Neptune and Cassidy

Chapter 3- Neptune

Kath drops me off at the street at three o'clock. I'm standing there, useless, while I wait for her to come back, even though I know she won't.

"You'll be fine from here," she'd insisted. "It's house number twelve."

Little did I know that there were two House Number Twelves. 12A and 12B. So now I'm stood between these two houses on this stupid little cul-de-sac of 1970s brick houses, trying to decide which house to ring the doorbell of first. I curse Kath in my head for not checking the address properly. 

I sigh and get out my phone. I've got several Snaps from old friends in my village, which I open and leave on read. I say friends as a loose term- since I was homeschooled, I never really hung out with anyone that much. I was just sort of there. Standing next to kids my age by the off-licence, drinking Monster energy drinks I knew I wasn't really supposed to have.

Now that's changed. I don't even know if Bradley Stoke has off-licences, but I did see a Tesco Express a couple hundred yards away as we turned into this street, so that's something, at least.

I put my phone away just as I hear footsteps to my right. Turning, I see a girl who looks about average height, with a shopping bag hanging from her elbow and a KFC Krushem tucked under the same arm. She looks at me, bemused. Immediately, I'm struck by how bright her eyes are- a sort of electric blue. Her hair is cut to her chin, and it suits her. "Uh, hi," I say awkwardly, realising that I'm probably stood on her front drive. "Sorry to bother you, but do you live here?"

She stares at me. "Huh?"

"No, no, I don't-" I growl in exasperation. Get your words out! "My social wor- taxi dumped me here and told me to go to house 12, but there seems to be two of them. I was wondering, if you lived in one of them, which one was yours? I know the one I'm meant to be in has no kids in it."

"Ohhh." She tilts her head towards 12A. "This is my house here. But are you sure your taxi said 12? The woman in that house is kind of..." She pauses, seeming to be searching for the right word. "Unusual," she decides.

I nod. "Yeah, I know." Without thinking, I blurt out: "She's my mum."

The girl looks taken aback. "What?" She looks me up and down, then shakes her head. "I don't see the resemblance. Maybe except the hair colour. Yours is exactly the same brown hers is."

"Thanks, I guess?" I raise an eyebrow. "Do you not believe me?"

"Well, I do, but-"

Before she can finish, however, her front door opens and a small boy pokes his head out from the door. He looks maybe 11 or 12 and has curly hair the same colour as the girl's. "Cassidy, who is he?" He points at me.

The girl- Cassidy- rolls her eyes at me. "My brother," she mouths, before turning to the boy. "Aiden, don't be a nosy parker," she snaps, and her voice suddenly changes. It's more harsh now, with less pronunciation of "t"s and more emphasis on "r"s. "Get back in the 'ouse for a minute, alright?"

"Not till I know who this bloke is," Aiden squeaks defiantly. His voice hasn't broken yet, by the sounds of it. "Why wossee on our drive?"

Before Cassidy can reply and start an argument- which I don't want to witness, thanks- I turn to Aiden and try to smile warmingly. "I'm Neptune," I say. "I was waiting here because I didn't know which house to go to. My driver said 12, but there were two number 12s, so I was trying to work out which house it was until your sister just came by and helped me."

Aiden nods. "Oh, okay. Cool name. Do you know Crazy Lady?"

"He does, but it's nunya," Cassidy says shortly, not elaborating. I thank her in my thoughts- telling her the woman was my mother was involuntary, and I don't think I want a pre-teen spreading rumours about me in school. Kids would tell their parents, and then where would we be?

"Cool, whatevs," Aiden says, swinging the door back and forth. "She's not in the house right now though. She went somewhere."

I freeze. Last time my mother 'went somewhere', she ended up never coming back. "Oh, okay. Does she do that often?"

"Yeah," Aiden says. 

I sigh, relieved. If it's a common occurrence, then she probably won't be gone forever. "Okay, that's fine. Thing is, I don't have a key to the house or anything, so..." I trail off awkwardly.

"I mean..." Cassidy hesitates as if she's embarrassed. "You could stay in our house for a while until she gets back? My parents are at work; they do nights. But my sister's here looking after us and I'm sure she won't mind."

I shrug. "Okay, sure. Thanks."

She shrugs back. "Nah, it's nothing. Plus my brother seems to be surgically attached to you since you stepped on our driveway, so we may as well keep him entertained." She looks at her brother. "Aiden, take 'im up to your room, mate, show him your Xbox or summat, alright? I'll bring up your KFC once I've put this shopping away."

"Alright," Aiden says happily, and opens the door wider. "Come in, uhh... What was your name again?"

"Neptune," I say, cringing a little.

"Neptune?" Cassidy gives me a side glance. "Like the Roman sea god?"

"Yeah," I mutter, feeling my cheeks heating up.

Cassidy smiles. "I like it."

I nod in appreciation, still blushing. "Thanks a lot. I mean it."