Middle Child Syndrome- Ian Gallagher

new neighbors

The move from Pasadena, California, to Chicago, Illinois, was not pleasant.

Let's say the news-breaking process involved screaming and crying and me not speaking to my parents for three days. I loved my life in California, and I didn't want to leave my friends and my house and start a new school. It wasn't like we'd be moving to a nice area in Chicago. We were moving to the South Side, which is-- not nice. 

Troy was fine with the move. The only thing he was going to miss was the weed. I couldn't smoke, but I'll get into why later.

Persephone was also indifferent. She wasn't thrilled about the move but wasn't super upset either. 

If moving wasn't bad enough, we were leaving at the beginning of Summer. So, I was going to spend my summer alone in a stingy neighborhood. Great. 

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I wiped a stray tear as I looked at my now-empty room for the last time, hearing footsteps behind me. My mom looked at me remorsefully and tried to hug me, but I pushed her away.

"Athena," she said defeatedly, "Come on. Do you really think this sour attitude is going to get you anywhere?"

I scoffed at her word choice. Sour? 

"Mia and Sophie both offered to let me stay at their place for the summer, and I could pay for my flight to Chicago in September! I don't understand why you won't let me. "

Mia and Sophie were my best friends and the people who've been with me through everything. We just sobbed for hours when I broke the news. I didn't even know what I was going to do.

"I'm not going to go through this again!" my mom said, "Besides, you know I don't trust those girls' parents. And after what happened last year, your father and I don't want you in a different state than us for three months."

"I'm better now."

My mom just shook her head, "Come on. Get your stuff. I want to leave before noon."

I took one last look at my room before heading downstairs and loading my duffel bag into the trunk. My dad and Troy were playing Tetris with the bags, but they made it work.

Mia and Sophie hugged me one last time, crying as we held each other tightly.

"I love you guys so much," I said in between tears, "I'll come back and visit. I promise."

After saying goodbye, I mounted the car and took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"Jesus," Troy said, "Stop being such a crybaby."

I flipped him off, "Shut up, dickhead."

"Hey!" My dad said.

"Watch your mouth," my mom said.

"Here we go again," Persephone said from the back.

"It's not my fault you're jealous that I have friends, Troy."

"I have friends, crybaby," he said, throwing his gum wrapper in my face.

"You little-

My mom cut me off before I could finish. 

"Athena! Watch your language," my mom said, "Troy, leave your sister alone. We have a thirty-hour drive, and I want total cooperation from everyone. Understand?"

I rolled my eyes and threw my head back. A big part of me wanted to continue to be combative, but we were going to be stuck with each other for thirty hours, so maybe that wasn't the best idea. 

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Thirty hours later, after about three fights with Troy and my mom, Persephone throwing up on the side of a highway because she got car sick, and my dad getting drunk at a hotel bar, we finally made it to Chicago. 

The house didn't look bad, but the neighborhood and everywhere we drove looked shady as hell. I'd probably have to start walking around with a knife. 

"Alright, we're here," my dad said.

"I need coffee," I said.

"You had Dunkin' this morning."

"Well, I need more," I groaned, slowly tumbling out of the car. 

My dad popped the trunk and started unloading while the rest of us helped. I looked at the house right across from us, 2119, and heard kids screaming and splashing around, so I assumed our neighbors had a pool. 

"I'm so excited to finally have my own room," Persephone said, "Athena snores."

"I do not!"

Persephone raised her eyebrow at me before grabbing her suitcase. After hoisting more bags inside and upstairs, Persephone and I went to get our backpacks in the car when four kids approached us. Two looked closer to my age, and the other two looked closer to Persephone's. 

"Hey," the short one with curly hair said, "You our new neighbors?"

"Uh, yeah. We just got here," I said, "Gonna be a lot of work for the next few days."

"Yeah, I bet," the redhead said.

"I'm Athena, by the way," I said, extending my hand.

"I'm Lip," the short curly-haired boy said.

"Lip?"

"Short for Phillip."

"Why not just go by Phil then?" Persephone said, making me chuckle.

"That's my little sister, Persephone."

"I'm Ian," the redhead said, "And this is Debbie and Carl."

Debbie had red hair like Ian, and Carl looked a bit more like Lip. 

"Where'd you guys move from?" Ian asked. 

"Pasadena, California," I said, "But lucky us, we moved. Here."

I gestured to the neighborhood dramatically, making the boys laugh. 

"Girls, can you come inside and help?!" I heard my mom yell from inside.

I sighed, "That's our mom. We gotta go, but it was nice meeting you!"

"Yeah, for sure. You guys should come over sometime," Lip said.

"Totally," I said, "I'll bring my brother too. His name's Troy."

"Troy? So do you all have names related to Greek Mythology?" Debbie said.

I shrugged, "Pretty much. I don't know, my parents are odd."

"ATHENA! PERSEPHONE!"

I rolled my eyes and walked back up the stairs before waving to our four new neighbors, "We'll see you later!"

They all said their goodbyes before we went back inside.

"Jesus, what took you girls so long?!" my dad said annoyed.

"We were just meeting our new neighbors. They seem nice," I said. 

Debbie, I felt like could be a good friend for Persephone, and I wanted to get to know Lip and Ian more. It would definitely help going to school and knowing people beforehand.