Falling Upwards

/Neighbors From Hell\

The first thing that I notice when I wake up is the smell of bacon. Thank God, I need bacon this morning. Apparently some idiot neighbors bought the house next to ours. Fabulous. This just means that I'll have to invest more time in trying to please people that never live in that house for more than two years. Since I've lived here, which would be my whole life, I've had 7 different neighbors in that house. These new folks make 8. It's crazy. Maybe it's haunted or something?

This one patch of sunlight keeps hitting my eyes, urging me to get up. "Go to the bacon, Max! Go now, woman!" It seems to say. So, finally I give in to the scents of heaven cooking downstairs.

I head into my bathroom, take my short hair out of its little bun, and begin my morning routine.

1. Brush hair

2. Wash face

3. Brush teeth

4. Go downstairs and be a "person"

I change out of my pjs and into a loose t-shirt and some sweats and work my way down to the lower level.

"Max, honey, let's go! You're burnin' daylight up there, kid!" My mom yells up to me, even though I'm like already at the bottom of the stairs. It would help to look before you scream, Mom.

"MOM! Chill out, I'm right here!" I yell at her. I'm standing right next to her. Teehee. She laughs sarcastically and shoves my shoulder.

"Jesus, Maxine, not so loud, dork. Oh! By the way, the new neighbors are coming over later today for some early dinner. You really should be here, it would mean a lot. Try to look presentable? You can't sit in your room eating pizza rolls for the rest of your life, no matter how much you want to." She tells me.

"Mom. I have plans with Cora to go to the mall at like 1:00." I reply.

"Max, I'm telling you right now. You'll have to reschedule. The answer is no." She retorts, not meanly, just sternly.

"Mooooommmm. Pleeaaas-"

"Nuh-uh"

"Ugh. Fine." This remark earned pursed lips and a raised eyebrow from her.

I just now noticed my dad and my brother, Charlie, sitting at the kitchen table, smothering their giggles. Little shits.

I snatch a plate off the table, load it with bacon and eggs, and head to the coffee pot. Out of the cabinet I grab my favorite mug entitled "I'm not a morning person". Classic. Pouring my coffee, I spill some on my fingers.

"Shit!" I hiss under my breath. It wasn't loud, but it was loud enough for my mom to pick up on. Uh oh.

"Max! What did you just say, young lady?!" Mom absolutely despises when I cuss because of Charlie. She doesn't want him going around dropping "F" bombs when he's 12. Who could blame her? I know I can't.

"Nothing!" I say, and grab my plate of food and cup of coffee and scramble back up the stairs to my safe haven.

My room has a window that perfectly shows the house that will soon be occupied by morons. I'm assuming they're morons. They moved in next to me, willingly, so it's a safe bet. It's not that I'm meaner than the grinch or anything, it's just that I'm not very social. And I don't wear makeup very often. Which some may find scary. Believe me, my face in the mornings is scary. So, you know...

I set my food and my cup on my desk, grab one of my controllers, and turn on my Xbox.

"Dead Island? I think yes." I say to myself. Ah.. What a perfect morning.

And then my phone rings. Way to ruin my moment of peacefulness, Universe! I pick up the phone to see that it's Cora. Okay, I'm still happy. No biggie.

"BAEEE!" She screams once she realized that I had picked it up.

I laugh slightly at her bodacious ways of saying 'hello'.

"Hey, Cora. So my mom's being mom-ly and making me stay home to greet the new neighbors. Apparently they're coming over for dinner? I just was really looking forward to buying some new shit at the mall. I just got paid last Friday," I say.

"Oh my god. What the hell, Max! Now what am I going to do with my Saturday?!" She says back, equally upset. Possibly even more so. She just got her car and had been dying to get it out of the driveway. Today would have been only the 4th time she's taken it somewhere.

"Ugh, I just don't know anymore. So, anyways, do you know who is moving in?" I ask. Cora always has the scoop on everything. I once asked her where she learned all of this stuff, she said "If I told you, I'd have to kill you." Needless to say, I never asked again. I just roll with her insanity now.

"The Petersons. Apparently the dad has a job that moves around, but it's looking pretty permanent here. But! All is not lost! They have a son. He's 17, and cute. But more importantly, he's single and ready to mingle!" She babbles. I love her rants. They always provide some comic relief to any situation.

"Great. He's going to be in my house. I'm like 5000% done with this shit," I say half-jokingly. "Hey, I'll talk to you later, alright? I just fired up the Xbox, so I LOVE YOU BAE, TTYL!" I say, spelling out "ttyl". I love Cora because she brings out the quirkiness and outgoing-ness in me. I'm always much more comfortable in my own skin when she's around. That's why she's my best friend: has been for 12 years now. Our mothers were friends when we were toddlers. I grew up with her, and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

"LOVE YOU TOO BAE! Good luck with the hottie!" I then hear the familiar click of the connection severing.

I chuckle at our conversation. I then recline in my blue faux leather bean bag chair that I got for my 13th birthday, and begin playing the game. It's pretty hard to eat breakfast and kill zombies, yet I manage it with ease because of practice. It's all in the wrists... This could go on for hours.

After a good while of serious slaying, I begin to feel the familiar pull on my eyelids, signaling that I am sleepy. I yawn, pause my game, and crawl my fatigued ass into bed to take a cat nap.

Sleep overtakes me shortly thereafter..

~*~

I walk downstairs to see my mom in a nice red dress and some shiny pearls, my dad in a polo shirt and khakis, and my crazy little brother in a "miniature dad" get-up. It gives me chills. My family looks plastic. All except for me, of course. I'm a bitch-slap of reality. Go me!

"Maxine, what are you wearing? They'll be here soon! Get back up those stairs and change, quick! I can't even believe you that you have the audacity to come down here looking like that, after I told you to make sure you were ready by 5:00 sharp, honey! It's disrespectful!" she yells.

I gulped. I really did forget, but that was a totally uncalled for reaction.

"Mom, I'm not going to present myself as something that I'm not to impress these people, like the rest of you have, even if I hadn't fallen asleep. I probably would have worn just some jeans anyways. This is me. I'm a slob. I'm a 16 year old. I don't care if people don't like the real me, I am who I am. If you think it's rude or disrespectful of me to not try to impress random people, then that's your problem. Not mine." I say, whole-heartedly, with absolutely no disrespect in my tone, but passion.

I hear clapping and I turn to the front door, nearly jumping out of my skin. A tall boy with ice blue eyes, and freckles dotting his pale skin, complementing his dark ash-brown hair applauds my speech. He was absolutely stunning.

"You impress me already. Oh, by the way, I'm Noah Peterson, your new neighbor."

So maybe these new neighbors won't be such a bad thing after all

•••

bam

~Amanda