The Protagonists

Chapter One - Joel

A boy and his mother stood at the charcoal-grey, stone porch of the small, brick house next door. He, a scrawny, slender boy with rosy cheeks and green eyes, wore a maroon hoodie, much too large for his lanky figure. She, a plump, stout woman-opposing her bony, much-too-skinny son-held a bowl of steamy soup to her chest, pressed up against her pink, flowery sundress. The doorbell had been rang numerous times already and the two just stood at the front porch, waiting eagerly to meet their new neighbors.

The Potters, consisting of a mother and her son, had moved to Los Angeles, California, from Richmond, Virginia, across the country, due to an unsuspected divorce between the parents. Ms. Lisa Potter, being such an outgoing, optimistic person, wanted to meet their new next-door neighbors. Joel, on the other hand, was not the idealistic person like his mother; being more like his father, he remained quiet and introverted. As Ms. Potter continued to eagerly wait in front of the door, her soup in hand, Joel awkwardly played with his drawstrings, rocking back-and-forth on his heels.

They waited for another four minutes before Ms. Potter finally inferred no one was home-Joel swore he saw someone moving from the upstairs window-and she took a solemn, defeated step back. As if the neighbors were slyly waiting for the two to decide to leave, the front door slammed open, revealing an equally-stout woman, a large, toothy smile spread on her face. The woman, her honey-blonde hair tied back into a tight bun, took one, long look at the soup in Ms. Potter's hands and clapped rapidly. "Oh, hello!" She cheerfully called, dragging out the o. "I'm Gloria Rhodes! Please call me Gloria!"

"Hello!" Joel snickered at how similar the two were; he knew the neighbors would be at each other's houses frequently. "It's so nice to meet you, Gloria. My name is Lisa Potter, and this," she motioned towards her son, who was now staring down at his dirty, worn-out sneakers, "is my son, Joel."

"It's nice to meet you, Joel," Gloria cooed, seeing a small child rather than a nineteen-year-old man. Joel went red, his face scorching with heat from the embarrassment. "It's nice to meet you too," he muttered in response, not looking up from his interesting sneakers.

"You know," Gloria looked up at the clear, summer sky, pondering, "my daughter is going to eat somewhere with her friend and I'm sure she would be fine with you coming along. She seems to be about your age as well, Joel."

Joel looked up in shock and quickly snapped his head over to his mother, who had a large, pleased smile on her face. As much as he tried to tell her with his eyes how much he didn't want to go, Ms. Potter completely ignored him and nodded at Gloria. "I'm sure Joel would love to," she replied. "He hasn't gotten a chance to really see the city yet and I'm positive he would love to go with your daughter. Isn't that right, Joel?"

Not giving him a chance to reply, Gloria spun around and moved her head inside the doorway. "Iris!" She called, looking over at Joel smugly, as if he were about to meet the girl of his dreams-although Iris was about to be the complete opposite. "We have visitors!"

Again, Joel saw the figure move by the upstairs window, moving around the room frantically. Gloria turned to face the two, still keeping her smile on her aged face. "She's coming," she told them, looking down at the soup again. "Ah, what is this?" She questioned, as if she didn't notice it before.

"Vegetable soup," Ms. Potter replied, holding the bowl out for Gloria to take. "I made it for us to have over dinner, if that's alright with you of course." Gloria took the bowl of soup and nodded quickly.

"That would be wonderful," she replied sweetly, nodding once again. A figure appeared beside her, wearing a checkered, black-and-white romper. Joel stared up at the tall figure, having to look up to see her; no, she was not wearing heels. Her hair, a shade of blonde so light, it was practically white, was tied back in a ponytail at the top of her head and her chocolate-brown eyes were wide in confusion. "Who's this?" She questioned, motioning towards Joel, who was no longer just looking at his sneakers.