Behind His Walls

Prologue

"You'll love it here," the lady who I will be staying with screamed with joy. "We have a swimming pool out in the back, and a park just a few minutes away, and everyone is so kind!"

If only I was as excited as her.

        You're probably wondering why I'm moving in with an overly excited woman, who I don't know the name of, and why I wasn't excited. Well, the answer is simple. My grandmother was diagnosed with cancer a few days ago and my mother, being her only daughter, decided to move in with her. I wouldn't mind, I love my grandma, the only problem is she lives in Arkansa. My life has always been here in Florida and I wasn't going to change that four months before the end of my senior year of highschool. Why don't I stay with my dad, you might ask. I would be happy to, only I dont remember him, he walked out on my mother when I was five. Anyway enough with my sob story and onto my situation now. Shortly after deciding to move in with her mother, my mom called a close friend of hers from highschool and in two days it was arranged. I would be staying with her till further notice.

"-and the school is walking distance and your going to love the house."

Oh she was still talking?

"The only problem is your room," she said gazing upstairs.

I looked at her, I've always had my own room and I sure hoped it wouldn't change now. I shut my eyes waiting for my fate to be decided upon.

"I'm afriad my oldest son refused to give up his room, I'm extremely sorry. Guess chivalry is dead with your generation huh," She met my eyes, gloomily. "I begged him, but he just wouldn't" she kept ramlbling on.

"It's okay," I cut her off with a smile.

I was too busy comping up with the list of complaints I was going to babble off to my mother about when she called later today. The first one being how she didn't mention anything about her friend having kids.

"Oh thank god you don't mind, my other son isn't as bad I promise." her smile was radiant.

Another son? God could this get any worse?

"You'll love my youngest son though, he's an angel." she spoke foundly of him.

I spoke too soon.

"Here have a seat while I call them all down,"

I hadn't even noticed that we were still standing, I followed her as she led the way to the living room and sat me down with a smile that didnt seem to ever leave her face.

"I'll be right back with all of them," she called back to me as she made her way upstairs.

"Louis, please come meet our guest. I think she's your age." I hear her loud voice from upstairs.

"Like I care, why is she burdening us with her presence again?" a snort followed the raspy voice.

I smiled, I wasn't the type of person to let others comments get to me. I actually enjoyed a good quarrel. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I was the only child and never really got in trouble at home.

"Louis!" his mothers voice was startled, "you better come down in five minutes or I'll take your car keys," she threatened.

A few minutes later she came down, a smile plastered on her face, as though nothing had happened, two figures closely behind her.

"Laura, this is Tate," the mother, who I still didn't know the name of, introduced a young boy.

"Hey Laura!" he came closer to shake my hand, "I'm Tate, and I'm eleven," He shook my hand firmly and smiled, then made himself comfortable beside me. 

"And this is Dylan," she said, as she stepped out of the way for him to come closer.

"Hey," the boy named Dylan said, a head nod followed shortly.

I gave him a warm smile, "Hey Dylan," 

I finally took in his features, he was a tall guy with broad shoulders and a tan body, He had blonde hair and freckles covered every bit of his cheeks, he wore a goofy smile as he snuck a look at his phone. I nodded my head, as I subconsciously admitted to myself that he looked really good for a guy in sweats and a nike t-shirt. 

"Louis should be down any minute," the mother said, catching me off guard.

"We all know that's not true mom," Dylan pointed out, somewhat annoyed. That got him a stern look from his mother. 

"Why don't you three get to know each other while I call him down once more," she gave Dylan a push and headed up stairs, muttering something about how dumb boys are. 

"So, what's up?" Dylan asked as he made himself comfortable on a chair, opposite of mine. 

"Nothing really, I mean I move in with people I don't know every day." I joked. I really hoped he got my joke, I had a problem with being too sarcastic to the point where people couldn't tell if I was being serious or not. Trust me, it was a problem. 

"Well it's good that you're used to it, wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable or anything," he gave me a toothy grin. 

I''m pretty sure my mind did a little happy dance, I didn't blame it, this kid not only caught onto my sarcasm but was sarcastic himself. I was loving it here already.

"My mom mentioned that you are a senior in highschool, right?" he changed the subject as he took in my appearance.

"Yeah," I nodded, "how old are you?"

"Seventeen and a junior in highschool," he replied proudly.

"I'm actually seventeen too," I said, "I skipped first grade," I answered his confused look.

"I like a smart woman," at first I thought it was Dylan who said that, but I then realized it was Tate. Dylan and I shared an amused look before we both cracked up, only to be interrupted by yelling coming from upstairs.

"Fine, I'll go say hi to her, and make her feel welcome. Just don't expect us to put on a facade of the perfect family that we aren't" a hoarse voice all but yelled. 

        Seconds later a masculine figure appeared, a guy who I assumed to be Louis, approached me, shook my hand and offered a really fake smile and headed straight to the kitchen.

        He was tall, taller than Dylan, and his mouth didn't twitch into a smile in the mere thirty seconds we interacted. His facial features were smooth, round but stiff. He wore a  plain, solid-colored shirt and a pair of dark-washed jeans. His hair was dark and messy, it seemed as if he were aroused from a deep sleep before coming downstairs. I don't know why but I was taken back by how different he was from everyone else in his family, he was distant, rude and most importanly he didn't wear a smile. I shook my head, not able to fathom why he was so different, and turned my attention back to Dylan and Tate. To my surprise they both held an expression i never thought I'd see masking their face; a pained expression. 

        Louis passed by us again, on his way back upstairs, and gave his mom a bitter smile and a few seconds later the whole house shook with the slam of his door. 

Three pairs of eyes turned and stared at me, "He's not always like this," the mother apologized. 

"Mom, please stop kidding yourself," Dylan rolled his eyes and awkwardly got up and headed upstairs, Tate followed shortly. No doors were slammed this time, but it was evident that it was a regular occurence in this house. 

"I'm Katherine, by the way," the mother finally introduced herself, "and I admit my family is a little messed up, but I hope you like it here,"

Little did I know that a little messed up appeared to be an understatement with the Rileys'.

                                                                       ~~~~~~

Hey! So this is my third attempt at writing a decent story, third times a charm right? Anyway, I hope you liked the prologue and please leave any feedback down below! :)