borderlines and aliens » jonathan byers

prologue » neighbor

The heat was a living thing, a force that smothered Harrison Dursley as soon as he stepped out of his car. He swore under his breath as he looked up at the house.

A broken window, a cracked driveway, and a busted front step greeted the boy's dark brown eyes. The faint smell of rotting wood reached his nostrils.

Pulling out his camera, Harrison began circling the house, taking pictures from all angles. He pulled a small notebook from his pocket, taking a pencil stub from behind his ear and putting down his camera to scribble notes.

The house is small, way smaller than I thought. One cracked window, I'm going to need to fix the front step. Call a contractor? Wood is rotting, not sure where.

Satisfied, Harrison shoved the notebook and pencil back to their places and turned to grab his luggage. When he did, he let out a yelp- a short boy with a crappy haircut was standing by his car, a pitcher of lemonade in his hands. "You like taking pictures? So does my brother."

Harrison glared at the kid- he couldn't be more than twelve, and a strong gust of wind could probably knock him over. "Don't you know not to sneak up on people?"

The kid flinched. "Sorry. I'm Will Byers, by the way. You're my new neighbor. I live over there." He turned and pointed to a small, run down house of the edge of the woods. "My mom wanted me to give you this as a housewarming present. Her name's Joyce and you can go to her if you need anything, or whatever."

Harrison took the pitcher of lemonade, almost moaning at the feel of the cool dampness against his hands. "Thanks, kid. Sorry for snapping at you. You said your name was Will? I'm Harrison. Harrison Dursley."

For the first time, Will smiled, a shy little ghost of a smile. "You're a lot like Jonathan."

Harrison nodded slowly. "Oh really? Jonathan...your brother?"

Will nodded, smile growing. "He's always taking pictures of everything. Mom says he's good enough to get into college with those pictures, but he doesn't wanna go. He says he needs to stay here and take care of us." The way Will rolled his eyes made Harrison almost nostalgic. "We don't need taking care of, we do just fine!"

Harrison laughed a little. "Well, tell your brother he's always welcome here if he wants to talk photography or something. Maybe we can go cryptid hunting. Those are some quality woods." He nodded towards the forest.

The smile on the kid's face threatened to split him open. "I will!"

As Will scampered back home, Harrison wondered about Jonathan. How old he was, how long he'd been taking pictures.

...If he was single.

If he even liked guys.