The Boy Next Door (on hold for now)

Part 1

My older brother Harrison was more like a bestfriend than a brother considering he was one year older than me. Always hanging out with me, keeping me entertained while our parents were hard at work dealing with their clients, they were lawyers from the limited amount of what Harrison had told me, mostly because I was 4 and I wouldn't have the faintest idea what he was talking about. He created imaginary games that filled our afternoons with excitement and adventure, from escaping the clutches of the evil Dr Hook, to exploring a secret city in the middle of a jungle. Being bored was rare. There was always something to do.

A year went by and we had convinced our dad to put some time and effort in to build us a swing set. He was never really a handy man, much preferring to be behind a desk typing on a computer. But after some help from the instructions and a couple of phone calls to the help centre. A double swing set had been added to the things Harrison and I could enjoy ourselves on. That same year was when we got our new neighbours. All that I knew about them was that there was a boy, Harrison's age and two three year-old twin boys, but that's all I wanted to know. I didn't want some strange people ruining the games that my brother and I had been playing for the past year. When we were out in the backyard. We could occasionally hear quiet laughter and the kicking of a ball. Nothing much else then that for a few months.
"Harrison! Brooke! dinner!" called out my mother from the slightly adjar sliding door.

"Anything interesting happen today?" asked Harrison sticking his head up with strands of pasta still hanging out of his mouth. I gave a smal giggle.
"Other than a cut case, nothing out of the ordinary," replied our father not going into much more detail, knowing it would just end up Harrison and I asking what every legal term meant.
"What about you two?" asked our mother.
"Well we escaped Dr Hook once again and flew over to the North Pole before we had to come inside," explained Harrison.
"Sounds like fun," added our dad.
No more words were spoken after that. Just the blaring of the tv in the background and the occasional glances at it from the table.

As the seasons past and I began going to school we both started to grow up. I was now six, Harrison was seven, the boy next door was seven and the twins were five, not that I cared. We were moving away from imaginary games to kicking around soccer balls and having sport competitions in our backyard.

"I'm going to head back inside, you coming?" asked Harrison, already beginning his walk to the door.
"Nah I think I'll stay out here," I replied back sitting back in swing. It was silent for a few minutes before a very rare screen door opened. I slightly popped my head up to see soft brown curls on top of the boys head. I quickly sat back down before he saw. I heard nothing more from him. Even though there was no sound I felt like someone was watching me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the boy next door peering over the fence. I quickly spun around but he ducked down pretending he wasn't there. I turned back around and spotted him pop back up. I spun round again to catch him but he was too fast. I walked up to the place where his head would've been and spoke through the fence.
"I know your there," I said.
"No I'm not," he replied his voice muffled.
"What do you want?" I asked him.
"There is no one here," he told me once again.
"Then why is someone answering my questions?" I had him there. I heard a groan of frustration and the sound of his feet stomping on the grass and back inside. I decided to go back inside as well.

I realised that, talking through the fence just then was the first interaction I had made with the boy next door other from sometimes seeing his parents getting into their cars but never with their son. I wanted more, to know more about him. But I remember that he pretented that he didn't exist and stormed off. He didn't seem like he wanted to talk much.