Stronger

Chapter 3: "I Promise You Will Be Fine."

It was the first time Nick had gotten a proper nights sleep in months. Waking up to a quiet house startled him, his mother and father would have been arguing by now. He would get used to the silence at some point. He dashed downstairs and searched the cabinets for cereal. Spotting a box of captain crunch he pulled it off the shelf and made himself a bowl of cereal.

By the time he finished eating his older brother came into the kitchen dressed for work.

"Good Morning." Joe said. He grabbed the box of ceral and poured some of it into a bowl.

"It is a good morning isn't it?"

"Now that you're here yeah."

"Pass me the milk please." Nick opened the fridge and handed the milk to Joe.

"We're leaving soon. Get ready when your done." Joe stated.

He nodded and ate his cereal. Once he was done he put his bowl in the sink and  headed upstairs to shower. Digging through his duffel bag he ended up wearing a pair of blue jeans and a plain white t shirt.

The enrollment process took about an hour because they had to get his records sent over from his old school. Soon they placed him in his respective classes that matched up with the previous ones he'd been attending back in New Jersey. When all was said and done the two brothers headed home.

Joe parked the truck and got out of the cab. Nick followed suit utterly confused.

"I thought you were going to work?"

"I am."

"Then why'd you get out of the truck?"

A grin spread across Joes face.

"Because the truck is yours now." He tossed the keys to Nick and opened the garage.

Nick caught them unsure of what to make of it. The garage opened revealing a blue jeep, Joe pulled another set of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the car.

"You didn't think I was going to leave my baby brother empty handed did you?" He opened the door and sat in the passenger seat.

"But-" Nick stuttered.

"She's all yours now that I fixed her up. Take good care of her." Joe started the car and drove out into the street.

"I'll call you later." The older brother called out through the window.

Nick approached him on the sidewalk. "I don't have a phone."

"Check the living room. There's a box with your name on it." Joe grinned and sped off down the street.

—

"Sel! Come here, you have to see this!" Demi jumped up and down causally sneaking glances out the window.

Selena begrudgingly set her book down on her desk and walked over to the window. "Are you staring at that guy again? You know he's like three years older than you?"

"Yes I was staring at him. There's another boy. See?" She pointed to the brown haired boy standing by the truck in the driveway. "I think it's his brother or his cousin. I wonder if he's gonna go to our school."

Selena looked at the boy Demi was referring too and felt her heart skip a beat. He was super cute and way out of her league.

"Why would he move two months into the semester?" She asked more to herself than Demi.

"Who cares? You have a hot neighbor. We should go introduce ourselves."

Selena began shaking her head. "Oh no I don't want to bother him."

"Well I do."

The brunette took hold of her best friends hand and dragged her out the door. As they approached the driveway the other brother had left in a jeep and the younger one was about to go back inside when Demi shouted. "Hello."

Selena found herself rooted to the spot she stood in. The boy had turned around and stepped closer to them.

"Hi." The curly haired boy replied.

"Welcome to the neighborhood. I'm Demi and this is Selena." She shoved her friend forward a couple steps.

"Hi." She breathed. Selena's cheeks began to heat up.

The girl was completely captivated by her new neighbor. To his brown curls that she desperately wanted to run her fingers through. His smile caused her stomach to do backflips.

"I'm Nick. It's nice to meet you."

"You too." She replied.

Demi stepped closer and wrapped her arm around Selena's shoulder. "So Nick, what school are you going to?"

"Lake Monroe." He answered.

"Us too!" She squealed in delight.

"Would you like us to show you around town?" Demi asked.

Selena shot her friend a look, she was overstepping boundaries. They had only come over to say hello.

"Maybe some other time." Nick replied. He wanted to hang out with the girls, it'd be nice to have real friends but he needed to finish settling in and mentally prep for school.

Demi's smile turned into a frown. She wasn't used to an offer being turned down.

"See you at school then." Selena piped up. She took hold of Demi's arm and crossed the street back to her house.