My family shared a villa with another, we had the ground floor while they took the first. We were new in the neighborhood, and coming from a modest family, I didn't mingle with our upstairs neighbors other than an occasional hello to the mother. I'd seen the father on a couple occasions but never their son. From what I'd heard, he was an only child and the family liked to keep to themselves.
One day, as I was coming back from school, I entered through the front gate but had the strangest sensation: it was too quiet, as if someone had orchestrated it that way. Reflexively, I looked up, only to wretch back.
It was a boy. He couldn't have been more than 16 - my age - but the way he was standing there frightened me. He was looking directly at me.
On top of that, he had his arms spread to his side, gripping both ends of the window. The glass was closed, and I could barely see anything more than his silhouette.
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But the way he was pressed up against the glass - no movements at all - made me freeze. It looked as if he was trying to break the window with the amount of force he was putting on it with his body. I stood there with no clue what to do, when I saw two hands grip the boy's shoulders and pull him inside; the curtains were then shut.
Whoever had pulled him in, didn't want to be seen.
I shuddered and went in my house, telling my mother what had happened. My father found out about the incident and went to talk to our neighbors. When he came back, he looked embarrassed. The neighbors had informed him their son was suffering from mental problems and was prone to staring out the window; his doctor had said it was therapeutic.
My father felt he had intruded, and was embarrassed for bringing it up. My parents told me to just ignore the boy from then on and that I should try to be nice to him if I did see him.
Feeling the same way, I started following through and whenever I saw the boy, I would wave at him in a friendly manner. I still hadn't seen much of him other than his silhouette at the window.
Over the next few days, I noticed the boy had started to show up everyday at the window, and it was as if he was waiting specifically for me. I didn't bring this suspicion up with my parents, because I knew they would just dismiss it.
What I also noticed, was how the boy's mannerisms changed. At first, he would stand like a child at the window, as if waiting for a treat. Now, however, he would stand upright, like he was waiting for something that was his property.
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