Purpose | Josh Dun (ON HOLD)

Meeting the neighbors

Light seeped in from the blinds of my bedroom, striking my eyes and telling me to get up. The morning always gave me comfort, letting me know that the night is dead and I can no longer fear the monsters that arose from it.

Sitting up in my bed, I reached towards my nightstand and grabbed my phone.

9:02 am, it read.

Grudgingly, I arose from my bed and made a journey to the bathroom down the hall from my bedroom. After washing up, I made my way downstairs to feed the monster in my stomach.

My mother was gazing out the kitchen window, a coffee mug in her right hand and the other holding up the blinds. Her recently dyed blond hair was tossed up in messy bun, and her frail body was dressed in pajama pants and a cardigan. She seemed so lost in thought that she didn't hear me walk in.

"Mom?" I asked softly, while tapping her shoulder. The coffee mug left her hand and shattered onto the floor. She quickly turned around with a startled expression. Once her startled green eyes met mine, they hardened and her face contorted into an angry expression.

"Oh my God! Ari! What is the matter with you? You don't just scare people like that! You know I get spooked easily!"

She bent over, cleaning up the shattered pieces of the mug, grumbling curses under her breath.

YOU ALWAYS MESS EVERYTHING UP! The voice shouted in my head.

"Sorry Mom, I just wanted to know what you staring at for so long." She sighed, while scooping up the shards of the mug and throwing it away before cleaning up the spilled coffee.

It's kind of funny how something could break so easily into hundreds of tiny pieces, yet so long to put back together.

Finally, she finished cleaning up the mess and turned around to look at me.

"Mr. Franklin finally moved out of the house across street, we're getting new neighbors today."

Mr. Franklin was a grumpy old man, always filing in noise complaints and yelling at children for stepping on his lawn. I couldn't blame him though, his wife died from cancer a few years back. He's never been the same since then.

Stepping around my mother, I looked out the window. Sure enough, moving trucks were parked outside of the house.

"I heard it's a nice family," my mother said, "The Josephs, I think. They have a son about your age. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, they're coming over for dinner tonight so please tidy up the house. And tell your brother to stop throwing sticks at birds, he's going to scare the neighbors."

I sighed and made my way out of the kitchen and started to clean the house.

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It was 7:06 pm when the doorbell rang. My whole family rushed to the front door to greet the Josephs. Fake smiles plastered across our faces and straight posture, everything was to look perfect.

My mother opened the door, revealing the Joseph family. A woman with blond hair and blue eyes stepped inside first, handing a cake over to my mom.

"Hello neighbors! My name is Kelly, Kelly Joseph. This is my family." She said in peppy voice, stepping aside to let her family come inside. I watched as each person stepped in and introduced themselves.

"I'm Chris," the man, who I assumed was the father stepped in. "These are my two sons Jay and Zack, and this is my daughter Maddison. And over here is my eldest child, Tyler and his best friend Josh." I did a double take as I watched Tyler and Josh step inside my house. Their eyes widened in shock when they finally saw me. (A/N: Jay is 7, Zack is 15, Madison is 11, Tyler is 17, and Josh is 18. I'm altering their ages just for this story.)