Neighbors

Chapter 1

"What?" I say, staring at my mom, discreetly imploding on the inside.

"Liv, you know what I said." My mother says calmly, staring down at me with pursed lips and crossed arms.

"I- I'll admit I did, but my mind can't comprehend... You want me to meet the neighbors... After- after how many years of living here?"

I stuttered twice in that sentence, I notice. Something I only do when I'm nervous.

"Olivia, please?" She says, her bottom lip popping out a bit, "Besides, these cookies will go to waste if you don't give them to somebody."

"Let's give them to Aryn!" I say, trying to dodge around the puppy dog pleading.

"Olivia. I'm not going to ask you again."

"Motherrrrr." I say, dragging the consonants out unnecessarily.

She looks at me with her powerful look she only gives to her students, and I find my arms moving to take the basket of cookies away from my mom.

How she does that, I will never know...

"Invite them to Youth Group while you're at it!" She quickly adds as I close the front door.

"Mmhm." I murmur, swinging the basket, hoping the cookies will crush as a way to get back at my mom.

I walk down the driveway, the midday sun of summer already heating up the blacktop, and scorching the top of my head.

The neighbors that my mom was taking about lived across the street, and down one house to the right. My mom saw a woman around her age, and some kids ranging from my little brothers age, 13, my age, 15, and my older brother's age, 17 running around the property all year long. Probably home-schooled since none of us ever saw them leaving for school. Ever.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I observe them a lot more than I realize...
Gulp, imma stalker.

As I reached the other side of the street, comforting doubts embraced me in their arms.

No one is going to be home! It's summer and we live in California, they're probably at the beach...

Ya know, I think they have 2 cars, and one of them is gone. Looks like they're not home! Turn back, Ollie.

I don't listen to the voice inside my head, and start walking up the path to their house. They lived in one of the nicer houses on the street, and seemed to be upper-middle class, like my family, the Clarke's. Such a typical rich family name... Too bad we weren't rich...

I shook any wandering thoughts from my head as I reached for the doorbell.

Diiiing dong diing dooong, diing dong diing dooooooong.

Wow. The typical rich family doorbell tune. So low, and melodic.

I can hear footsteps scampering inside of the house, and I debate pulling a typical 12 year old ding dong ditch. Too bad I wasn't twelve anymore.

I plaster on a smile as the door knob begins to turn. There goes Doubt's comforting hold on me... Now it felt as if Doubt was strangling me.

"Yes?" A middle aged woman says, looking at me through her very nice and well kept screen door.

She looked around my mom's age, and had her light brown hair up in a clip, a drying towel in her hands, and one of those cute little dress aprons hanging from her neck.

"Oh!" I say, my cheeks reddening already. "Hi! I'm your neighbor from down the street," I say, looking back at our house up on a little hill, and point at it. "My name is Olivia Clarke..." I halt for a moment, trying to remember why I came here.