A New Neighbor (A Josh Hutcherson Story)

Chapter 10- So Many Surprises

“Madi! Get up! We have to leave!” I hear Josh yell as I sit up and rub my eyes.

“OK, OK. I’m up.” I say.

I look at Josh, who is in his boxers packing my suitcase.

“Morning.” he says, walking over to me.

“Morning.”

“I packed everything except for your dirty clothes. Do you want those washed first?”

“No, just stuff them in there.”

He chuckles and does as I asked him to. I finally pull myself out of bed and walk to the bathroom. After getting ready and going back to the bedroom, I start going back through the memories gathered through this weekend. Good and bad. I hope we can come back here soon…

“You have all of your stuff?” my mom asks me.

“Yup. Josh put it all in the car.” I say, climbing to the back of the Escalade.

As Josh climbs towards me, he hits his head on the roof of the car.

“Smooth.” I giggle.

He chuckles and plops himself down beside me.

As my mom pulls out of the lake house driveway, my phone vibrates in my pocket.

“Hello?” I say, picking up the line.

“Hey,” says a very sick-sounding Caleb, “Sorry I didn’t call you before, I was busy unpacking and stuff.”

“It’s ok. Are you sick?”

“Yeah it’s just a cold. Listen, you’re mom told me that you guys are heading back and  there’s a surprise waiting for you at home. No, it’s not me. Don’t get your hopes up.”

I giggle and look over at Josh, who seems occupied with staring out the window.

“I hope you like it. Call me once you see it, ok?” Caleb asks.

“I will, definitely.” I say.

“Cool, talk to you later, Poof.” he says, and hangs up the line.

I wonder what the surprise is…

“Woah! Slow down, you almost knocked little Connor over!” Josh yells after me as I race towards the front door.

Sitting on the ground is a large, brown box. Being impatient, I quickly start to rip it open.

“Oh my gosh.” I gasp, as I take out the contents of the package.

In the box was a giant, blue teddy bear. It might have seemed weird to some people, but when Caleb and I were little, we walked by a vintage toy store, and I saw this bear sitting in the window. I instantly fell in love with it and named it Blueberry. When we walked into the store and asked for it, he told us that the price was 400 dollars. Apparently it was a one-of-a-kind bear. So, I never got it, and I had to spend my childhood without the coolest bear ever.

“Honey, is that-“ my mom starts, as she walks towards me.

“Yeah, it’s Blueberry.” I say, tears running down my cheeks.

I can’t believe Caleb remembered about him. I quickly get out my phone and dial his number.

“He-“ he starts as he picks up the line.

“Caleb, thank you so much. I can’t believe you still remembered about Blueberry. Where did you find him? I thought he was one-of-a-kind!” I say.

“Well, there’s this old lady who lives down the street from us, and she’s crazy.”

“…Uh, that’s nice?”

He laughs and continues, “No, but she thought I was five or something and for a welcome present, she hands me this bear. I asked her where she got it and she said that her granddaughter had it a while ago but she didn’t want it anymore. So she gave it back to her grandma and her grandma gave it to me!”

“Wow, that old lady…thank her for me.” I laugh.

“I will, for sure.”

“Thank you again, so much. It means a lot to me.” I say.

“No problem. Hey, I have to go, but I’ll call you later, ok?”

“Yeah. See you.” I say, and hang up the phone.

As Josh and his family walk back to their house, my mom and I grab our bags, and Blueberry, and walk inside the house.

I walk into the kitchen, just to drop my bags… and my jaw.

“Dad!” I yell, running over to him.

“Hey, Pumpkin!” he says, hugging me tight.

“You’re back!”

“Yeah, I am.” he laughs, “Surprise!”

“Wow, this day just keeps getting better and better.” I say.

“So, The Avengers or Despicable Me?” Josh asks.

“Despicable Me. Duh.” I say, winking at him.

He inserts the DVD into the player and sits himself down beside me on the couch.

As we watch the movie, I notice Josh uncomfortably shifting his feet around.

“What’s wrong?” I finally ask.

“Nothing…okay fine. I’m just too excited and impatient.” he says, pausing the movie.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out two narrow, white pieces of paper. He hands them to me, and when I finally realize what they are, I gasp.

“Well?” Josh asks.

“Well. Uh, I’m guessing this is for-“ I begin.

“Catching Fire. Two tickets to Atlanta.”

“I don’t understand…”

“Madi, I want you to come with me. I can’t stand being apart from you. I want you to come with me for 5 months. I know it sounds crazy, but I need you there with me. I won’t be able to concentrate without you there.”

“But…school.”

“I got that handled. At our apartment there will be a tutor that comes in every day for a good 5 hours, while I’m filming, and he’ll give you the same education as in school. It’s all set, Madi. Please, don’t make me beg you.”

I think about this for a while. It does seem kind-of fun…

“My parents?” I ask.

“Are totally okay with it.” Josh answers.

“…Okay. I’ll go.”

I see Josh’s mouth grow into a smile and he tackles me, planting a long kiss on my mouth.

“Thank you so much. This means the world to me.” he says. “You mean the world to me.”

***SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY GUYS. I know it was super short and a huge wait, but I will make it up in the next chapter. It will be atleast 4 pages. Swears. Soo, what did you think?? All this sweetness is going around. With Caleb, then Madi's dad, then Josh. <3 I have a lot planned for the next chapter! Super excited!

Teaser: Ah, I don't know what to say, except for... plans for Atlanta! And more Caleb <3

Update: Next weekend. And I WILL commit this time. No matter what it takes! :)***