Heart of Steel

Heart of Steel chapter 3

Heart of Steel Chapter 3

Charlie's POV

The house was a big two story building. Outside was a pale blue colour, the shutters a cream white, identical to the colour of the stairs that lead up to the front patio. We spent the whole first day unpacking the moving truck, back and forth, upstairs and downstairs.

By the end of the day we had everything in the house. It wasn't organised and everything was still in boxes but there was no way we were doing any more work that day.

Mum, dad and i were all slumped on the couch watching the TV - one of the only items fully unpacked - when the doorbell rang. I jumped up, wondering how i had the energy and opened the door. Standing there to greet me with a large steaming container in hand was a lady who looked in her mid thirties. She was grinning broadly and she held out her hand, balancing the container in her left.

"Well hello there, new neighbours!" I took her hand and shook it smiling.

"Hello there," I replied. 'I'm Charlie."

"Well a darn pleasure to meet you, Charlie. My name is Baxtin, Sue Baxtin." She laughed and shook her head. "I haven't been able to say that in a while!"

I laughed with her and moved to the side, gesturing towards the living room. "Come on in, Sue."

When she spotted my parents on the couch they both jumped up and greeted her. She was our next door neighbour, the big white house to our right. She had two sons and a daughter. Luke, Louie and Laila (I guessed she liked the letter L).

She had brought over a home-made lasagne and we ate it hungrily. In our rush to unpack everything and fix the house we hadn't eaten. Once we had finished eating we sat there, filled to the tip with food and made small talk, asking her about this town - Matestown Baye i think she called it. Mum and dad hadn't told me the name of the town when we were moving. They said it was a secret.

We talked about her kids. Luke was the oldest at 19, he was on his gap-year, traveling around the country with his closest friends. Laila was the second oldest at 16 and was at a movie with her friends. Sue said i would get along great with her. Then she had a toddler at 2 years of age, Louie. She said he was a brat but was still a good kid. He was sleeping on the couch with her husband Bill.

I felt a small pang of jealousy at the thought of having siblings to hang out with. An older brother to be teased by and a sister to talk to. I was also glad that  i had neighbours my age and Sue seemed nice.

The conversation was going well until Sue asked me about my life at my old town.

"So, Charlie. What was your old school like?" She looked at me curiously and mum and dad eyes turned on me, looking worried.

I hesitated, thinking of a good reply. "Um...well I-"

I was cut off as mum put her hand over mine. Sue must have sensed something was going on and she frowned slightly, even more curious then before. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

I locked eyes with her and she smiled. "I don't remember," i said simply as i shrugged.

She cocked her head to the side and looked at mum then back at me. "What do you mean you don't remember?" I could see a million possbilities of situations flow through her mind as she studied me.

"I had an accident and lost my memory. The doctors said it should have come back by now but it hasn't. That's why we moved here, to start a new life." I smiled and Sue gave me a look of pity.

I hate that look. I got pity for something that i didnt even remember happening. "You poor girl. What happened?" I could have answered her that one. I would have but i didn't remember that either. All i knew is it was a car crash but i didn't know the details so mum filled her in. I didn't really listen though. I was too busy thinking about what would have happened if i didn't have the crash. Would i have friends? A good life and school? Or will it be better this way. Start a new.