ᴘᴇᴅʀᴏ ᴘᴀꜱᴄᴀʟ ᴏɴᴇ-ꜱʜᴏᴛꜱ

ᴏɴᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴍᴀɴʏ | ᴊ. ᴍɪʟʟᴇʀ

The man turned in shock, looking at the boy. "Oh- Yeah! Just got 'er last week." He smiled. "You like trucks?" The man asked. Staring down at the two boys sharing a bag of Doritos. Joel shrugged. "I like this one." He admitted. He wasn't super into cars or trucks, but he could recognize a cool looking car. "I'm Joel- this is my brother Tommy." He introduced. "We live next door."

Carrying a couple boxes in his arms, the man struggled for a moment before finding a way to reach out a single hand. "Scott. My wife Lori is on her way-" Joel shook the man's hand before telling Tommy to do the same. As the older man pulled back, he called out. "Y/N-" he turned to the boys. "My daughter seems to be around your age, maybe you three can be friends." He smiled kindly.

Before long, the little girl Tommy had been watching earlier came walking out of the house. She looked rather glum he noticed. "Honey- these are your neighbours. I thought you might want to say 'Hello'." Her father mentioned. The girl looked at the two boys. Slightly shorter than the younger one. "Oh... Hi." She smiled faintly. Her father left them to mingle and chat, watching from afar and hoping that maybe this new introduction might lift his daughters' spirits.

Joel smiled at her. He looked at her blue jeans and her pink sneakers before settling on her t-shirt. "No way! You like street fighter too?" He asked excitedly. Noticing the video game characters imprinted on her grey tee. The girl's cheeks flushed and suddenly she felt herself nodding. "Yeah- My dad lets me play with him sometimes!" She admitted. It was probably one of the things her mother disliked most, but Y/N didn't mind. She really liked getting to do things with her dad, and video games were one of her favourites.

"I have it in my room but if you want to play sometime I could probably have my dad set it up in the garage." He admitted. They had done things like that before for him and tommy throughout the summer. Sometimes it was just way too hot to stay cooped up in the bedrooms all day. Loosening up a little, Y/N nodded. "That sounds like fun-" it didn't take long before the three of them had sat down on the curb, Tommy offering Y/N some of the Doritos. What felt like a twenty minute conversation had quickly turned into hours. Y/N's father having completely unpacked the vehicle and boxes in the house while the children formed a bond. The children walked around the culdesac for hours, Joel and Tommy showing Y/N all the best spots for hide and seek. They took her to the park, through the small trails- and made sure to show her where the morning bus stop was. "You have to get here early, otherwise the older kids take all of the good seats." Joel mentioned. "You're going to Butler right?" He asked softly- mentioning the name of their school. It was a K-10 considering the area was small in population, so everyone had to share.

Y/N nodded. "Yeah, I don't know my teachers yet." She admitted. School was probably her biggest worry. Tommy smiled. "Well, you already made two friends- the rest will be easy." He promised. They walked to the park swings and sat- Joel giving his brother a push while Y/N decided just to hang. The sun had set long ago and the skies were covered in shades of purple and pink. It really was pretty. As they stared up at the stars, Y/N felt the nervous feeling in her stomach float away- maybe living in this neighbourhood wasn't going to be that bad. Joel and Tommy had taken her in immediately, she didn't have to worry about being alone.

The younger miller brother hummed as he swung high. "I think were gonna be friends forever!" He declared. His determined young brow furrowing. Joel laughed as he stepped out of the way- not feeling like being pushed down by a flying swing. "We can't live forever Tommy." He chuckled. Y/N smiled softly, pressed her cheek against the chains as she looked at the pretty sky once more. Forever sounded pretty good.

Fast forward a couple years, Y/N and the millers had grown exponentially close. Ever since the day she moved in she and they boys had become inseparable. If she wasn't with one of them, she was always with the other. Around the town they had become known as quite the troublemakers, usually Tommy and Y/N were up to no good and Joel would have to come sort them out. Tommy loved to pull a meaningless prank, and Y/N never wanted to be left out.