chemical confusion.

chapter three

july 27th

   "smile, smile for me"

   sitting in the front seat of the car with my feet up on the dashboard i see we are entering a neighborhood named "surrey street."

   "is this our new neighborhood?" asks symere.

   "it sure is!" my dad exclaims.

   suburban homes that look similar enter my gaze. my dad turns on third street and we arrive to a decently sized home right infront of  a white house with black shutters.

   "you have arrived at your destination," says the gps in a monotone voice.

   i get out of the car to get a better look of our new home once my dad parked. it's a blue house with white shutters and a red door. that's interesting.

   a familiar voice yells from across the street, "you guys made it!" i turn around to see mr. heffley walking out of his home. wow we really do live close. "susan, theyre here!" he yells behind him.

   out comes mrs. heffley with a little boy on her hip. that's manny. he's a year younger than xavier.

   "oh my goodness i cannot believe this is happening!" susan begins. "i'm so glad to see you all!" susan and frank cross the street to greet us.

   "this feels so surreal!" my dad says.

   mr. and mrs. heffley greet my father first then make their way to me as we are the only ones out of the car.

   "mileena! you look as beautiful as ever," susan gushes. my hair is tied in a low bun with wisps of hair falling over my face. i have on a black cropped tank top, black baggy sweatpants, and black flip flops. not the cutest outfit, but in my defense i was traveling. mrs. heffley pulls me into a hug and once she's done she analyzes my appearance. "you've always been a carbon copy of your mother." she says then looks down to my necklace and says, "i'm glad you kept that," while pointing to it. it's a locket that once belonged to my mom with a picture of us in it. im glad i kept it too.

   mr. heffley says his hellos to me while the boys get out of the car. they go over to caï and xavier and realize something is up.

   "what's that smell?" asked mr. heffley.

   "uhhhh, yeah about that, xavier peed on me,"caï explains.

   everyone begins to laugh. "well i would've hugged you both but i just took a shower," mrs. heffley says while laughing.

   manny starts to whine to be put down and i go over to him.

   "this is manny everyone. you guys haven't met him yet," mr. heffley says.

   i go down to his level and say hi. "hi little guy." he looks at me and starts giggling, i give him a high five and tell caï to bring xavier. "look xavier, it's a friend!" i say.

   "what's your name?" asks xavier.

   "manny," he replies.

   the kids start babbling and two more people appear from the heffley home. i first notice the shorter boy as he is the first one to exit the house. i'm going to take a wild guess and say that's greg. last time i saw him he was around manny and xavier's age. he sure has grown. then appears a taller boy.

   woah. is that rodrick? the boy tousles his hair as he walks out the front door and closes it behind him. before i realize it the two other heffley siblings are standing beside their parents and i'm still staring. thankfully no one notices my staring and rodrick walks over to caï.