The "Girl Next Door" is Cliche for a Reason

Chapter 1: Was the Doorbell Always Broken?

Nate's mother called up the stairs for him to hurry down. He had hoped that if he stayed out of sight long enough, he wouldn't be dragged over to greet the new neighbors. The house across the street hadn't held an occupant for longer than two years. Anytime there was a new neighbor on their block, his mother insisted that they all go to greet them. Nate made his way down the stairs and saw his mother and father standing by the door chatting with each other happily while his sister stared up from the bottom of the stairs, waiting for her brother. According to his friends, it was rare to see parents get along as well as his did. Most of the houses on the block were occupied with a couple and their children. The rare house contained a single person living there, visitors staying over for long periods of times, some of them with accents. A small portion of the houses contained divorced families; the single parent sometimes more attentive than those that lived as a 'happy' couple.

"I would have preferred if you changed your outfit into something nicer, but who are we trying to impress," his mother stated with a shrug of her shoulders. She was wearing a dress, but dresses were part of her casual outfits. She once told him that girls wearing dresses were sometimes the smarter ones because then they didn't have to pair bottoms to their top, taking less time in their day to get ready.

As a family, they walked over to the new neighbor's house. His father carried the mac and cheese his mother had made while she joked about how much simpler it would have been if she just brought over a few boxes from Kraft.

"They've got a dog," Ellie told her older brother.

"Spying on the neighbors already, Elizabeth?" He teased her, bumping her lightly on the shoulder, "soon enough you'll be like Mrs. Dursley who couldn't keep her eyes or ears to herself." Ellie blushed at the comment, but Nate tossed an arm around her shoulders to let her know it was a joke. "What kind of dog?"

"I think it was a boxer," Ellie replied with a small smile. Their mom knocked on the door, knowing fully well that the doorbell hadn't worked for the last three occupants that lived there. No one had even bothered to do more than prod at it a few times, scratch their head and call it a day. A man opened the door wearing a dirty white shirt, loose jeans and a bandana in his pocket, which he grabbed to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He hadn't shaved in a few weeks and he had dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't been sleeping well.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting guests so soon. We just finished unloading, but please come in," he greeted, holding the door open for the family. He had a lot of muscle that seemed to be acquired from work rather than the gym, only defined when he flexed it moving stuff.

"It's not a problem, we just thought we should stop by and give you all some food since we know most people don't have the time to cook their first few days in a new place," Nate's father said as his wife handed over the mac and cheese.

"Hey, Lex! Could you please come out here," the man called out toward the back of the house. The siblings took in that there was little furniture around the house. They always took bets on the new family.

"Five bucks they're a married couple upgrading their house size and she's pregnant," Nate whispered into his sister's ear.

"Five says he's divorced and she's the new, younger mistress," Ellie whispered back as they shook hands.

A teenage girl came out from behind a large stack of boxes wearing ripped skinny jeans and a shirt that was a bit too small, showing off her belly button. Her light brown hair was pulled into a messy bun, a few shorter strands framing her face. She immediately moved to cover her stomach when she saw they had guests. A boxer mix followed behind her, eagerly wagging his tail. Lexi had to catch a box that the boxer knocked over as he tried to quickly greet their guests. Nate instantly recognized the shy girl.