Chapter 1: Fresh Start
No matter how much I try to adjust, this place just doesn't feel like home. I wish I could go back to the time my dad was married to my mom. It was three years ago when they divorced each other. My mom filed for custody of me and eventually I stopped seeing my father. After one and a half years my mom ended up seeing another guy. To be honest, he was very nice, cool and thoughtful but the thought of him trying to replace my father caused me to treat him indifferently. Despite his valiant efforts to win me over, I wouldn't falter.
Around the age of eleven, right before I entered secondary school, my mom, stepdad, and I moved so I could be nearer to my school. It was a fresh start. I didn't have any friends in primary school but that would change. After a stressful day of unpacking, I decided to treat myself to a glass of cold mauby. "I wonder what the people are like here," I pondered. My thoughts would soon be interrupted by a loud knocking on the front door. I left the kitchen as fast as I could and headed to the living room. There, I saw a tall dark man who seemed to be the same age as my mom and stepdad, in the doorway having a conversation with my stepdad.
"Welcome to the neighborhood. My name is Robert Johnson but you can call me Robby. What are your names?" "My name is Thomas, over there is Kiara and my wife's name is Maria. We are the Jenkins and I hope we can become great friends." My stepdad replied. I slowly walked to the door to see a girl standing beside Robert. "Hi, my name is May and it would be kinda nice if we were friends." Immediately, I was happy.
"Of course, I'd like that!" I excitedly responded. "I'm glad to see that they'll be friends. Isn't that great?" Thomas added. "Definitely. I just can't believe Kyle couldn't be here to see y'all," Robert responded. "Who is Kyle?" I wondered. "He is my twin brother." May said. For a second I wondered, "Is this Kyle going to be a jerk like most boys I met." May's gazed into my eyes troublesomely. "What's wrong?" "Nothing, just that right after I mentioned my brother, you began thinking something juicy. What is it?" I knew that my face tells all but I didn't expect her to read me like a book. "Just wondering what he's like, that's all."
She had a smug smirk on her face. "He is an Otaku," she stated playfully. "I see. I didn't know boys his age our age were into that stuff," I responded with relief because I loved watching anime and playing games. "Want to come over? We can play on El Cinco." "He has a Ps5?" I questioned excitedly. She nodded and immediately I glanced at my step-dad for permission to head over. "Sure, but I'll be coming too to talk to Robby." As much as I didn't want to be in the same vicinity as him, I couldn't pass down such an opportunity.
"Follow me, Kiara!" She grabbed my arm and dragged me over to her house. The adults followed at a slow pace because they were too busy chatting. "Here we are!" she shouted without realizing. She warned me to take off my slippers before entering which I had no trouble complying. The spacious living room was filled with antiques which made me careful and riddled with anxiety. "Follow me, Kiara," she stated while guiding me to upstairs.
After a bit, we were in front of a brown wooden door with the name Kyle on it. "I wonder what he is like," I thought to myself. Soon my thoughts were interrupted by heavy knocking by May. "Let us in, Kuya." "I thought his name is Kyle?" "Oh, that is a nickname I gave him," she responded.
"What do you want?" a deep voice inquired of us. "We want to play on your game!" May responded. "What do you mean we?" "I brought a friend over." "Fine gimme a sec." We heard footsteps gradually getting louder and louder until the door creaked opened.
Soon a tall lanky figure walked out. He yawned. I scanned his appearance. His eyes were caramel brown which was way darker than his sister's hazel eyes. He had eye bags and he dressed plainly. "What's your name?" he asked softly. "My name is Kiara. Nice to meet you!" I stretched my hand out for a hand shake and he reluctantly reciprocated.
"The only game I'll let you play is Brawlhalla." Kyle stated coldly. "That's not fair!" May shouted. "The rest of my games are story based and y'all int ruining my progress." "That's fine. I have one favor I'd like to ask though." "And that is?" "Can I play on keyboard?" He agreed and started the match.
He suddenly began regretting picking random as my Kaya skills were commendable. It was an intense match until he inevitably won by gravity canceling a neutral signature on Mordex's scythe. "Woah! I've never seen anyone put up a fight on their first match like that!" Kiara congratulated me. "It wasn't my first time. I just hate playing on a controller." "Good game," said with respect as he reached out for a fist bump.
I said thanks and fist bumped him. We played relentlessly and as I was about to get a win I heard a knock on the door which startled me causing me to lose. "Who is it?" Kyle asked. "It's me, Thomas. It's time for Kiara to head home." I got up angrily and was about to storm out the room until I felt a grab on my hands. I turned around thinking it was May but it was Kyle. "Why don't you add on WhatsApp?" he asked with a gentle tone. I agreed and left with Thomas. "They're nice people, aren't they?" he asked trying to make small talk. "Yeah, they really are."
