Jack

000
he was invisible for the first fifteen years. he was nonexistent, almost. he was just a thought somewhere in the back of my mind, the thought that i only occasionally visited when i was in primary and my mum would muse and urge me to go play with that 'funny boy next door.'

but i didn't want to get tangled up with him. he seemed like the kind of kid that would throw a tantrum if his mum refused to buy the 'good cereal' , right in the middle of the grocery store.

we were just neighbours for those first fifteen years. we gave each other plates of Christmas cookies when it was expected, and both flushed when we were forced to sing Christmas carols to each other. it was a mutual decision, to not engage with the other.

but then he decided that being my neighbour wasn't enough. i still remember what he was wearing, and what he smelled like. he smelled like downy laundry detergent, the one with lilacs on the bottle. and he smelled like me, faintly of my perfume. he smelled like peaches. i remember his last words to me. i remember that he loved to laugh at elephant jokes, his favourite smell was cigarette smoke, and his favourite type of gum was spearmint. i remember that he hated ketchup, and the taste of my blueberry flavoured lipgloss. but most of all i remember that he was good at lying. jack sterling was a religious liar.