Right in Front of You

Chapter Three

The next morning came slowly. I wanted to meet my new neighbors. Sure, they seemed way too colorful and wild for me, but I wasn't in a position to be passing up friends. Besides, if they were weird enough, nobody else could steal them away from me. My plan was foolproof.

The only flaw in my plan was my inability to start conversation. I preferred when other people talked first. It just made things easier.

I sat across from my grandma, pushing the fresh strawberries around my plate with my fork. My grandma gave me a stern look, and I reached for my orange juice, pretending not to notice.

"Did you see that we got new neighbors?" Grandma asked politely, letting her eyes wander to the front door.

"Did we?" I asked naively, waiting to see if she knew more than she was letting on.

"Yes. Apparently, they moved here all the way from California. Their last name is Flynn. Single mom with twins that are about your age!"

"Who would give up California for boring ole' Georgia? California's where all the famous people live!" I gasped with wide eyes, suddenly even more fascinated with our new neighbors.

"Do you know the twins names? How old are they? Are they nice?" I asked enthusiastically, shoving a forkful of strawberries into my mouth.

"I don't know too much, so don't get excited. I just happened to run into the mother last night. She offered to help me carry the groceries in. Lovely lady. I believe the kids names were Aurora and Avery. She said they were both going to be juniors, so they're both about two years older than you." She replied calmly.

"Awesome. When, uh, do you think I'll get'ah meet them?" I asked, suddenly bashful. I was a bit nervous. New people weren't exactly my specialty. But if I did meet them and they liked me, I could check one item off my list...and that was a start.

"Oh, I almost forgot! I invited them over for early lunch! They'll be here in about three hours or so. I'm going to go clean up the kitchen and throw the chicken in the oven. Why don't you make those strawberry filled brownies for the kids? I'm sure they'd love that! You're so talented. Maybe you could play them a song or two on piano after we eat!" She suggested, carrying both of our plates into the kitchen. I sighed loudly. The last thing I wanted to do was be the freaky piano girl again. Not this time.

I bolted to my room and pulled the blinds shut. I needed to look presentable, but how? I dug through my clothes desperately, hoping to find something decent. Finally, I found a light green tank top and pretty white shorts. I threw them on quickly and turned on my straightener. Some habits never die.

An hour later, I had pin straight hair and perfectly applied mascara and lip gloss. I would've tried to put on some eyeliner, but I was entirely too nervous. I emerged from my room slowly, praying to avoid my grandma, but that was like mission impossible.

"Oh sweetie!" She cooed. "You look precious. Come here. I bought all of the ingredients for your strawberry filled brownies. Why don't you whip up some for the guests since we have some time to spare?" She threw me an apron, and I tied it around my scrawny waist reluctantly.

I thought about telling her that I always had time to spare, because I had no friends, but I opted against it. She was still pretty cross with me for snapping at my mom. Today was not the day for me to be acting like a brat to my grandma.

As soon as she left the room, I began my cooking routine. I clicked on the radio to my favorite station of classical music, of course, then began to work. As I stirred the brownie mix, I shifted my feet back and forth. First position, second position. I lifted my leg up and held it to my ear, feeling the deep stretch relaxing my muscles. I wasn't lying to my mom. Ballet was going fine. So was piano. But I wasn't happy at all. In fact, I was miserable. I had started ballet classes and piano lessons in second grade, and my mom hadn't eased up since then. She was convinced that the activities would 'bring me out of my shell', but the only thing they were doing was boring me to tears.