Neighbors

Neighbors II

Chapter 2

I F  O N L Y  I  H A D  A  C A M E R A

Andrew and I hang out for a while, just hanging out. He occasionally flirts with me, and its obvious he likes me. He's told me countless times that the only reason he hung out with me in our early years was because he could tell I was going to turn out pretty. I choose not to believe him.

Right now, we are talking about our past and how he reacted when I left, and its literally the most dramatic thing I've ever heard. As I'm about to tell him how I reacted, my mom twirls in, carrying a vegetable plate.

"Quinn," my mom stresses my name, and I know it's for many reasons. Don't mess this up, she says, hidden in her tone. "I brought you green peppers, your favorite."

I hold down the barf at the thought of that gross vegetable. As a kid, I used to love it. Now? Not much anymore. Ever since this bully from my old school started calling me 'Pepper Breath' and shoved the vegetable in my mouth, making me almost choke. My mom has given me them all the time because she wants the perfect healthy little girl. Well, mom, I don't want them. I want frosted animal crackers instead. I usually just blame it on the cravings. It works.

"You still like those, Brent?" Andrew asks as my mom leaves the room, grinning like The Joker as he captures Batman. She probably just won the jackpot at the lottery when she heard Andrew ask, now she knows I'll eat it. But no, I've changed. I don't answer Andrew as I walk forward, grab all the vegetables, except for a cherry tomato and throw them all out my window. Blah.

"Brent!" I grin at Andrews nickname as it reveals its self to me again. I missed him calling me by my last name, or Harley Quinn because we always would read those comics together. He was Joker, I was his red and black girlfriend. The thought of having Andrew as a boyfriend a long time ago made me puke and stick my tongue out-- he was my best friend. But now, the thought doesn't seem so bad. Unless....

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Somehow, Andrew chokes on a celery stick that I didn't even know he grabbed. At first, I think he's kidding, but then I see his hands float up to his throat. I panic and rush over, than raise my fist. A flashback of school where some kid demonstrated how to help someone who is choking pops in my mind, and I suddenly slam my fist down on Andrews back.

"Ow." He sighs as he collapses on the floor and spits out the green and weird piece of food. I cringe and kick the slice away. "I wasn't done with that." He points at the green thing and I almost barf as he picks it up and eats it.

"Gross." I state and slither out of my room. I walk downstairs and see my mom at the door talking to a lady. I ignore it and quickly grab a bottle of water, running back upstairs in seconds. I enter my room and see Andrew fingering a photo from us years ago. I remember the day clearly. We were at the nearby carnival and were on the Miracle Round. He was on a black horse, with his hand on the rear, acting like they were running through a field of weeds. And I was on the zebra, patting its mane as it stood next to Andrews, about three inches ahead of his horse. I remember posing for that photo with the biggest smile as I sat on the unique animal, proud to be on the different one. 

I know that behind the camera, my dad was holding a toy dragon that Andrew won for me. I also remember my mom whispering to Andrews mom about how likely it was for me and Andrew to get together.

That was when I actually enjoyed my mother's company. Now? Not so much.

"Do you remember you would call me Cow Lick, because my hair was all over the place?" Andrew asks, his face a ghost and his voice low as if he will blow a candle out if he speaks higher.