The Other Side of Silence

The New Neighbour

"I walked all the way back home from the coffee shop and ohhh my feet hurt so badddddd" I whined out loud to myself already close to house but I stopped abruptly in shock.

There's a freaking moving truck next to the house. Are we moving and neither Mom nor dad thought it would be important to me? Maybe they told Max.

That's so sexist, they'll tell their son something that important but didn't bother to tell their daughter.

"Max!!!!" I yelled as I pushed the to our house open and stormed right to his room.

He was just on his bed with a towel wrapped around his waist, water still in his hair and on his chest while he had his phone in his hand as he raised one of his eyebrows at me in question.
(Don't tell me everyone in the world but me can do it)

"Get out of my room" He yelled back immediately I stepped into his room but I didn't budge. I crossed my arms over my chest and boldly said, "No!!!"

"What do you mean no? Get out now, as you can see, I just got out of the bathroom and I would appreciate some privacy please." He says in a tone like I'm a fly on his wall.

"No, I'm not leaving here till I get an answer to my question. Are we moving?" I asked

"I said get o- wahhhhh? Moving? Where did you get that idea?" He said calmer than before.

"I don't know, I saw a moving truck next to our house and thought we were moving and I'm the only one unaware." I said with a frown.

"Of course not Avy baby, if we were then you'd be the first to know because we're all aware that you need enough time to pack properly." He chuckled making me smile while he patted his bed signalling me to sit beside him.

He ruffled my hair with his hands making me pout because he loves babying me although I'm 15. He's 18 and this year is his last year with us before he goes to college so I try my best to spend enough time with him because I already know I'll miss him when he's gone but I try not to bring it up much.

"You know what that means," He grinned. "We finally have neighbours again and hopefully the family will have a hot daughter my age." He smirked and I laughed at how open he can be with me but doesn't talk too much around mom and dad, I feel so special.

It was true tho, we are having neighbours again after years. I was 2 when our previous neighbours left mysteriously without a trace and now we're having neighbours. I hope the parents have a daughter my age so I can have a friend to hang out with at night.

"Do Mom and Dad know about the arrival of our new neighbours?" I asked hoping they'll arrange a welcome kinda meet up so we'll get to know our neighbours.

"We'll find out soon." He said and with that I quietly excused myself and walked to my room that's right across from his.

Immediately I walked into my room, I felt the urge to jump on it. I walked into my walk-in wardrobe, changed into my afternoon pajamas.

Yeah, I have pajamas for different times of the day, they're just so soft, don't judge me.

I walked out of my closet and was about to jump on my bed when I saw the window in the room of one of my neighbours house just opposite mine and realizing what I wore I close the curtains of mine and jumped on my bed. I checked the time and it was 1:26 PM.

It's still a long time before dinner so I can sleep for a long time. I put my phone on my bed side table and snuggled with me soft duvet and fall asleep.

—————

"Ava!!! Sweetie wake up it's almost dinner time, wake up." Mum said right after knocking and coming into my room.

I wasn't completely awake so I just turned in my sleep.

"Honey wake up, get ready, we invited our new neighbours over to welcome them. So it's basically a family dinner for both of our families so get ready, they have kids around your age. I'm sure they'll be excited to see you." Mom finished with a bright smile aware of how lonely I feel after the whole Maya-Ava falling out session and she believes they will keep my mind off it.

My eyes widen in realization. They are coming over? And I'm still in bed, I quickly jump off and rush a "Thanks mom, I'll be down in less than 30 minutes." She nodded in understanding and walked out of my room shutting the door.

Okay so our new neighbours are coming over for the first time and first impression builds the foundation for a good relationship. I walked into my closet and sat on the couch glancing through some options and after about 5 minutes I laid my eyes on a dress. It was a white dress with pink tulips, daisies and lotus designs all over an it stops right above my knees. I picked out plane white square hills, I'm not only going with something fashionable but also comfortable. I don't want to have issues walking tomorrow morning so this is perfect.

I walked out of my closet and right into my bathroom. I quickly stripped off my clothes and turned on the warm water in the bath tub. I slowly stepped in feeling my muscles relax almost instantly and I placed my favourite lavender scented bath bomb into the water and watched in awe how the bubbles appear in the water (like always).

Maybe I am a baby.

After 10 minutes of that amazing bath I walked out of my bathroom and went back into my closet, got dressed and just sat on my bed.

I heard the main door open and close so that means our new neighbours have probably arrived. I decide to take my sweet time because I love being fashionably late so I pick my phone from my bedside table and just scroll through Tiktok. After a while the sound of distant chatter coming from downstairs becomes audible and just in time too, I was getting bored of my FYP.

I decided to FaceTime Max so we'll make our grand entrance together like we always do. I asked if he was ready and he said he was waiting for my FaceTime and that he'd been ready the whole time but he was just waiting for my signal. I ended the FaceTime and at the same time in sync we both stepped out of rooms, linked hands together and majestically walked down the stairs still taking our time tho.

Immediately we got down the stairs I made eye contact with the one person I didn't expect to see at all.

"Wyatt???!!!"