Safety Pin | Luke Hemmings' Little Sister (COMPLETED)

23 | The Boy Around the Corner

The next day, I wake up early as usual, but today I see a large moving van slowly making its way to the end of the street. I tilt my head slightly in curiosity. I remembered hearing something about our neighbors around the corner moving, but I didn't remember seeing a sold sign outside of their old house. I wonder who's moving in.

I get up and go downstairs, seeing mum is already awake with her coffee. "Morning sunshine," she says with a smile. Then I remember what today is. It's back to school shopping day!

—

We get back from shopping around dinner time, and I'm super excited to show Luke everything I got. He'll be proud of my punk rock appearance, although mum wasn't too happy about some of the things I wanted.

As we pass by our new neighbors, I notice a blonde woman unpacking a minivan. "We should go over later and introduce ourselves, you like that idea?" Mum asks, snapping me out of my thoughts. Being the social little girl I am, I quickly warm to the idea. "Yeah! We should bring them a snack or something as a welcome to the neighborhood gift," I say. Mum glances at me and smiles as she pulls into the driveway. "Alright, we'll go over after dinner."

—

I'm very excited to meet our new neighbors, and I bounce around excitedly as Luke and mum get ready.

"Geez, calm down," Luke chuckles. I just tug his hand and pull him out the door.

Once we're out of the house, I skip down the sidewalk happily, letting the cool summer night air refresh me. Mum walks up to the door and knocks, and the blonde woman appears again. "Hi, I'm Liz. I live down the street and I thought it'd be nice if you moved in knowing a few faces," she says with a smile. The blonde woman smiles, shaking mum's hand. "Oh, that's so kind of you," she says, and I recognize her London accent. "Please, come in."

"Your house is very pretty," I say, admiring the pale blue walls. "I'm Rya, by the way." I smile cheekily, earning a chuckle from Luke.

"Why thank you, Rya. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Katherine."

"These are my children, Rya and Luke," my says. Luke smiles, shaking Mrs. Katherine's hand. "Nice to meet you all. My two are around here somewhere. Kids, come meet our new neighbors!" She calls. I hear shuffling upstairs and a familiar face turns the corner. "This is my son, Caden," Katherine introduces, and his mouth drops.

"Rya?" He gasps, clearly shocked. Memories of Caden and I's adventure flood my head, and I gasp too. "Oh my gosh, what're you doing all the way in Australia?" I ask. Mum and Katherine exchange puzzled glances, and I notice Luke frowning.

"Uh, we met in London," I say, glancing at Luke. He raises his eyebrows at me, obviously still upset over that whole incident, and I look down. Caden seems just as awkward.

While our parents talk, Caden and I somehow end up in his backyard. I perch myself on the old tire swing and watch Caden as he leans against the trunk of the tree the swing is attached  to.

"So, what brings you from London way down under?" I half joke, half ask seriously as I push myself back and forth. Caden scratches the back of neck awkwardly. "Oh. Uh, my mum got transferred down here," he says. I stop swinging to look at him. It's a reasonable explanation, but he looks uneasy, like there's something else factored into the reason he moved here. I decide to just nod since I don't want to push him. I'll be seeing him pretty much everyday anyway, so I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.

—

The next day, Willow and I decide to invite Caden to come to the park with us. He seems a little shy or something, probably because he doesn't really know Willow.

"So, what was London like?" She asks as we walk down the sidewalk. "Oh, ya know, busy and loud," Caden chuckles. "Are you kidding? It's absolutely amazing! Caden should know, he showed me around!" Caden nods awkwardly, making me furrow my eyebrows. He is weird. He's acting like we didn't spend an entire day together getting to know each other. If we had continued to hang out after that day, I'd consider us friends. Why is this awkward for him?

"I wonder what middle school will be like," Willow says as we sit on the swings. "I know, I hope we have classes together." "It's not that bad," Caden interjects, grabbing our attention. "In London we start middle school in fifth grade, and we have to change classes and everything. It's not as scary as it seems," he says with a small smile. Willow and I exchange a glance before smiling.

We spend the rest of the day just lounging around at the park. Willow runs off to change after her brother when she spots him playing catch, leaving Caden and I alone.

"So, wanna tell me the real reason you guys moved here?" I ask, hoping not to offend him. He turns to look at my with furrowed eyebrows. "I did tell you the real reason. My mum got a job transfer."

I look deep into his pretty green eyes, searching them. It isn't the whole truth, I can just tell. Caden suddenly seems uncomfortable under my gaze, as he shifts awkwardly.

"Where's your dad?" Caden asks quietly. "I mean - I just - haven't seen him or anything."

My face falls, but then I realize I haven't seen his dad either. "What about yours?" Caden shrugs, mocking what I just did. I roll my eyes. "I'm not telling you where my dad is until you tell me where yours is," I say stubbornly. This may seem childish, but I really want to know why he isn't telling me.

"You can trust me, Caden. We're friends, aren't we?" Caden sighs, staring up at the sky. I let out a small sigh, too, before continuing. "My dad left. He and mum were fighting a lot, and then a couple weeks ago he came into my room and made me choose. I told him I couldn't. And he just...left. I guess he doesn't love us anymore."

This grabs Caden's attention as he watches me. "I'm sorry," he whispers. "My dad was arrested. Mum wanted to get a new start." I give him a sympathetic sad smile as Willow returns, out of breath and her hair a mess. We both giggle at her appearance.

"What happened to you?" I ask. Willow just rolls her eyes. "Brothers," she says half jokingly, half in annoyance. I giggle, shoving her playfully and taking off for the crosswalk. "Last one home is a rotten egg!" I wait impatiently for the crosswalk to tell me to walk, and take off as soon as I see the walking figure appear. I'm only vaguely aware of Willow screaming my name. I feel a sudden impact, then immense pain for a split second. Then, everything turns black.

A/N - Woo, Caden is in this more now! I just really wanted him to become a main character soz:) but what's this? A cliff hanger?? it won't be too sad though, don't worry. what do you guys think happened? Stay tuned to find out! Xoxo - Em😊❤️