"And we're all getting older wishin' we were young
Hangin' on the memory of what we would become"
---
I wake up at 8 on Saturday morning, ready to work. I take a quick shower, letting my long brown hair airdry as I slip on a pair of leggings and an old band tee. I didn't want to try too hard considering I'd be around toddlers all day.
"Laci! Someone's at the door for you!" Sadie calls up the stairs. I nearly trip at the bottom as I run to the front door. Cash stands there with envelopes in one hand, his other hand rubbing the back of his neck.
"Your mail came to our house again," he laughed softly and I took the mail from him, inspecting the address.
"How do they keep doing that? This clearly has my address on it," I scoff and Cash shrugs, leaning against the door frame.
"Beats me," he sighs and I hear Sadie and Faith snicker. I whip around to see them in the living room, paying attention to the TV.
"Anyways, have fun at work," Cash shoots me a smile and I can't help my face from heating up. I wave as he walks down the pathway and across the street. I turn around to see Sadie and Faith right in front of me.
"What was that about?" Faith smirks and I roll my eyes, turning them both around and pushing their bodies back into the living room. I toss the mail onto the counter and grab a drawstring bag.
"I'll be back around 2, okay? Don't be stupid!" I call before shutting the front door.
---
"I'm so happy to finally meet you in person!" Anne, the owner of the daycare and also the lady who emailed me, says. She was all over me as soon as I stepped in the door. She's a short lady, probably around 5 feet at best, with curly grey hair. I spot a tall boy off to the side of the room with black hair and blue eyes, freckles are scattered on his face as he looks up to meet my eyes.
"This is Hudson, he's going to be your mentor," Anne pulls me over to Hudson by the arm and we stand awkwardly close to each other.
"Nice to meet you, Laci, I can't wait to learn more about you," Hudson holds his arm out at an awkward length considering how close we are. I take a step back and grab his hand to shake it.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too," I softly laugh to help with the awkwardness, but I doubt it worked. Anne led Hudson and me to a large room with circle tables and messy finger paintings on the wall. I smile at a picture of a hand turkey with multi-colored feathers. Hudson goes to sit down in one of the plastic chairs, but underestimates how low down the chair actually is. He sits with an 'oomph' and Anne laughs.
"Alright, the kids are having their morning snack outside right now so that gives you two some time to get to know each other. I'll be down the hall with some other councilors, have fun!" Anne says, giving us a wave before heading down the hall, the sound of her heels clicking fading away with every step further away from us she takes. Hudson lets out a breath and I sit in a chair across from him at the table.
"She's such a wacko," Hudson laughs at his own insult and I tilt my head to the side, knitting my eyebrows together.
"No, she's not, she's just- very touchy," I choose my words carefully and Hudson scoffs.
"Please, you've only been with her for ten minutes, I've been with her for months," Hudson crosses his arms and I stay silent, waiting for the moment the kids come back inside to distract me from the boy in front of me.
"I get to be the barbie with the pink dresth sthince you were it yesthterday," a voice is heard from one side of the room. Hudson and I are eyed by little boys and girls as they walk into the room from outside, whispering to each other and giggling while looking at us. Hudson stands up and gestures for me to follow.
"Hey, everyone! How was snack time?" Hudson asks loudly.
"Good!" All the kids yell in unison. I smile and my eyes meet a little girl. In her hands is a barbie doll wearing a pink dress. I give her a small wave and she smiles, looking down out of shyness. I find myself making my way over to her. She's sat down with another girl who's rummaging through a bucket.
"Hi, I'm Laci," I say, sitting criss-cross next to the little girl with the pink dressed barbie. Her hair is blonde, almost white, and is up in two pigtails. I get a closer look at the girl's face. She has two teeth missing and her eyes are green.
"I'm Carwy and that'sth Maggie," Carly points to a girl with her brown hair down to her shoulders, two pieces in the front being held back with barrettes. She's holding a Barbie with a purple dress in one hand, and a brown-haired barbie in her other hand that wears black pants and a t-shirt.
"This one looks like you," Maggie hands me the brown-haired barbie and I take it from her, examining how much it resembles me.
"Thank you," I say, giving Maggie a closed mouth smile. "How old are you both?"
"I'm thisth many," Carly holds up three fingers. "And Maggie'sth thisth many," Carly holds up four fingers. I nod and hear someone clear their throat behind me. I turn my head for my eyes to be met with Hudson's.
"Having fun, ladies?" He asks, smirking. Maggie shoves the Ken doll in Hudson's hands, which he takes from her gently.
"Play with usth," Carly almost whines and Hudson scoffs.
"Fine, but only cause you want me to," he moves from a kneeling position to criss-cross like me. I find him sitting much closer to me than I thought he would. I blush at the contact of my knee touching his. Hudson doesn't seem to acknowledge it as he pays attention to Carly and Maggie.
A few hours later, I've gotten to know almost every kid in the room. It's lunchtime for the kids now and that also means it's lunchtime for Hudson and me. He leads me to a room down the hall with a few tables, and some kitchen appliances like a fridge, microwave, and coffee maker. I assumed it's a room for the teachers as I find a seat next to Hudson. A few other women sit a table away from us, looking at their computers.
"So, Laci, tell me about yourself," Hudson breaks me out of my trance and I blink a few times, processing what he had just said. I take a bite out of my sandwich and clear my throat.
"Well, I'm 16, 17 in about a week, I like to listen to 5 Seconds of Summer-"
"Wait, that boy band? You can't be serious," Hudson interrupts me, scoffing once again.
"They're not a boy band," I say calmly, trying to control myself.
"Whatever, their songs are still bad."
"No, they're not," I dare to argue.
"Yeah, as if I want to listen to four boys talk about wanting to have amnesia and feeling invisible," Hudson says, taking a sip of his orange Gatorade.
"And what about it? you probably listen to 6ix9ine rap about absolute nonsense," I set my sandwich down, worrying that if I held it any longer, it'd be chucked at Hudson's face.
"And what about it?" Hudson says and I'm pretty sure he's mocking me which is why I choose not to think about the next words to come out of my mouth.
"You really want to go there? Let's see, 5 Seconds of Summer has done nothing but made their fans feel safe for years, putting peoples pain into lyrics and being home for millions of people. Now, what has 6ix9ine done? Hm, let me think, oh yeah! He's been seen sexually assaulting an underage girl, apparently grabbed a fan by the neck to make him delete a video that was taken, shall I go on?" I'm out of breath by the time I'm done and if this was a cartoon, I'm sure there'd be smoke coming out of my ears. Hudson doesn't say a word as I gather my lunch and make my way out of the room.
---
laci went off
YOU ARE READING
Neighbor ➣ Cash Baker ✔️
Fanfiction"We were so close, what happened to us?" Cash sighed, looking down at his shoes as they scuffed the ground. "We grew up," I mumbled while playing with the hem of my shirt. --- Laci has lived across the street from Cash Baker her whole life. They u...
