asked, sounding confused. “Oh, well, um, she went to help my mom unpack, a, the kitchen, er, utensils.” Well he seems flustered for some reason.

“Um, okay?” Nate blew out a long sigh, making his fringe blow up a little. It was cute.

“So what have you been up to all these years? It’s been, like what, nine years?” Nate asked. “Well, after New Jersey, we lived in Farmington, NY for a while, while my dad was working outside of the army, but he eventually joined back and we moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We spent three years there, and one of those years he was deployed to Afghanistan.” I sighed, trying to think of what else. “Oh yeah, we spent a year at Ft. Leavenworth, in Kansas. Weren’t you guys there for a few years?” “Yeah, we left New Jersey about a year after you guys and spent about twoish-three years there, and then we moved to Alaska for a few years. After that, we moved to Connecticut and we just moved here from there. Where’d yall move from?” “Ohio. That’s probably been my least favorite state. There are way too many birds there.” He chuckled.

It was silent for a few minutes. We made it to the end of the road, and turned right to walk to the playground that was in the middle of the field. It was deserted. We both sat on the swings, perfectly content in the silence. It was comfortable and not at all awkward. Nate looked like he wanted to ask me something, but he didn’t. It was too much for me; I’m an impatient person.

“What do you want to ask me Nathan?” He gulped, and turned red.

Nate

I wanted to ask her what happened to her. What makes her so different now, were I think about her more than just my sister’s friend? I’ve seen this girl at her best, like when she shot a Nerf bullet at a bull’s-eye on the side of my house, and got it straight in the middle. I’ve also seen her when it wasn’t her best time, like the time she learned how to ride her bike, and she biked right into the bush, and had to be pulled out by her me and Char. And the scary times, when she went to the beach with my family and she almost drowned because she walked off a small cliff into the fierce water.

She was still staring at me, waiting me to answer. “Well, doesn’t this playground remind you of the one from New Jersey?” I lied, pretty lamely. Her face lit up. “Oh-my-gosh, it so does! But I never saw you go anywhere near that thing. How’d you know it was there? I never saw you anywhere near it.”

Woops, I forgot about me and Kade’s stake-outs. But I’m surprised that they never figured it out. Kade has one loud mouth.

“I guess I was just there when you weren’t” I really gotta watch my mouth. She looked at me like she didn’t believe me. “Did you want to move here?” I asked her. “Truthfully? I wasn’t told until about a week ago. It thought we were just going to the next duty station. That’s what my brother and sister still think this is. I don’t know why my parents are being all weird about this too. It’s like; we always had money, but not enough to afford this house. Even if a job as a professor makes more, I don’t see how we can afford all this.” She gestured around.

I felt the same way. It was a little weird how we had all this money all of a sudden, to buy new things, to go to Europe, and to buy this house. “I know. It’s all very strange.” I replied back.

We sat in our thoughts for a little bit. After a few minutes I heard Aerosmith’s ‘Walk this Way’ start to belt out. Sam jumped when she first heard it, and then she blushed. She took out her orange cell phone and looked at the display. “That’s odd.” She murmured. “Mind if I take this? I won’t be long.” She bit her lip. “Sure, sure. Take your time.” “Thanks.” She smiled sweetly at me. I internally groaned. I don’t know how much of her niceness I can take before she sends me over the edge.