Hotel 63

Chapter 2: A New Friend?

I woke up at noon on the first day of my second week in Cambridge. Well , I thought, today's the day. There must be something to do in this town. I hopped out of bed and threw on a pair of old jean shorts and plain white t-shirt. One thing I did like about Cambridge was the fact that you didn't have to dress up all the time. Everything in New York was about image and a lot of people valued fashion which is something I never really cared all that much about, so I was grateful that the people in Cambridge didn't seem to care if I wasn't dressed up or if my hair and makeup wasn't done for that matter. Cara would have a fit. I smiled at the thought. If Cara were here she would rant about how "important fashion is to one's identity" and how it "expresses the person you are." I, for one, thought that your actions and effect on others were the real teller of the person you are. In my experience, I found that fashion was usually a facade. It didn't express who you were, it expressed what you wanted others to view you as, but I suppose, in hindsight, that who you want to be is just as important as who you are now. Of course, I never told Cara that. Fashion was important to her and who was I to question it. I threw my hair behind my shoulders and trotted down the stairs and up to my front door, but just as I turned the knob, I heard my mom call out to me.

"Lex?" she asked." Where are you going?"

"To explore," I rolled my eyes playfully.

"Good," she smiled. It was good to see her smile."Be back by dinner."

"I will!" I said as I shut the front door.

I only made to the end of the front porch before I turned around and opened the front door. "Mom?"

"Yes?" she said stepping out of the Kitchen.

"I'm sorry."

She smiled again. "It's okay, Lex" Then she shooed me out the door. "Now go. Explore," she said, humor in her voice.

After only a few hour walking around Cambridge, I felt as if I had seen everything, and trust me there wasn't much to see. There were a bunch of cute little houses, a few locally owned shops, a few restaurants. I stopped to eat at little diner around lunch time. It had surprisingly good food, although I'm sure that eating here, even on occasion, would give me a heart attack. I walked along Nico street, which, for the record, was one of the only roads in this town. As I walked many people came to welcome me and ask me if I needed any help. It was nice, I just wasn't used to livning in a place where everybody knew my name.Eventually I got tired and frustrated. This place just wasn't New York. There wasn't a constant flow of things to do. Fed up, I retreated to the one place in Cambridge I knew I would love; the ocean. I walked outside the diner and headed towards the shore. I stuck my feet in the water and lied back in the sun . The sun was beginning to set and I felt the coolness of the waves as they lapped over my feet and the warmth of the sun beating against my shoulders and thought that maybe, if I could just stay like this forever, that I wouldn't mind living in Cambridge so much after all. But, of course, this thought was fleeting because as soon as it had passed through my head I felt specks of sand being dusted over my arms and legs. Only when I opened my eyes did I see that a little boy, probably no older than four, was standing above me, sand shovel and bucket in hand, dumping sand all over me. Yupp. So much for relaxing on the beach. I bet Cara's up there laughing her ass off right now. Just as I began to sit up and ask the little boy where his mom was I heard a voice call out "Carter!" Soon after a girl about my age stopped in front of us, bent over and panting as if she had just run a Marathon, another little boy trailing behind her. "Carter," she exclaimed, her red curls blowing in all different directions. "How many times do I have to tell you? You can't run off like that! geezers, you scared the crap out of me ya little goober!" Geezers? Goober? Where am I? Is this cartoon network for Christ's sake? My thoughts were interrupted by the girl throwing her arms around me. "Thank you! Thank you for watching over him!Oh, you saved him! He ran off without me and wow I was so scared! Thank you!" I tried to inform her that I was not watching over her brother and that I had not, in fact, saved him. If anything, I thought, I was saving myself from being buried alive, but I never got a chance to tell her any of that.

"I'm Riley," she squealed. "and this is Carter and Jackson."

"I'm-" I was cut off mid-sentence.

"You're Alex, aren't you? You just moved in with your mom across from Mrs. Canton. Oh, you're going to love it here, Alex. We both kind of have boys names, isn't that cool? I think we're going to be great friends. I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to get these two home before dinner." If I hadn't been so shocked by Riley's behavior, I would have found it comical how she talked a mile a minute, waving her hands around in absurd gestures, but instead, all I could do was stare.

"Well, Bye," she waved as she turned around to head home. "Thank God," I thought.

"Um, Riley," I called after her.

"Yes?" She turned around.

"I think you're forgetting something," I stated as I motioned my head towards the little boy who wandered in the opposite direction.

"Oh, right," she said slightly embarrassed. I could tell being responsible for two little boys made her nervous. I could see the anxiousness in her eyes. It was the same look Cara used to have when she was nervous for a test and it tugged at my heart strings. That being said, I turned around grabbed Carter's hand said, "Maybe I could help you get them home if you help me get around Cambridge?" Of course, I was from New York. I didn't really have any trouble navigating Cambridge, but Riley didn't need to know that. I could tell she needed help, and even though she was slightly annoying, I was willing to give it to her.

"I'd like that," Riley said with a grateful smile. And with that we walked along the beach, accompanied by Riley's endless chatter,until we reached her house where she thanked me and we exchanged numbers so Riley could "keep up with her end of the deal."

I was late for dinner that night, but mom was okay with once she found out that I had supposedly made a friend. I was about to tell her that she wasn't my friend. She was actually kind of annoying, I thought. But I didn't have the heart to tell mom that so I just at e in silence.