And I oop-
-Updates will be irregular
•••••
Summer was the worst.
Unlike most people, I didn't spend the summer with my friends. I spent every summer at my aunt's house. My aunt lived with her boyfriend and their three cats in a two bedroom house that could be considered a three bedroom house if I wasn't for the fact that the third bedroom was being used as a storage room. Besides that, the house was only one story and it wasn't anything special. The only thing that stuck out about it was the fact that the inside of it always seemed to under construction.
My aunt didn't necessarily live in the middle of nowhere, but she also didn't live in the city. She had neighbors, but they were a good distance away. I always joked with her that if one of her neighbors was murdered, she'd probably never know until she saw it on the news.
Regardless, she said that she enjoyed being far from her neighbors because she liked the privacy. I liked the location of her house for different reasons though. I liked it because I could go outside and the stars shone bright and the only sound was the occasional cricket or soft breeze. I liked my aunt's house because I was free from constantly hearing people argue outside their home or blast bad music or race down the street. I enjoyed the quiet and the scenery.
Since I didn't have any friends, I spent a lot of my time on social media, reading, watching videos, and so on. I actually dabbled in painting, but I only did simple paintings that I often gave away. Painting was really just another thing that kept me from dying of boredom.
Sometimes, but very rarely, I'd go outside for a walk. My aunt lived really close to a forest. It was basically in her back yard. However, I was never awake early enough to go for a walk when it was a decent temperature ad my aunt warned me against straying too far from the house at night. She said that a lot of the predators come out at night. I didn't know much about the wildlife near my aunt's house, but I assumed she was talking about bears or bobcats or something. I was smart enough to know that I wouldn't stand a fight against anything like that, so I listened to my aunt.
The few times I actually managed to go for a walk, I only lasted about twenty minutes. The humidity, heat, and nagging bugs were too much for me. But those twenty minutes were always the best. If I ignored the aforementioned things, then it really was great. Walking in the woods calmed me down. As cliché as it sounds, I would feel as if I had no worry in the world. All my problems just seemed to melt away. I enjoyed the peace and quiet as well as the occasional wildlife sighting. However, as I mentioned before, it would never last long.
My aunt worked odd hours at a retail store and her boyfriend was often at his mother's house. I almost never saw him because it seemed as if he spent more time at his mom's house than he did at his own. I couldn't blame him though. His mother was terribly sick and everyone feared that she didn't have much time left. My aunt's boyfriend would often stay the night at his mom's house as a result. For the most part, I spent a lot of time home alone, but that didn't bother me.
I had grown accustomed to the way of life at my aunt's house. Every summer was seemingly the same. Nothing big ever really happened except maybe the occasional road trip, and I was perfectly fine with that. I guess you could say that I wasn't a very social person. I didn't mind talking to people but I didn't like being surrounded by people and I mostly preferred solitude. I guess that made me an introvert. Sue me.
As I said before, every summer was basically the same and I didn't expect this summer to be any different. I had just finished my junior year of high school and this would be the last summer I'd have to spend at my aunt's house. I was excited to become a senior and then go to college. I couldn't wait to live on my own.
But life doesn't always go as planned and I learned that the hard way, because that summer did not go as I had expected it to.
-"Present" POV-
It was about 2 p.m. and I figured that my aunt would be home from work soon. I was just laying on my bed and scrolling through social media as usual. I saved a few memes that made me laugh and then carried on scrolling. Then, I heard the front door open.
My room was basically right next to the front door. When you walked into the house, the living room was on your right and on your left there was a wall. A few feet from the front door, there was a bedroom door on said wall and, you guessed it, that was the door to my room. Straight ahead from the front door was the dining room and the kitchen. The fridge was only a few steps from my door and it was something I was very grateful for.
A hallway separated my room from the dining room. The first door was on the left of the hallway and it was simply a closet. The next door was on the right, and it was the bathroom. At the end of the hall were two rooms. The storage room on the left and my aunt's room on the right. The laundry room was actually connected to the kitchen.
Besides the front door, we actually had two other doors going outside. Right across from the front door, and in the kitchen/dining room was the back sliding door. Then there was the side door which was to the right of the front door and in the living room. The number of doors always set me at ease and made me anxious at the same time. They set me at ease because if there was ever a fire, I'd have many ways to escape, but they made me anxious because it gave a robber more ways to get in. Although it was unlikely someone would ever break in, I still worried.
At this point, my aunt had already walked in the house and set her stuff down. I stayed in my room and waited for her to interact with me first. Like I said, I wasn't very social.
"(Y/N)?" she called, voice coming closer to my door.
"Yeah?" I responded, not bothering to get up and open the door.
My aunt opened the door anyways.
"(Y/N)... I have something to tell you," she started.
I looked up and decided to put down my phone and give her my full attention.
"My brother...or, your uncle, is going out of town and he asked me to look after his dog. Since his dog doesn't get along with the cats, that would mean going over to his apartment every day and that's just too much driving. And... well his apartment is much closer to my work, so I was thinking that maybe I'd just stay at his house while he's out of town," she explained, seemingly uneasy about something.
"Okay, what about your boyfriend?" I asked.
She bit her lip.
"Well... it seems like he's going to be staying with his mom the whole week. You know that she isn't doing too good..." my aunt answered.
"And that means that either you'd have to come with me to your uncle's or stay here," she informed me.
"Doesn't he only have one bedroom?" I questioned, wondering where I'd even sleep.
"You'd sleep on the couch, probably. You know how his dog is a bed hog," my aunt responded.
"Ummmm... no thanks. Can I stay here?" I asked.
My aunt sighed.
"I think that would be for the best. I think that it'd be safer for you to stay here. Your uncles apartment is right in the heart of the city and there's always so much crime. I'd hate to leave you alone there while I'm working. But I'm also worried about leaving you alone here..." she trailed off.
"Hey... don't worry about it. I'm 17. I think I can take care of myself. I've been left home alone plenty of times. Heck, my parents leave me home alone almost every weekend. I think I can manage being alone for a week," I replied.
My aunt seemed to think it over for a bit, before sighing and nodding her head.
"Yeah... yeah I suppose you're right. I think you can handle yourself," she responded.
And so it began...
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1480 words
I'm not sure if I want to continue writing this or not, so please let me know what you think!!!
Unedited
