A Cold Day in December

A Cold Day in December Chapter One

A Cold Day in December

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CHAPTER ONE

RAIN

It started to rain a few minutes after I swallowed my pill. The buzzing sound was almost gone and I felt my pumping heart return to its normal rhythm. A sigh of relief escaped my mouth as I ambled my way down the long staircase to the ringing phone in the living room. The resentment I felt for my parents doubled in intensity when I took in the lavishly furnished room. Mahogany drawers lined the walls with my mom's antique vase collection standing proudly on top of them. A huge Marie- Antoinette mirror hung with so much dignity on the left side of the room just beside the honey colored drapes of the glass windows. Why am I even surprised? It was so like my parents, especially my mom. She took pleasure in shoving her priceless possessions on other people's faces. I already despise the whole place without her sparkling presence.

I was snapped out of my reverie by another ring coming from the phone. I took the remaining steps to one of the chest drawers and reluctantly put the receiver on my ear.

"Hello?" I said with forced politeness.

"Hey bud, how's it goin' there? Are you settled?" My dad greeted and asked me with so much cheerfulness I forgot I was upset.

"It's raining and I'm depressed," I sighed. "Congratulations!! You picked the perfect spot for my exile."

"Aaw bud, don't be! You'll discover the place's charm in no time," he assured me. I wasn't convinced though.

"I just don't know, but I'll be fine." All my life my parents assured me that everything in life would turn out all right. Protected and cared for me just to find out that they were actually protecting and caring their perfect reputation through me. I wish I could believe dad again, just like when I was younger and innocent.

"Here's a thought, why don't you stuck your hands out the window and feel the rain hit your skin? Sounds good, yeah? It's like having direct contact with Mother Nature," he suggested. I fought myself to blurt out something inappropriate at that moment. He must be delirious.

"Ooh, sounds really fun!" I coated my words with sarcasm but I think he didn't notice.

"Exactly!" His voice conveyed genuine enthusiasm at the brilliance of his idea. I wonder if he did a lot of fun activities like that when he was my age. "You sure have fun buddy, I'm off to meet the sharks. Call me if you need anything." He ended the call without even saying 'take care' to his son. I sighed and replaced the receiver back to its cradle. Guess, it was a wake-up call for me to lower my expectations more.

"What I need is to be alive," I whispered to myself.

I went to my room and down again to the living room with my Ipod in hand. I laid down on the extremely soft cushion of the couch and plugged the earphones in my ears. I quite got plenty of songs to choose from so I decided to sort them according to artists. I stumbled upon Jason Walker and punched my way in to the folder. I haven't heard from him in ages, his songs made me cry a lot of times I lost count how many.

I found the song Seattle and grinned to myself. What could be a more fitting song than this? I made myself comfortable as the first notes of the song filled my ears. I might as well exploit this room for all I care. My eyes closed at their own accord while my arms tightened their embrace on the throw pillow. With the music and the smell of freshly turned earth, I couldn't help but think about my life. Of how I always end up alone. I may be very much surrounded but the feeling of being all by myself, detached to everyone, never left me. And it bugs me a lot. I thought I could tone the feeling down if I let myself loose, mingle with more people. I slowly opened my sleepy eyes when the song ended. The chandelier hanging on the ceiling sparkled and glimmered exotically. The hard downpour stopped to a light drizzle by the time I shook the sleepiness and wariness away and willed myself to creep out of the comfort and warmth of the couch.

My ears caught a screeching ding when the song currently playing in my Ipod stopped. There were silhouettes outside the window so I assumed it was the doorbell that dinged. Goosebumps traveled along my spine when my skin touched the metal doorknob of the heavy front door. I took a deep breath and braced myself before opening the door.

"Hello!" I chirped, opening the door wide after making sure they were harmless creatures.

"I've been ringing the bell for like a million times. What were you doing? Cleaning up evidence?" My eyes gazed at the dark brown haired girl to my left. Light freckles dusted her seemingly soft cheeks while further up, she had hazel-est eyes I've ever seen that complimented her hair. She was an eye candy. She reminded me of hot chocolate and pretzels in a cold winter night.

"That's very rude of you to greet our new neighbor!" The woman to my right reprimanded. My eyes wandered to her and I was amused at her resemblance of the girl. She was like the grown up version of the girl and vice versa.

"I'm sorry for my daughter's uncivilized manner," the woman apologized. She handed me a basket full of muffins with a beaming face. "Welcome to Gatewood!" She added, her hands extending around in a flourish.

"Thank you. You're so thoughtful." Her face lit up even more while her daughter snorted. Maybe the only thing that the two had in common was their looks.

"Where are your parents?" The man inquired. My winning smile faded slowly. I feigned happiness before answering.

"Oh, they went back to New York to finish something."

"You're alone in this big house?" The daughter asked incredulously.

"Just for today," I replied.

"Aaw, poor thing."

"No! No! I'm good!" I countered convincingly. First day with the neighbors and they already got a taste of how my picture perfect family works. Damn nosy neighbors.

"Oh dear, we haven't introduced ourselves yet, have we?" The woman exclaimed, breaking the short awkward silence. I came to find out that the woman's name was Myla, her husband's Warren, and her daughter's Chelsea. Their house was a stone's throw away from ours, just across the street.

"Where's Seth?" Myla asked Warren.

"I'm here!!" Someone cried out from behind them. We all looked and sure enough there was this guy coming up our porch steps.

"Where have you been? You were supposed to follow us here!" Her mom whispered hurriedly at him.  I couldn't help but smile and feel sad at the same time. Starting today, I'd be surrounded by families like them.

"Hi I'm Seth." He extended his hand in front of me. I stared at his hand to his grinning face for a while. His gray eyes drew me into them, swallowing me into those deep wells.

"I'm Eriol," I responded, mentally slapping myself for spacing out.

"That's a very unique name. I'm sure we'll be very good friends."

"That'd be awesome," I smiled widely.

After that encounter, the tiny voice inside my head started talking again. 'You need to stay away from him,' the voice commanded. Rain poured again down the dull sky above as I stared outside the glass window of my room.

I stole one last look at the house directly in front of ours. I could just make out a small flicker of light behind the curtains in one of the upstairs rooms. With a sigh, I pulled the drapes and hit the sack.

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The picture's of Seth on the side XD

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