The New Girl

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I parked my car outside Diana's house and got out. I walked up to her door and rang the doorbell. I have been to her house earlier before; it's a beautiful 2 story house and a garage to the right side and a swing on the porch. Her house has that warm homey feeling with its light cream colour. I knocked on the door. When after a while nobody opened, I raised my hand to knock but the door flew open and there stood a person who was definitely not Diana. Instead, there was a guy, who was probably older than me by a few years, wearing a black t-shirt with some cartoon character on it and basketball shorts.

"Who are you?" we both said together. He raised one of his eyebrows while I chuckled realizing how we spoke together.

"Well, this is my house so you should tell me who you are and why are you here?" the guy said.

"Are you Jeremy? Diana's brother?" I asked, figuring it out and also recognising him from the pictures Diana showed.

The guy, Jeremy nodded slowly, maybe trying to figure out how I know him so to clear his confusion I said, "Sorry. Hi, I am Thea, Diana's friend."

"Jeremy, as you know, Diana's brother. Come on in," he said, opening the door wider so I can get in. I walked inside the house, while he closed the door and turned to face Jeremy.

"Is she in her room?"

"Yeah, she is there with Tyler and Stella."

"Okay. Thanks."

I walked up the stairs to her room on the left and knocked. I heard a faint 'come in' and went inside. I saw Tyler and Diana sitting on the bed and Stella sitting on the bean bag next to the bed, all three watching something on the laptop. Diana turned her head and grinned when she saw it was me.

"Hey. Come here watch this." She said. I walked to her bed, stood next to it and saw that they were watching a video of an old lady who was scolding a guy, who must be in his twenties, because of his tattooed arms and the guy actually looked guilty or embarrassed maybe. The old lady was ranting on about how irresponsible people are these days and she would also slap the guy's head from time to time. It was funny to watch a tall, well-built guy being scolded by a short, old lady. We all laughed together and watched the whole video. Once the video was over, Diana jumped out of her and said, "Come on. Let's go to your place. I want to know what you have to tell us and also see your place too. The suspense is killing me."

She went inside the bathroom while we waited for her to come outside. Tyler also jumped out of bed and gave me a big bear hug and Stella laughed at his show of affection. I smiled and hugged him back. I realized that Tyler loves to hug, at least me for some reason I don't know but I like hugging too so it's ok. Just as we pulled away, Diana came out and said, "Let's go people. I am waiting. Geez you guys take a lot of time."

We laughed and got out of her room. Tyler, Stella and l walked out of the house while Diana told her brother about her plans for today that she was staying at my place. We reached my car when Diana came out running. Tyler said, "Hey you have a nice car. Why don't you drive to school only, instead of walking?"

"I like walking and school is not so away. It's barely 10 minutes route." I answered, unlocking the car and sitting on the driver's side.

He nodded and got in the passenger seat while Diana and Stella sat at the back. We listened to songs the whole way home. I was starting to feel nervous as we got closer. When I finally noticed the gate of my house, Tyler turned to me, looking confused and said, "Why are we going to the Walter mansion?"

'Of course, he knew about the Walter mansion', I thought sarcastically.

It was normal for people to know about our home because it is after all my grandfather's place and he was quite a respected person in our city. Although there have been a few changes in the house from the inside but it's the same from the outside. I don't think anyone will believe that this place was built almost 50 years ago but it was. Nobody really did built mansions like this back then when this place was built but that's my grandfather for you, always doing something extraordinary.

"I'll explain everything," I said, entering through the main gate. I parked the car in front of the mansion and said, "Let's go inside and I'll tell you guys whatever you are wondering."

They all nodded and stepped out of the car. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths before getting out. All three of them were looking around with wide eyes.

"It's a beautiful house," Diana said.

"Mansion, it's a beautiful mansion." Tyler corrected. They all nodded in agreement.  I couldn't help myself but smile softly.

"Let's just go inside," I said while walking to the main door. I opened the door and gestured for them to go in.  They let out a 'wow' in unison.

"Do you need anything dear?" said Mary, our housekeeper. She is a sweet old lady who treats us like her own children and has been working with our family since Eric was young. So, she is pretty much like our aunt.

"No thanks, Aunt Mary. We are going to the living room and we'll come if we need anything later." I replied. I went towards the living room and looked back to see if my friends were following and they were.

When we finally got settled in the living room, I turned to my friends and said, "Okay. Where do you want me to begin?"

"Why do you live here?"

"How come you live here?"

"Is it what I think it is?" said, Tyler.

These were the responses. I get that they were confused but I couldn't help but chuckle. I thought for a moment about how to begin.

"Okay, so my name is Thea but it's not John it's Walter. So, I am Thea Walter."  "I knew it!" yells Tyler. I continued, "I moved here with my brothers from New York so I could have a normal teenage life in the city my grandpa grew up in. I had to keep my identity hidden because my whole life, people would only be my friends because of my family's status, not because of me and I hated it. So, when I moved here, I got my name to be registered as Thea John so no one will recognize me as there is not a proper picture of me in the media, it was pretty easy. At first, I thought that I'll just go to school to have the experience I want and keep my identity hidden but then I met you guys and I knew that I had to tell you what the truth was and this is it."

I finished talking and observed their reactions. Stella was smiling softly, which was motivating and frankly relieving. Diana squealed and was grinning big. Tyler had an expression which was somewhat amused and somewhat serious.

"I guessed it as soon as you drove in here," Tyler said. I smiled nervously at them.

"It's okay Thea. We understand and we are glad that you can trust us with your secret. We promise you won't regret it." Stella said on behalf of all three of them. Diana and Tyler nodded in agreement and smiled. I got up and hugged them all real tight and said, "Thanks for understanding guys and for not being mad about it."

"Don't be silly. Why would we be mad? If I were in the same situation, I would have done the same thing. So, relax." Diana said, assuring me.

"Is this a good time to say 'I told you so'?", a voice said from behind.