The New Neighbors

Moving In

TED'S P.O.V

I was sitting at the table eating breakfast, when I heard my brothers scream, "Come on Ted, the new neighbors just pulled into the Wright's place". "Let's go to the roof and check them out". "Just a second", I yelled back, "I need to put on some pants first". I quickly ran to my room and pulled some pants over my goodnite and ran to the roof.

I'm Ted Hampton and I'm 9 years old. I live in a small town off of the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia. I have 3 brothers, Jake and Joey, aged 11, who are twins and Peter who is 6 years old. We live at the edge of town, on River Avenue. It's called that, as there is a stream that comes from the Atlantic Ocean and cuts the street in half.

Across the river lived the Wright's. They were our best friends, especially since they had 5 boys, our ages. We were practically one family. I knew all of their secrets, like the fact that Doug was scared of teddy bears, and they knew ours. They even knew my biggest secret, that I'm a bedwetter. Out of the nine of us, I was the only one that wet the bed. Not even 4 year old Bill, wet the bed. This meant that I was the only kid wearing goodnites to bed. And the only one with cartoon prints on my briefs. I once asked if I could wear boxers, or at least plain white underwear like Peter. But my mother said that I can only get them once I stop having accidents.

As embarrassing as wearing goodnites is, I have no shame walking around in just my goodnites with the Wright's, as we were family.

Last July, we were told that Mr. Wright got a job teaching down in Clemson University, and they were moving down there for the year to try it out. They told us that they were renting out their house to a family with 3 boys and we will have a great time together.

I joined my three brothers on the roof, and watched as the car across the street came to a stop. Jake, the oldest had the binoculars, when the car door opened. "Ugh, it's a girl", he said. Joey took the binoculars and peered closely as the second kid left the car. "This one is also a girl", he said. Dejected, I took the binoculars and declared "girl", as the final kid left the car.

"Didn't the Wright's say that they were renting the house to a family with three boys", asked Jake. "Actually they said three kids", answered Joey, "we just assumed that meant three boys". "Maybe we can all get along", said my younger brother Peter. "You must be joking", said Jake, "this is war". "We have to find a way to drive them out of town". "If they leave, maybe the Wright's will come back". "How will we do that", I asked. "For starters, we'll put dead animals in the river and make them want to leave", said Jake.

With that the war started. Where we, the Hamptons would play pranks on the new neighbors.

KATHY'S P.O.V.

"Oh wow, just look at the house and the river", I said. "I hope we never move back to Chicago". "Please Kathy", said mother, "just help us unpack. I grabbed some boxes and brought them inside my the house. I then ran upstairs to check out the bedrooms, when I noticed something moving along the roof across the river.

"Annie and Sue, come here now", I shouted. My two sisters came running in. "What's the problem", they asked. "Look", I said pointing out the window. Annie grabbed her binoculars and checked the roof. "It looks like there are four boys spying on us", she said. "We have to give them a show, something to look at". Being a budding actress, I got goosebumps thinking about putting on a performance. "We'll think of something, but not right now", said Annie, "Mom and Dad need our help unpacking".

Let me introduce myself, I'm Kathy and I just moved from Chicago. My father got a job in the college, as the basketball coach. So we all had to give up our lives to move to this tiny town. Annie, who's 11 and I, aged 8, don't mind. But it hit Sue hard as she just turned 10 and is a nervous wreck when it comes to change. I am very smart, therefore I was able to skip a grade, and I can't wait to be in the spotlight in my new class.

After two days of anxiously waiting to hear what Annie's plan is, she yells for Sue and I to come quick. "I just saw those hooligan boys dumping dead animals in the river, and now they're on the roof spying on us. Lets pretend to dump a dead body inside too", she said. I jumped for joy. This is why I was seen laying on a board, as I was thrown into the river.

I stayed underneath the water for as long as I could, as I swam down stream. My goal was to make it about 50 feet, to the part of the riverbank that had bushes for me to hide in. I just wished I could've seen their faces.

These type of pranks went back and forth for the rest of August between us and the neighbors. We now know their last name, Hampton, as their father is our mailman.

Suddenly it was the first day of school, and I couldn't believe my eyes. This school had it's very own auditorium with a stage and I just knew that one day, I would be performing here.

As I entered my 4th grade class,  I was surprised to see the middle aged boy from across the river in my class. I sat down behind him, and flicked his ear, "Good Morning", I said. His ears just turned red, as he just looked forward at our teacher, Mrs. Cow.