Breathe In, Breathe Out

Hello neighbors!

"Nolan, I want you to be ready at six, the new neighbors, the ones who moved in a week ago, their having a backyard cookout. We're bringing a pie." Great. Instead of finishing my summer book report, I can sit miserably at some dome party I don't care about.

"Mom I'm ready!" Paige hops down the stairs. She has a shirt on backwards and jeans on her head.

"I'm going to go help your sister, tell your brother we're leaving at six." My mom ran upstairs after Paige.

"I heard her," Drew said from behind me.

"Yup," I said grabbing my phone from my pocket.

"I don't want to go either, but look at it this way, those girls will be going to school with us, make an effort now"

"Why do you care?" I asked.

"Because those perfect families are never perfect and it's got to be hard moving. Remember when we moved when we were little? You hated it."

I grabbed my shoes when mom came down the stairs. Dad was next to her with Paige behind them in a little dress. They should've let her go with the jeans on her head. It would've made a great first impression.

We walked across the street with my moms pie and my fake smile and rang the doorbell. Our parents made small talk and we walked into their home, surrounded by other neighbors. I walked around texting and looking at their living room, school pictures on their mantelpiece, and Xbox under the tv.

"Hi." A girls voice came from behind me.

I turned. She was the daughter that was my age, long brown hair with blonde highlights, green eyes, and she was pretty short. She had on short-shorts and a lose t-shirt from some kinda team she was on, maybe tennis or something.

"Hey, I was just looking at the pictures sorry," I said half heartedly,

"What's ur name?"

"Nolan" I said.

"I'm Caroline" said twisting her bracelet.

"I'm going to call you Cara." I decided.

"You're not the first," she smiled sarcastically.

"Shit. I thought I was being original."

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Do you want me to give you a house tour?" She asked.

"Sure." I said.

She showed me the living room and kitchen, we were quite alone do to the fact everyone went outside. The kitchen was white and a little too big for only 5 people. The living room was too clean, everything in its place. We moved upstairs where we walked through the play room and eventually ended up in her room.

"I'm still kind of unpacking." She said.

Her room had dark blue green walls, her bed was white with lots of pillows and she had a big chalkboard over her black desk. She had some photos of her and her friends on her wall. She had a huge stack of books next to her black nightstand.

"You like to read?" I asked.

"Yeah, do you?"

"Not enough time with football and lacrosse." I said.

"Wow, a depressed football player, I only thought you existed in movies." She grinned showing her set of perfect teeth."

"Why would you think I'm depressed?" I ask accusingly.

"I don't know maybe because of your whole persona, you look like you look down on life, like you pity the happy people in this world."

"Maybe your right. Anyway why did you move out here?"

"Why did I move, or why did my family?"

"Both." I said.

"Well, I moved because I hated the people back home. And they moved because they thought if they did I would come and live with them." She grabbed a stack of vinyls and flipped threw them before putting them on her shelf above her record player.

"What do you mean 'so I would come live with them', don't tell me, were you a runaway?" I smirked.

"Yes, I was a runaway, but that's not what I meant. I lived with my mom and her sleazy fiancé for a while."

"So that's your step mom?" I ask hoping I didn't touch on a sore subject.

"The Barbie bitch? Yeah, yeah that's her." She looked out the big windows that went from floor to ceiling.

"So you don't like her?"

"No I don't. I'm not her kid, she can't make me do things. She made me quit tennis for cheerleading. F-ing cheerleading. Well, sorry if you like cheerleaders, you've probably banged so many of them." She turn. I just kinda stood there, not moving.

"I'm joking, u don't seem like a total douche bag." She finally said laughing really hard.