obsession

two

I stare at myself in the mirror. I groan to myself.

My father always tells me I got my body from my mother's side of the family. Stick thin, but not the good kid. More like boyish-looking. When Ezra and I get into fights, he likes to tell me I look just like him.

From behind, I look like a skinny skater with my shoulder-length hair. I often daydream about gaining five pounds, just so I could at least have hips.

I've never had a boyfriend in my life. And when I look in the mirror, I can see exactly why.

I tug on a pair of jeans and my favorite yellow sweater. I brush my hair, which is completely tangled from swimming in the pool and the lake constantly. Jane likes to joke that my hair will never not be tangled. I always agree with her.

Jane clutches a plate of chocolate chip cookies in her arms, and Ezra pesters her, begging for just one. She has to keep flicking his hand away from her.

"So who do you think he's going to be? Do you think maybe he's a serial killer, with a bunch of people chained to his wall in the basement?"

"Ezra.." My father says, clearly frustrated. "How do you even know stuff like this?"

"Jeff!" he laughs maniacally. "We watch horror movies at his house all the time."

"Oh for the love of-"

"Good afternoon, neighbor!" Jane chirps to a short man wearing a leather jacket. The man turns around and I get a good look at him. He has stubble on his face, and he's a little chubby, but he's a handsome kind. When he smiles, he looks kind.

"Well, hi there, folks!" He sets down a box he was carrying and strides over to shake our hands. "My name is Charlie. I'm just helping my good ol' friend move in here today."

"Nice to meet you!" my father booms, and I almost cringe in embarrassment. When he's around other men, he always has to put on this "I'm-more-dominant-than-you" act. It's the worst thing in the world. I almost feel the need to apologize to poor Charlie. "I'm Andrew Green, and this is my family."

"I'm Jane," my step-mother sweetly says, and goes in for a hug. Embarrassing times twenty. "I brought you some goodies!"

"Well now, isn't that just the sweetest thing!" He takes the plate of cookies. "Why don't I go inside and get your new neighbor for you? I bet ya'll are waiting to meet him!"

"That'd be perfect. Thank you, Charlie!" Jane exclaims. She turns to us, beaming. "This is great! We finally get to have neighbors. Not only that- they're kind!"

"Yeah, well," Ezra kicks at a stick in the road. "I don't know... The kindest people have people chained in their basement."

Jane rolls her eyes. "Okay. Enough."

I stand there, just smiling to myself, staring up at the blue house. When I was younger, I could entertain myself for hours, lying on my stomach in the living room, drawing the house with my cornflower-blue crayon. I would draw ghosts flying out of the windows and vampires peeking out of the front door. The blue house became my obsession. A friend. I watched it everyday.

And then, interrupting my daydream, came a man walking down the front steps of the house.

Standing taller and lankier than anyone I'd ever seen in my life, he had brown, curly hair, and a jawline that looked like it came out of one of my Greek textbooks. He looked serious, and mature, and I felt my knees going weak just looking at him.

He caught my eye, and I stopped breathing for a brief moment. He had soft, bright blue eyes that stared right into me. His nose was upturned, and his ears were small. He looked cherubic and gentle, yet tough. I'd never seen someone so beautiful in person. He reminded me of the boys Margot and I fawned over in our Seventeen magazines, but multiplied by fifty. I was swooning over him.

When he spoke, his voice was melodic and deep. He shook my father's hand first. "Nice to meet everybody. I'm Kieran."

"Well!" My father said, a bit stumbled himself. I almost giggled to myself, wondering if he thought he was handsome too. "Nice to meet you, Kieran! I'm Andrew. It's so nice to finally have a neighbor!"

As my step-mother introduces herself, Kieran catches my eye and throws me a smile. "And you are..."

"Oh, hi!" I giggle nervously. I reach shakily to shake his hand. "My name is Tatum. Tate! You can call me Tate. Everybody does."

"Very nice to meet you, Tate," he smiles, and squeezes my hand politely. I feel my head getting lighter the closer he gets to me.

"So, Kieran, what's a young fella like you doing out here in this town?" My father asks, and we all wait for an answer.

"Well, sir, I've always loved a bit of isolation, but not too far from society. I thought this was the perfect place for me. I've had my eye on her for quite a long time."

"Amazing!" Jane babbles on about barbecues and the beautiful scenery, and my ears perk up when I hear her ask, "would you like to join us for dinner tonight, perhaps?"

"Actually, that would be fantastic," he says, scratching the back of his neck. The sleeve of his white t-shirt rises a little, and I catch the briefest glance of ink along his upper arm. I feel myself blushing. Margot always teased me about how I loved tattooed men, and how I thought it made them look more masculine and cool. On the other hand, she hated tattoos. She thought they looked trashy. I stared at his bicep, trying to piece together the ink, to find out what it could be. "See, I actually don't have much food in the house yet. That's the downside of moving, I guess."

"Well, that's just great! I hope you're not a vegetarian, Kieran. We'll most likely be having meatloaf."

"No, I'm not at all," he smiles. I notice he flickers his eyes to me. We catch each other's gaze. I could study his face for hours. I want to memorize it all, I want to remember this forever. I feel a burning in the pit of my stomach and I blush, looking down at my shoes.

As they wrap up with Kieran, I start to walk back towards the house, noticing that Ezra was one step ahead of me. I turn around and catch Kieran's eye one last time. I try to smile, but it comes out feeling stupid. My cheeks go red and I flip around in embarrassment and run the rest of the way home.