Back To You

New Neighbors

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It was such a huge coincidence that Cole was moving in right next to me. It was so strange how we'd gotten houses right next to each other at the same time, and that he happened to be the guy to give me a ride home.

After recovering from my shock I asked Cole if he wanted to come inside since I remembered that he said he didn't want to go home. So we sat on my couch with the tv on, although neither of us were watching it.

I found that talking was pretty easy, and he was really good at choosing random topics.

"How could you possibly not know how? It's like a right of passage!" Coke exclaimed.

"If I even attempted it, I'd probably end up in the hospital." I told him seriously.

Cole was trying to explain to me how everyone should know how to ride a bike. I was trying to tell him that if I even tried getting onto a bike it would end disasterously but he wasn't listening.

"Oh come on, I bet you've never even tried." he smirked.

"I have tried and I crashed and burned. I think I'll just stick with walking. It's good for the environment you know?" I tell him.

He chuckled lightly. "So is riding a bike." My cheeks warmed.

"Oh yeah." I mumbled, causing him to laugh again. Just then my mom walked through the door carrying paper bags and I got up to help her. She looked past me and her eyes widened.

"Oh hello, I'm Veronica, Natalia's mom." She said with a smile, extending her hand.

He takes her hand to shake it. "Hi, I'm Cole." He smiled back at her. My mom had never met any of my friends before and the exchange was rather bizarre.

My mother grinned brightly at him. "Cole would you like to stay for dinner? I brought plenty." She gestured to the food I'd set on the table.

"Thank you, but I should really get home. My mom will be expecting me home back by now." He said politely.

"Oh, darn." She deflated slightly before smiling again. "Well, thank you for stopping by. Feel free to come back again any time." She waved as he backed towards the door. I followed after him to say goodbye.

"Thanks for the ride." I told him as I opened the door. He smiled at me.

"No problem, really. Actually, it'd be easy to give you rides from now on, if you want." He put his hands in his jacket pockets and stared at me expectantly. I was caught off guard.

"Oh, that's really nice. I just don't want to inconvenience you." I tell him.

"It's no inconvenience. Like I said I live next door, so it would be easy." He said with a small smile.

"Well, I mean if you don't mind, I guess-" I started but he cut me off.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow then." He grinned and stepped off of my porch.

I smiled back at him. We said our good-byes and I went back into the kitchen where my mom was getting plates down from the cabinet. She tried to pretend that she wasn't paying attention, but I could tell she'd been eavesdropping the entire time.

"He seems nice." She said, a smile creeping onto her face.

I rolled my eyes "Don't get any ideas mom, he's just a friend." I told her.

"I'm not getting any ideas Natty." She gave a small shrug and looked at me, "Oh honey I'm so proud of you!" she exclaimed suddenly.

"What?" My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"You're finally talking to people!" she yelled.

"What was that? Did I hear that right?" My dad came barging into the room.

"Yes you did." My mom smiled at me. "Our daughter is talking to people. Boys actually!"

"O M G!" My dad trotted to the counter next to my mom and they both acted like excited teenage girls.

I stood there with a horrified look on my face. I opened my mouth to say something but I was at a loss for words. My dad walked over to me and pinched my cheeks.

"Look at my little girl, all grown up!" He cooed and I slapped his hands away.

"Well, you guys are hilarious. Need I remind you that I did actually have friends at my old school?" I said.

"None that you ever brought home!" My mother exclaimed.

"Okay, okay I get it, but so what? I'm fine." I said sitting down at the table and putting food onto my plate. My parents did the same but stared at me the whole time.

At my old school, having friends didn't exactly work out for me. Maybe if I had gotten close to a different group I would have been fine, but that wasn't the case.

Because of that, I didn't really trust easily. In fact, Andrew was the only person I'd ever truly gotten close to, and that didn't really turn out very well.

My dad cleared his throat. "So, who is this new friend?" he asked me.

"His name is Cole. I just met him today. He lives next door actually." I explained. My dad nodded.

"Next door?" My mom gasped. "That's so close!"

I laughed and rolled my eyes. She was so dramatic, but I wouldn't have her any other way.

After dinner I took a shower and got ready for bed. I couldn't help but think about my old life. Brianna's group had taken me in, but they weren't my friends, not really. They were manipulative and conniving, they knew exactly what to do to get under your skin and rip you apart from the inside.

Once I'd seen what kind of people they were, I tried to distance myself but leaving Brianna was not an option. If I had done that, I would have been her top target so I just laid low.

One day my sophomore year, though, I wanted a break from witnessing all of the horrible things that she did, and I decided to spend some time with a different group. For just a moment, I thought I could have a normal high school experience with real friends and real memories, I didn't think Brianna would even notice I was gone. But, in my moment of weakness, I'd forgotten just who I was dealing with.

She could kick you to the curb, but no one was allowed to leave her. I'd apologized immensely when she found out, I was so afraid of what she'd do. She said she'd forgiven me and I was stupid to believe her. She didn't forgive, and she definitely didn't forget.

I didn't want that kind of life here. Brianna was gone from my life, and I was going to take this new opportunity to my full advantage. I was determined to make up for my lost time and get the high school experience I'd been yearning for.

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Hey, so this is re-written and semi-edited. If you see any mistakes feel free to point them out.

Thanks For Reading :)

~Lori~