Blue Satin

Shades of Cool

The next morning I was painting in the attic of our house. The attic was very small and my family let me use it as my own. It was my spot. It had a small fireplace, a cozy fluffy carpet, my painting equipment and a small shelf containing my favourite books. Lorenzo would also spend time here with me. Our family is very traditional and stuck in its ways, while the two of us have more modern outlook on life. This makes us close and we tend to spend a lot of time alone.  

My mother interrupted me and called me to come down for breakfast. As usual, I found my grandpa at the top of the table, my grandma and Lorenzo sitting next to each-other, and my mum and my aunt bringing the food. I sat opposite of Lorenzo and waited for everyone to settle. My brother was already eating. It's surprising how much boys in puberty can eat. Once everyone was seated we said a short prayer to thank God for our food. 

My grandpa was discussing new issues in politics thinking my brother and I were listening, women were gossiping about some recently divorced couple, and Lorenzo and I were just quietly eating. 

"Who's the man moving into Ms Hudson's house?" My aunt popped the question I was expecting. Nothing happens in the neighbourhood without my mum and aunt knowing... 

"I think he might be her nephew that she used to mention when she was alive." Grandma said. 

"But we never saw him come before." My mother added. "Probably he inherited everything because he is the only heir to the family." 

I couldn't help but think about the previous day's little incident. I don't know how I could've been so stupid to sneak in like that. And then I say something about my mum and aunt... 

"Mary, we should take some pie with us and go introduce ourselves." My aunt spoke to my mum with her eyes wide like she just discovered the cure for cancer. Mum smiled back at her, clearly liking the idea. They just loved putting their nose into other people's lives... 

Then she looked at me and Lorenzo. "You two are coming with us." She said as the horror spread all over my face. 

"I have things to do, Lorenzo can come." He looked at me in disbelief

"Hell no! It's boring and embarrassing!" Grandma remained silent. She wasn't very inquisitive like mum and aunt, but she liked knowing things too.

"Embarrassing!" My aunt repeated in surprise. "How can welcoming someone into our neighbourhood be embarrassing?!" She continued. Lorenzo rolled his eyes not bothering to engage into any further arguments. I remained silent. 

"Both of you are coming. Period." Mum's word was final. 

After the breakfast I went back into the attic. I continued painting and thinking about the man next door. I could imagine my mother's reaction once he told her about the previous day. She would probably stay complaining once we got home. She was always obsessed with giving a nice impression. Not that I blamed her, it was the mentality in which she was brought up. I personally didn't care much. The only reason I kept on thinking about it was because I felt something when he looked me in the eye. The moment stunned me. 

Since it was the weekend, I had no school. I was waiting for someone to call me to come down and go to the neighbour's house when I received a message from Stefan. Stefan was the cool guy at school. I always found him handsome but I never expected him to approach me. During the previous two weeks he had been talking to me constantly and we were spending a lot of time together. 'Up for a party tomorrow night?'  I was super excited when I read this message. I knew something would happen between us. The only problem was that my parents never let me stay out till very late and Stefan is an outgoing type of guy, he wouldn't understand. So that meant that I needed to sneak out. I helped Lorenzo do this countless of times, it was about time he helped me. 'Sure. When and where?'  I texted back a few minutes later not to seem too eager. It was kind of my tactic.