Neighbors

Introduction

I am Emily Farraday and this is a story about five friends who grew up together in the same neighborhood and realize that growing up together made us feel more of a family but at the same time, go from being best of friends to complete strangers.

This is my family.

I lived in one of the cul de sacs in the garden-gated community called "The Biltmore Estates", sounds snobby and pretentious. I know. And on the center of this cul de sac were the Wakefield family. To their left were my family, the Farraday's and right next to ours were the Lennox family. To the right of the Wakefield's were the Carrington's and right next to theirs were the Hawthorne's.

It wasn't always like this.

When I was five, Jake Wakefield and his family moved to the neighborhood, occupying the house next to ours.

While I was playing outside, I saw him and I was instantly drawn to him. Hey, he was cute! Blonde hair, always carries around his football ball and always wore blue for some reason. He has a younger brother named Dave and is also into sports. Jake and I grew up together and became best of friends as we got to know each other through the years.

Soon when we were seven years old, the Carrington and Hawthorne families moved next door to the Wakefield's.

That's when I met Lauren Carrington. She was a beautiful and bubbly blonde haired girl who was super girly. We became instant friends when we shared a love of baking and cooking. I always enjoyed having her around because she was so fun and care-free to be with. She always came over my house and we'd have sleepovers and stuff like that. I always wondered why she always came over my house, maybe because she was an only child and her parents were always away. Okay back to the story, but one day while she and I were trying to bake, Jake went inside to play with my older brother, Peter along with Dave his younger brother and ran into us in the kitchen.

That's when Lauren met Jake. They instantly clicked and like Jake and I they became best of friends too. Ever since then, Jake sort of thinks that it was destiny that he met Lauren that day. According to him, "Lauren was like an angel that fell from heaven." So yeah, he had a crush on her, a huge crush on her.

So, that same day, we joined the boys and played outside. While we were playing, I noticed a little boy playing with a soccer ball in his front yard alone. He looked so sad and lonely, so I approached him and asked him if he wanted to play with us.

And that's when I met Zachary Hawthorne, also known as "Zach".

He was cute too. He had dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes. That definitely caught my attention. Like a good neighbor I introduced him to Lauren and Jake and we all hit it off. As the years had gone by, Zach got more close with Lauren as they are both the only children of their families. I guess birds of the same feather do flock together, huh?

Soon after, fast forward to like three years later - now ten years old, the Lennox family moved next to our house.

That's when I met the beautiful and dreamy Kyle Lennox.

While my older brother and I were walking back to our house from going around the community, we suddenly bumped into Kyle's older brother, Ken as well as his older sister, Kim as they moved their stuff inside their house. Coincidence? I think not! I'm kidding. So my brother socialized with his new peers and Kyle, the curly brown haired and quite tall for a ten year old boy and I shared this look without even talking and we smiled at each other. Swoon!

That was when I realized that I totally have a serious crush on my next door neighbor. But no one knows that.

I blushed and he laughed then we played tag and went our separate ways. The day after that I introduce Kyle to the group and we all instantly clicked.

We spent most of the time playing together, dressing up for Halloween, having dinners and cook outs on important activities going on like birthdays, holidays and game days (The Playoffs, Super Bowl, FIFA, The World Series, etc.)

Until we all grew up...

Okay, that was just for effect. Hehe

Fast forward to eight years and we're all grown up. We don't play as much as we used to, but we do hang out most of the time. In school, at our homes, or just out on the town. Even though all of us have a lot going on we still manage to make time for each other.

Jake went on to join the football team and eventually became the varsity captain. And through my convincing, Jake joined 'The Jamestown High School Bugle'  that means the school paper, which I can say that I'm proud to be the new Editor-In-Chief.

Lauren joined the cheer squad when she was a freshman to follow her mother's legacy. Then senior year came and she was finally dubbed as the cheer captain. She was also elected as Student Council President and the President for the Theater Arts/Drama Club.

Zach got in to the school's soccer team and became co-captain in his junior year. Now that he's a senior, he gladly took the honor of being the soccer team's fearless leader. He is also a consistent honor student and co-captain of the school's debate team. Others, know him as the notorious "non-commitment" type, if you catch my drift.

As soon as Kyle started to go to school, he was quickly accepted in the baseball team. Through the years, he has been taken notice and quickly became the star pitcher, following the footsteps of his older brother. And since he's a senior now, he has been chosen to be the new captain of the baseball team. Not only is he all about baseball but he is also musically inclined as he plays the piano and the guitar. Dreamy... right?

As for me, again I am the newest Editor-In-Chief of our school paper, I am also the head of photography and design and lastly, since I enjoy science and competing for decathlons, I became the president of the Science club. Lame, I know but I don't care.

Wait... But I do.

Among my group of friends, sadly, I am the odd ball.

Well, it's senior year and it's our last year together, I wonder what the future holds.