Not You

Chapter 3 (edited)

I smiled to myself as I heard Chey honk as she pulled out of my driveway. She had dropped me off home today since Chase had something to do after school. As I let myself in, I held my breath, wondering if anyone was home.

"Mom? I'm home." I threw my bag on the couch and looked around. "Mom?" when I got into the kitchen I saw a note on the counter.

Honey, I had to go for an urgent meeting at work. There's food in the fridge and I left money on the tabletop. Don't stay up waiting for me, this meeting might take a while. Love, Mom

Sure enough there was extra money on the tabletop. I sighed to myself and put the money in my pocket to save for later on.

This had been going on a lot these past few months. My mom had never been one to neglect me before, but things had changed. It felt like she rarely noticed me anymore. It felt like I hadn't seen her in forever, and in the few times I had, it was right before she left for work.

Ignoring the hurt feeling in my chest, I headed into the living room and plopped down on the couch. I immediately turned on the TV and began to channel-surf looking for something to watch. I finally settled on a channel that was showing The Hangover and relaxed while laughing at the stupidity of the guys. I had begun to laugh uncontrollably when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Curiosity got the best of me, as I wondered who would be visiting me right now. We normally never got visitors, especially around this time, unless it was Chase. Chase never knocked, and he had his own spare key to enter the house with. Talk about being lonely.

I walked to the door, expecting it to be an advertiser or someone selling something. I opened the door and my eyes grew wide with surprise when I noticed someone else at my door.

It was a short woman, with dark black hair that reached up to her chin in luscious waves, and the most striking green eyes. Those green eyes were shining because of the wide, happy smile she was giving me. I immediately knew by the laugh lines on her face that she was a kind person as her eyes presented.

While I was making all these observations about her, my eyes swept down to the plate she was holding in her hands. She must have noticed the question in my eyes because she began to explain herself, "Oh silly me! I completely forgot to introduce myself," she chuckled while shaking her head. "I'm Sylvia Anders. My family just moved in to the house across the street and I wanted to introduce myself." Throughout explaining, she didn't lose her smile once.

I smiled at her in return. "Hi! I'm Selene Adams. I would introduce you to my mother, but she isn't here right now." I felt awkward, as I didn't know what else to talk about when I realized that she was still outside. "Why don't you come inside? I'm sorry I completely forgot to invite you in." When I smiled apologetically at her, she waved it away.

"Maybe some other time. I actually only dropped by to give you these cookies and invite you and your family to a dinner at my house, after I'm settled in of course," she ended with a chuckle, and I understood that she had a lot of unpacking left to do. She then passed me the plate of cookies, which I took with a grateful smile.

"I'm sure my mother would love to go. Let us know when, and we'll both be there," I smiled genuinely back at her, as I liked this woman already.

"It was nice meeting you Selene. We'll see you soon sweetie!" And with another warm smile, she walked down my porch and crossed the street down to her own house. I watched her until she crossed, and then shut the door behind her.

So that's who the moving van belonged to. At least they were going to be nice neighbors. I went back to the living room and began to work on homework while watching TV.