Through his lens

Why I love Paige so much

I double checked the house number nailed to a red brick wall with the one written on my phone and raised an eyebrow.

Definitely the right place.

I pocketed my phone and started up the gravel pathway towards the creepy looking house in front of me. A gothic, black clad house stood eerily at the end of the winding driveway, giving me the Addams Family vibes.

Stairs lead up to a porch that wrapped around the front of the house and big floor to ceiling windows reflected the blue sky and surrounding trees.

It reminded me of the kind of house in films that people would avoid and tell scary stories about. Architecturally it was beautiful however it definitely had a keep away/murder house kind of feel.

It was 100% not the kind of house I would've pictured Paige growing up in.

After what felt like forever of me walking up to the house, I eventually made it to the porch. As I got to the last step, I saw a curtain twitch behind a window to my right and a few seconds later the front door creaked open.

'You passed the first half of the friendship test.' Paige said as she leant on the front door frame. I raised a questioning eyebrow at her, prompting her to carry on.
'You made it to the door without running for the hills.'

'There's still time.' I concluded.

She opened the door wider for me to come in and I entered into an entrance hall. Even from where I was standing in the hallway, I could tell the inside was very different from the out.

The walls were painted bright happy colours and even the floorboards had been painted white. Furniture covered every possible space and smiley family portraits hung up on the walls. My favourite part was that there were books scattered in piles everywhere, making me feel like I was in a hipster book shop.

'Your house is so cool.'
I ran my fingers along a wind chime hanging from the ceiling which made a pretty twinkle echo around the hall.

'Creepy you mean?' Paige stood by the stairs as she watched me take her house in.

'The outside yes. If you'd told me someone had been murdered here I totally would've believed you, but the inside really is cool.'

This was more of what I'd imagined. When I first met Paige, she told me about her mum being a writer and an expert in ancient languages. I had pictured a vibrant hippyish house, definitely not the one I walked up to.

'My mom hates it. The outside normally looks like a garden centre with all the flowers she has out there in an attempt to brighten up the place. It even took three months of my mom trying to convince the mailman that it was safe to come up to the door.'
I watched as she picked away at some loose paint on the banister.
'My dad inherited the house from my grandparents after they died. There's no way we could live in a house this big if he hadn't.'

I followed Paige through the hall to a huge country style kitchen. She then carried on through a screen door into the back garden.
'Mom, Eve's here.'

A woman with the same crazy curly blonde hair as Paige's, popped her head up from a vegetable patch.
'Pleasure to meet you Eve. Do excuse the mess, I'm just tending to my garden.'

Don't laugh Eve, don't laugh.

'Nice to meet you too Mrs Edwards.'

'We're not formal in this house Evie, call me Miranda.'
She wiped the back of her hand over her forehead leaving a trail of brown mud in its place.

'Ok we're going inside now mom.' Paige spun me on my heel and attempted to push me towards the door. Unfortunately for her she didn't do it quick enough.