Chapter 4: And this is my room.
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The first thing Christina notices as she steps through the front door is a mass of blond curls. These curls belong to a short woman peering through an open oven door.
"Hey Mom. You're home early." Tristan casually remarks before turning to Christina. "Apple?"
Before Christina has a chance to respond, the oven closes and the lady looks towards them, removing a pair of run down oven mitts. "Hi Sweetie. I got off of work early, since it was just an introduction day. Who's this?"
Christina feels her face get warm, like being dipped in a pot of boiling water. The more she opens her mouth, the tighter her throat closes. Tristan notices her nervousness, and interjects before her stuttering fills the empty noise. "This is Chris, or Christina I guess you can call her. She 's the girl down the street, and she's really smart and stuff, and now we're going up to my room, so bye, see you at dinner." Tristan's hand slips arout her slender wrist and tugs her at the direction of the stairs. The warm hand guides her up the stairs and around a railing, in a house parallel to her own. It's as if walking into an alternate dimension when she walks through the doorway of what would be her room - her safe zone - and is greeted only with dark blue walls and sports posters: instead of stuffed animals and a bookshelf, she finds a TV and video games. She hears a voice utter, "...and this is my room," but when the same voice remarks "make yourself at home," its a task she finds as impossible as the parallel world she just chanced upon. She awkwardly sits on the edge of the window seat as the strange boy flops his back onto the bed, causing the loud springs to groan.
Tristan stares at the girl a few moments. The fading light of the window glows around her, giving her brown hair a majestic appearance and causing her green eyes to light up. After absorbing this, Tristan breaks the silence, "So do you play video games?"
The green eyes stare at him. "...What?"
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Three hours and four shooter games later, with a dinner break, Christina and Tristan are racing around the board trying to beat each other at Mario Kart.
"That's not fair! You got the power-up!" Tristan yells as Christina passes him, and the finish line. He's only acknowledged with a cheeky smile.
Christina's eyes glance at the clock as a single word comes to mind: homework. Her timid voice sounds. "I should be heading home. I'll see you tomorrow."
Tristan's disappointment is evident through his blue eyes, but he stands. "Don't say bye yet. I'll walk you home." The walk home is silent, as the cool night breeze kisses their cheeks and noses. As Christina enters her house, she a barley audible bye escapes her lips before the door gently shuts.
Tristan stands a few moments under the porch light. "...Bye."
YOU ARE READING
The Boy Down the Street
Teen FictionChristina Olivers is the shy girl, the book worm. She doesn't talk to anyone, and no one talks to her. That's just the way it's always been. Tristan Mayher is the new boy, the nice kid - to Christina at least. It doesn't make sense that he's a jo...
