Life Moves On • Zach Herron

fifteen

friday evening

"wow this place is so cool i can't believe you used to live here" jonah says looking out of the window of our uber at the familiar streets of LA "yeah i guess it's pretty cool but you get used to it after a while"

"so when we get to my parents house i think we are staying in for a bit and then we are going to meet the new neighbours and have dinner with them at 8:30" i go over our plans for the night and jonah nods along even though he's already heard me say this multiple times

we come to a stop and i look out the window at my house before thanking the driver and collecting our bags and walking up the driveway

i knock on the door because i'm still not confident enough to just open the door and walk in

"why are you knocking? this is your house isn't it?" jonah asks laughing at me "i don't wanna just walk in" i say and smile

the door opens and i turn around, my mom greets us both with a big smile

"hi guys come in!" she says and we both go in "so you must be jonah?" my dad asks when he sees us "yes that's me" jonah says and my dad smiles

"i'm jon, it's nice to meet you! i've heard good things about you" he says looking from me to jonah and smiling

"nice to meet you too" jonah says and my mom walks in "hi i'm karen" my mom introduces herself and gives jonah a little welcome hug

"okay so make yourselves at home, jonah your in the guest room, jas can you show him where it is?" my mom says and i nod "sure come on jo"

we walk upstairs and i show jonah into the guest room which is next to mine "wow this is a guest room?" jonah says looking around "yeah" i say and jonah's eyes go wide "wow"

i laugh "come on i'll show you around" i say and jonah puts his bags down and then follows me

"so this is my room" i say opening the door and then putting my bags down on the floor "wow this is beautiful and i thought the guest room was nice, this is just on another level"

i laugh and then carry on showing him round the different rooms in my parents house

"do you think you'll ever move back to LA again? like full time i mean" jonah asks, we have come down to the kitchen and i am pouring us both some coffee

"maybe, not while i'm in college of course and i wouldn't want to leave you so i don't know yet" jonah nods and takes a sip of his coffee "it's so nice here, i might move here at some point in the future"

"we're leaving to go next door in 10 minutes so if you need to do anything, do it now" my dad shouts to us from the other room

"okay" i say and we go upstairs, i put on some mascara and some light lipstick, i see jonah looking at me "what?" i ask and laugh

"nothing" he says smiling "gotta make a good impression don't i? oh and if they have a cute son our age i have to look at least half decent"

jonah laughs and shakes his head at me

~~~

"nice to meet you i'm keri and this is my husband jeff" the woman who greets us when the door opens says

"nice to meet you too, i'm jon this is my wife karen, this is our daughter jasmine and that's her friend jonah" my dad introduces us all

"come on in! dinner should be ready in about 30 minutes and our two kids should be home soon" keri says, i hope they aren't little kids and that they are my age so i have friends when i come to LA to visit my parents

the sound of the door opening behind us makes me turn around and i see a blonde haired girl who looks a few years younger than me she smiles and keri introduces her to us all "this is my daughter anna and anna these are our neighbours jon, karen, jasmine and jonah" she points to us as she says our names

"hi nice to meet you all" anna says with a smile "have you seen your brother at all or do you know when he's coming home?" keri asks anna "yeah he text me saying to tell you he's stuck in traffic but he's nearly home, apparently he tried calling you but you didn't answer"

i wonder who the brother is and if he's cute, i looked around the room we are in and i can't seem to see any pictures of their kids, maybe they haven't finished unpacking yet and that's why

the adults start getting to know each other and anna comes over to me and jonah and she starts talking to us

"hey" she says "hi" i say and jonah just smiles at her "so have you guys lived in LA your whole life?"

"yeah well until i went to minnesota for college and that's where i met jonah" i say "i've lived in minnesota my about 5 years now" jonah tells anna

"oh are you guys dating?" anna asks "no we're just friends" jonah says and i nod

"sorry it's just when you said that's where i met jonah i thought you were dating" she says with a nervous laugh

"yeah we're just friends" i tell her "okay well you mentioned college, my brother is a college student, i'm still in high school though"

"oh that's cool so your brother is probably about our age then, how old are you?" i ask "sixteen" she says and i nod

our conversation is interrupted when a voice shouts "i'm home sorry i'm late" from another room

"my brothers home" anna says and we both nod and wait for him to come into the room

"your home! i want you to meet the neighbours jon, karen, jasmine and jonah" keri says

"hi nice to meet you all, i'm daniel" i turn around and look at him, daniel seavey?

well here's another reminder of my past.

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word count~1067
and now we let the games begin 😂