It All Started with a Beanie

(3)

I walk up to the dark blue door and ring the doorbell, stepping back after. It takes a second or two and Camden comes to the door.

"Hey. Come in." He opens the door wider and steps back, allowing me to enter. I walk in and hear Camden close the door behind me. I look around, noticing it looks bigger on the inside than it does on the outside. It's pretty much an open floor concept, besides the staircase sitting in front of you right when you walk in.

"This place is huge." I follow him to the dining room, where he has paper, a textbook, pencils, and a calculator already laid out.

"Oh, yeah. This isn't actually my house. It's my friend's but I'm crashing here for a while." I nod in understanding, not questioning him. He sits down and I do the same, in the seat next to his. "Wanna get started?" I nod and take out my things.

Half an hour later, we take a break. We've went through four topics and finished half of my work already, considering the majority of it is worksheets with notes here and there.

"Wow. I'm actually learning." We both laugh and Camden walks toward the kitchen, opening the fridge.

"Want anything?" 

"Got any blueberry muffins?"

Camden looks at me, a little confused. "Blueberry muffins?"

"Yeah. I love blueberry muffins. They're literally the best thing ever." He laughs and begins looking around the kitchen, for muffins I assume. "It's fine if you can't find any; I'm not a picky eater." But just as I say that, he comes out of the pantry with a box of blueberry muffins.

"Well to your luck, Mrs. Shannon brought some muffins home from work." He hands me one and I begin eating it, loving the taste. I guess this Mrs. Shannon is a baker and if she is, she's a really good one.

A few minutes after, someone walks in the door. I hear the voice of a woman, a child, and an older man.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" A woman walks towards the dining room. 

"In here." Camden calls from the kitchen, making himself some eggs. 

"Have you seen N-" She pauses when she sees me. "Oh. I didn't know we had a guest. I'm Shannon Stevens." Her British accent catches me off guard. She walks closer and outstretches her hand. I shake her manicured hand, colored with french tips on her nails. She has a medium shade of brown hair and green eyes. Her eyes remind me of someone else's, but I can't quite pin on who it is.

"I'm Erin. Erin Walker." She shakes my hand and a man walks in with a young girl on his hip. The girl looks like the man, who I'm assuming is her father. He has dark brown hair with dark brown eyes while the child bears the same hair but the same eyes of Mrs. Stevens, who I'm assuming is her daughter.

"This is my husband, Zach, and my daughter, Charlotte. My son's not home right now, but he probably will be soon." I shake the hand of Zach and wave at Charlotte, who buries her face in her dad. Zach slightly laughs and begins rubbing her back.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Stevens." Mrs. Stevens gives me a smile, showcasing her picture-perfect white teeth. But after, she waves off her hand.

"Please. Call me Shannon. I'm not that old." She chuckles at the end and so do I.

"And Zach is fine with me." I nod, understanding.

"Hey, Cam. Do you know when he'll be back?" Shannon walks in the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water with ice and a lemon. I assume she's talking about her son. I wonder if I know him.

"He said he was going to the gym to blow off some steam from something that happened at school today and then pick up Ollie and Liv to chill for a while. Their parents went out of town for a while to care for Kate's mom, who's in the hospital. So they might ask to crash here some nights, since they don't like being in their house with just them at night; their neighborhood isn't the best." Shannon nods, understanding completely.