"Best Friends"

First Impressions

This is it, Dark thought somberly as he looked at his new home that loomed in front of him forebodingly.

This is how my life as a loner begins.

Not that I wasn't much of a loner before my parents divorced and my dad decided it was a good idea to move to Brighton to start over, Dark added mentally, lost in thought until he heard his father Damien speak up.

"So, what do you think?" Dark's father prompted eagerly as he lovingly ruffled Dark's black hair tinged with red, gesturing to the house as they got out of the moving truck.

It looked nice enough, but he didn't feel like it was really his.

Like he belonged.

"I-It's g-great." Dark replied with forced enthusiasm, plastering a fake smile on his face for effect.

Damien beamed back and opened the bag to begin unpacking their belongings while Dark went inside.

It was much smaller than their old home, the rooms feeling more cramped than comfy as he aimlessly walked through them.

He counted two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a decent sized hall closet, an empty room Dark assumed his father would take as his office, and a bathroom as well as a basement.

"C'mon out and help Dark, I'll let you explore once we get everything inside!" Damien called out.

Dark reluctantly trudged back outside to help, wishing he could explore outside instead.

"So, are you excited about starting elementary school here?" Dark's father prompted with a grunt as he hefted up a large box filled with kitchen supplies.

"K-kind of I-I guess, b-but I s-still s-stutter a-and I-I'll be m-made f-fun of." Dark admitted with a shrug, taking a smaller box that contained some kind of decorations for the living room.

"I know you'll make lots of friends, with or without the stutter." Dark's father replied reassuringly, not noticing Dark's uncomfortable expression.

"Who knows, you might even find a new best friend here." He continued as he went back to grab another box.

"Y-yeah...best friend." Dark muttered in response, clearly not as optimistic as his father.

They continued taking things in until everything was out of the truck, filling the living room with a countless number of boxes.

"Alright, now that the truck is empty, I have to take it back to where I rented it from. Don't go anywhere while I'm gone." Dark's father instructed as he climbed back into the moving truck and drove off, leaving Dark home alone.

"So m-much for e-exploring o-once everything w-was ins-side." Dark muttered sourly as he sifted through the mountain of boxes piled in the living room to find the one filled with his belongings.

He took the box to the second bedroom, leaving the bigger room for his dad.

Dark's dad had already brought his bed in and put it in the far left corner, making him feel slightly less homesick.

There was a window by his bed and a closet of his own in the right wall where Dark's toy box was already placed inside, his black dresser located in the front of the room against the wall.

Dark started by hanging up his posters of his favorite bands and movies, putting his most favorite poster of a galaxy over his bed.

"B-better." Dark mused with a small smile of satisfaction as he looked around.

Next, he unpacked his clothes and laid them in his dresser, meticulously organizing them.

Lastly, he found all of his toys and put them where they belonged before he flopped onto his bed, feeling bored out of his mind.

That was when he heard a bang on his window.

Dark instantly shot up into a sitting position and looked out the window, surprised to see someone standing outside.

It was a boy around his age with short emerald green hair that was slightly curled, his vibrant green eyes bright with mischief as he tossed a stone up in the air before catching it and throwing it at Dark's window.

Dark flinched back as it smacked against the glass with a solid thunk before falling to the ground, its thud muffled.

Dark cautiously peered out the window to see the boy still standing there, now noticing Dark and waving wildly at him with a friendly smile lighting up his pale face.

Dark room a deep breath before daring to open the window, wondering if he would regret his choice as he slowly poked his head out.

"H-hello?" Dark called out hesitantly.

"Hi, I'm your new neighbor Anti!" The boy yelled back, the grin still prominent on his face.

Dark noticed that his voice had an Irish lilt, making him wonder if Anti's parents had divorced which made him have to move from home.

He hoped not.

"Wh-what do y-you wan-nt?" Dark replied questioningly, watching Anti warily in case he decided to make fun of Dark.

"Can you come over? My dad said I can't go to your house since he doesn't want me bothering you and stuff!" Anti asked hopefully.

"U-uh I-I d-don't kn-know." Dark responded, stammering more than usual much to his irritation.

"C'mon, please?" Anti begged, shooting Dark his best puppy eyes.

Dark considered his options as he ducked his head back inside, debating if the risk was worth it for someone he had just met.

"Ok, I-I'll g-go." Dark decided, watching in amusement as Anti did a victory dance before darting into the house next door, presumably going to share the good news with his dad.

Dark mustered as much courage as he could before walking outside into the crisp Autumn air, the colourful leaves crunching beneath his feet as he made his way to Anti's house.

|Hi! Spookyeevee2 here! This awesomely written first chapter was written by books_are_my_tardis (but I mean hey that was probably obvious from how good it was written) so if I write a chapter I'll, hopefully, put somewhere in the chapter ' Spooky wrote this' or something. Anywho , we hope you enjoyed this first chapter and we hope you'll tune in for the next one , so ceya guys , gals and non-binary pals , Bye!|