The Good, The Bad and The Broken

one must not tell lies

"I choose you. And I'll choose you over and over and over again. Without a pause, without a doubt in a heartbeat. I'll keep choosing you."

Alyx POV

My parents were standing at the window when I got home from boxing. I walked pasted them but my mother pulled me to stand next to them. Rude. A noise made me turn to see what they were looking at. It was a moving truck. The house next door to us had been empty for ages. I could tell that my parents were really glad that it wasn't going to be lonely for much longer.

Making my way up the stairs to my bedroom, I checked my phone for messages. There was only one, from Melanie. I swiped my phone open and went into the messages. After a glance, I could tell that the entire message was going to be about her ranting about a certain person. James. They had a sort of friends with benefits relationship.

Little did he know that Melanie was not very happy about that particular situation. But he was the biggest player and wouldn't change his ways for her. I warned Melanie that he would only hurt her and that she should never have become involved with him. Obviously, it did not work out very well for either of us.

I could see into one of the rooms of my new neighbour. Their light was off. The architect hadn't put privacy into perspective. I turned the light on in my room just as Freddie ran in screaming. "THERE'S A-A-A SPIDER IN MY ROOM!" He cried. I ruffed his hair and laughed. He pouted and crossed his arms. For someone that acted so brave, he sure was afraid of petty things.

"Okay, I'll go get rid of it for you." I folded up an old magazine on my vanity and walked into his room. Fred followed closely behind me. "Where is it?" I asked him. He pointed towards his bed and I peered in the direction. Sure enough, there was a teeny, tiny little spider that I could fit onto my fingernail.

Still, I used the magazine to vanquish the unwanted intruder. I picked up the bug with a tissue and held it in front of my brother's face. I'm an older sibling after all. He jerked away sharply. I giggled and took the spider to the bathroom. With one push of the flush button, the enemy was never to be seen again, washed down into the sewer.

"Alyx! Freddie! Come downstairs, we're going to say hi to the new neighbours." My mum called up the stairs.

"They've just moved in, shouldn't we wait for them to settle in?" I questioned. But to be honest, I just didn't feel like interacting with people then. Looking down the stair shaft, I saw my mum's determined face and I set my mixed feelings aside. Fred blew a raspberry at me.

"You're scared of mum." He teased. I gasped, mocking hurt and then lunging towards him to tickle him. He fell to the ground vying for breath in between giggles. When I heard footsteps echoing up the stairs, I stepped away from Fred. He was right, I was scared of my mum. But who wasn't?

"Alyx." She warned. I gave her a sheepish smile and followed her down the stairs.

We walked out of the house together after my dad grabbed a bottle of wine for the new neighbours. The grey house next to us finally had the lights on. Just the lights made it look more pleasant. My dad stepped up to ring the doorbell and we waited. Very soon, footsteps made their way over and the door opened.

A bright looking, middle aged woman was on the other side. A man, probably her husband, followed close behind. "Hi, I'm Jennifer and this is my husband Matthew." My mum introduced herself to our new neighbours. She extended her hand and the woman shook it, followed by the man.

"I'm Monica. And this is my husband, David." She signalled to her husband. Her accent. It was Australian. But at the time, I didn't consider her relation to Ryder. "Ryder!" Monica called out. By then, I definitely thought about their relation. When I caught sight of Ryder's bright green eyes, my heart skipped a beat.