The girl next door

Chapter 1

James-
I wake up this morning and see a moving truck outside the house next door. "Guess the house finally sold." I say to myself. I'm about to walk away but then I see this girl walk to the back of the truck. I lean on the window sill paying closer attention to her. She has light brown hair down a bit past her shoulders. She's wearing Jean shorts, a a blue tank top and converse. She carry's a box into the house. I don't know why but I can't stop looking at her. "James!" I hear my mothers voice yell from down the hall. I turn to the voice. "Your gonna be late for dance hon!" She says. I rub my eyes tired and go get dressed for dance.

Riley-
"Here's the last one riles." My dad says carrying a box up the stairs. I grab it from him and put it on top of another one. Moving to this new house was crazy. Emily was no help with carrying anything and mom and dad wouldn't stop screaming at each other the whole drive. My dad went back downstairs and after a couple minutes all I hear was yelling. They've been having problems for a while. My dad lost his job, so they decided to move out here where there are more job opportunities. He got a position at some company, and the moneys good. But every once and a while my mom throws him getting fired in his face, and just escalates the argument. After listening for a bit I close and lock the door, throw on a hoodie, braid my hair so it's out of my face and start unpacking my boxes.

While I'm standing on a chair to hang up my curtains, because I'm short as fuck, I see the neighbors outside. There's a boy my age with dark hair playing with who i assume are his little sisters. One looks around 4, and one is probably in middle school. It kind of lightens the mood, but I still don't like this new town. I already know I'm gonna hate it.

James-
After dance we're eating dinner at the table. My mom on the end, and Amelia and Lilly across from me and piper. "So did you see we have some new neighbors?" My mom says with her mouth full of pasta. "Uh yeah it's great it finally sold." I tell her. That house has been on the market for ages. People would come look at it, and my mom would rant about if she thought they'd make good neighbors or not. But I couldn't care less about the house. I wanted to meet that girl.

The next day my mom made all of us go and welcome us to the neighborhood. It seemed really cheesy. But the girls all had dance so those lucky shits didn't have to. We walk up the steps and my mom takes one hand off the pie she brought, and knocks on the door. I lean on the wall and wait for someone to open the door. The girl I saw from my window answers. "Hi can I help you?" She says. She has the softest voice and the most beautiful brown eyes. "Hi yes! We live right next door and I thought I'd bring you a little something to welcome you to the neighborhood." My mom says. "Oh thank you, um do you want me to go get my mom?" She says while my mom sticks the pie in her hands. "Oh no it's fine I'll meet her another day. My name is Deborah and this is James." My mom says pointing to me. I stick out my hand and she shakes it. "Riley." She says looking into my eyes. We break the eye contact and I put my hand back in my pocket while my mom rambles on about the neighborhood and my siblings. "Um mom why don't we get back it's getting late." I tell her. She nods and we start walking back. "Goodnight." I tell Riley with a slight smile before she closes the door.

That night I'm trying to finish math my homework at my desk. My mom wanted me places in the advanced classes so I'll be prepared for college, but I'm failing. And if she finds out I'm out of dance. I look out the window for a little bit to give my brain a rest. That's when I see Riley again. This time wearing nothing but a baggy sweatshirt, and her hair in a braid. She's taking out the trash and putting it in the bin with what I'm assuming to be her mother following her. She's yelling and motioning with her hands. Riley yells back. I can't hear what their saying but I don't think it's anything good. Riley puts her hands in the air in defeat and walks back towards the house. That's when I look at my phone, see the time and decide to call it a night.