Moving In – Part 0 (Introduction)

I hate that we had to move. I just finished high school and finally had good group of friends that all got along and that I enjoyed hanging out with. I guess I was heading off to college in the fall anyway, but I was really looking forward to this summer with all of them. It was an awesome group, I always had fun when we were hanging out together – no matter what we were doing. There were 9 of us total, so I doubt if any of them were really going to really notice that I was gone.

I won’t list them, but I’ll miss them all, especially Billy and Jason, they were my boys – we played soccer together. It was because of them that I was welcomed into the group last summer. But honestly, I will probably miss Dani the most. We were finally getting close, and one of these days I was most definitely going to tell her how I felt. Or that’s what I kept telling myself. Dani was stunning… she had the bluest eyes and the cutest laugh, paired with her tan skin that made me look like a ghost sometimes. She had the kindest smile and the sweetest personality – everyone loved her, and she loved everyone. This is why I could never tell if she liked me more than a friend, or if she was just a naturally kind and a little flirty.

If you didn’t guess by that description, I may or may not have a huge crush on her…

Either way… it too late now. I had to say goodbye to everyone (including Dani) late last night. It was tough, but I guess I had to do it. Dani gave me the longest, tightest hug and gave me a kiss on the cheek as she turned away.

Idk what that means, and maybe I’ll never know.

We left Centerville early this morning and I think we are about an hour away from our new house in Bridgeport. I’ve been drifting in and out of sleep, so I kind of lost track of how long it was taking. My dad said it should take 5 hours to get to Bridgeport. I believe his exact words were, “It should only take 5 hours, especially if those damn girls don’t need to pee every 50 miles.” If you’re wondering, ‘those damn girls’ he’s referring to are my mom and my sister. My sister, Sam is actually my twin. We have been getting pretty close recently, but we are still vastly different people. I am very into sports and hanging out with my friends, while she is into makeup and fashion, and hanging out with her (mostly stuck up) friends. The one place that we do interact and spend time together, is in the gym. We both have really gotten into working out lately and have been going together a few times a week. It’s been nice to reconnect with her, especially since we were so close as kids.

I don’t know a whole lot about Bridgeport, I know that it’s small and it’s on the coast. I don’t know the exact population, but I do know their whole high school has the same number of kids as my graduating class. That number is about 650 people, if you’re wondering. My parents say it will be good for me to “get out there” and “learn how to make friends” this summer, as practice before I go off to college. I guess that could make sense, but it seems pointless to make friends this summer and then go away to school. Plus, I’m 18 now, I’m an adult and I could make friends if I wanted to… but I like to keep my circle small.

In September I’m heading to Clearwater University, it’s a decent-sized Division 1 private school, about 8000 students located in Clearwater, which is about four hours from Bridgeport. I guess that’s one good thing about moving to Bridgeport, it’s further from my college than Centerville – It will make it harder for mom and dad to drop by unannounced. Centerville is only about three hours from school. I won’t really know anyone there, besides a couple other people from my class at CV (Centerville High School), so I guess I will have to get better at making new friends.

“Wake up party people, we’re 20 minutes out from good ole Bridgeeeeeeporttttttt!!!!!” my dad exclaimed to the rest of us in the car.

How in the hell does he have so much energy after driving nearly five hours?

Sam stirred but didn’t wake up. Damn that girl could sleep through a concert. I wasn’t asleep, but I kept my eyes closed, not wanting to give my dad the satisfaction of waking me up.

A few minutes later, I ‘woke up’, meaning I feigned a yawn and mumbled “Are we there yet?”

“Good morning, sleepy head” my mom said. “We’re a little over 10 minutes away.”

Sleepy head… I guess my mom still thinks that I’m 12…

My dad slowed the car down as we pulled off the highway, we made two right turns and finally turned down a street called ‘Paradise Lane’. As soon as I noticed the name of the street, my dad chimed in “Paradise Lane, isn’t that fitting for our new adventure in Bridgeport.”

Why does everything have to be an ‘adventure’?

We crept along the lane in our car, looking for our new home. The street was quiet, no other cars driving, a few people out and about working in their yards, it looked like they were preparing for something. That seemed weird for a Friday morning, maybe it was something to do with it being Memorial Day weekend, but who knows. About halfway down the small street, we stopped in front of what I assumed was our new house – number 18.

It was a nice house; single family house with a two-car garage, light yellow painted siding, with some wood panneling on the second level, and a red front door. From the outside, it seemed bigger and newer than our previous house.

I guess this is pretty nice…

As we walked in, I stood inside the entryway - all our furniture had been moved in already and there were piles of boxes in each room. I guess that’s why we had to live out of a hotel for the last 3 days. My dad said he’d swing for the movers to do everything so we could ‘hit the ground running this weekend at the new house.’ At least I didn’t have to help carry all our furniture into this new house. Straight ahead was a hallway that ended in the kitchen. To the left of the hallway, there was a staircase to the second floor. To the right was a door, inside the door was a small room – it would probably be my dad’s office. To the left, next to the staircase, was a second hallway that looked like it led to the garage and to the laundry room.

I headed up the staircase to the second level, at the top of the steps there was a small bedroom and a hall bathroom. To the left was a large bedroom with double doors, most likely the my parents bedroom. To the right were two rooms that were full of boxes, I assume that these were Sam and I’s bedrooms. They were basically the same, but a good bit bigger than our old rooms. Ughhhh I need to unpack all of my crap this weekend… let’s just put that off for a couple of hours. I continued to explore the new house as my family did the same, as I made my way to the kitchen, I caught a good glimpse of the backyard – it was unbelievable!

I ran out the French doors to the back deck. The deck was huge, to the right stood a large chrome grill, built into a tile countertop. To the left was a large glass table surrounded by 8 chairs, with a large umbrella covering that side of the deck. As I continued forward, the deck overlooked a stunning backyard and a beautiful view.

There were 10 steps that led down to a large pool, built in with a large hot tub. The pool deck was made from concrete and was surrounded by a garden and some lounge chairs.

I’ll definitely be spending some time out here this summer.

Looking Past the pool was an amazing view. There were stairs that led down a grass walkway that ended at sandy beach and a dock. The dock wasn’t huge, maybe 25 feet long, and 8ish feet wide. It had a lift for a boat, even though we don’t have a boat. There were a couple canoes, three kayaks, and two paddleboards on a rack outside of the shed that stood on the bank of the river.

I knew we weren’t on the ocean; this must be one of the rivers that leads into the bay. The water wasn’t moving very quickly at all, it could be perfect for paddleboarding, kayaking, or even swimming off on a hot summer day.

I didn’t know our house was on the water… way to bury the lead dad. Maybe this summer wouldn’t be THAT bad. If only Dani was here… or even Billy and Jason…

I spent the afternoon hanging out by the pool and on the dock. It was amazing, and throughout the afternoon I almost forgot I was stuck in this small town. As I headed up the back deck and back into the house, my dad was calling for Sam and I to come to his office. As I approached the front of the house, and reached the small den that I assumed was his new office, Sam came barreling down the stairs. We both wrestled past each other to stand in the doorway as my dad was saying “I was talking to our neighbor across the street, Mr. Burwell and apparently there is a neighborhood-wide cookout and Memorial Day party tomorrow. I am expecting the both of you to be there... It starts at 1pm. Understood?”

Sam responded with a “Yes, of course Daddy”, ran over and kissed him on the cheek and then ran back upstairs. God she really is a kiss-ass isn’t she… “Fine, I’ll be there. It’s not like I have anything better to do in this town…” I sarcastically replied as I left the room.

I was assuming that Sam hadn’t seen the back yard and dock, if she had she would have been out there all afternoon with me. When I went upstairs to go talk to her, her door was closed. That was a tell-tale sign to not bother her. She was probably on the phone with her friends, or one of the many guys she had wrapped around her finger.

I crossed the threshold to my room. It was kind of put together already. As you walked in, directly to the right was my closet, not huge but still could be considered ‘walk-in’. To the left in the corner was my bed, queen sized with a plaid blue/green comforter on it. The bed was made already, with four pillows on it. Four pillows seemed slightly excessive for an 18-year-old guy. Although, it wasn’t nearly as excessive as Sam’s bed, which had somewhere in the realm of 12-15 pillows.

Those pillows are new, I only had two on my old bed. I guess mom got me some more.

Across from by bed, was my desk and dresser. On top of my desk, sat my computer setup. A tower on the right, and two monitors mounted to the wall. At least they set the computer up correctly. I was proud of my computer, I worked by butt off to buy it myself. If you could see it, you would probably immediately think ‘what a nerd’. I didn’t care, my computer was like my child, and I loved her.

I laid down on my bed, and apparently I was more tired than I thought - as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out for the count.

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I woke up groggy and looked at my phone. I had a message from Dani. The fact that she texted me last night, that made me smile. Maybe she was missing me, just like I was missing her… The text read: “We’re heading out to the lake this morning to celebrate Memorial Day, and it doesn’t seem right to go without you.”

I pondered the text, and wrote my response:

“I miss you too …”

Ehhh that’s too clingy, we’re supposed to be just friend’s you idiot – try again.

“That sounds like fun! Have fun… even if you’re going without me!”

Better, but still too enthusiastic – try again.

“Jealous... I gotta go to a neighborhood party today, wish I was there with you instead.” Send.

Shit… I said with ‘with you’ and not ‘with you guys’… What an idiot.

“In other news, this new house is pretty sweet.” I sent again, along with a picture of the backyard deck/pool/river.

I noted the time and threw my phone across my bed as I rolled out of it. It was 10:47am.

Goddamn I slept for a long time… alright,I just need to shower, shit, shave… probably eat some breakfast, all before 1pm when that party was supposed to start. I better hurry so Sam doesn’t hog the bathroom.

No longer than two minutes after I got into the bathroom and locked the door, I hear Sam screaming and knocking on the door. “You ass hole, let me in! I have to shower now; my hair has to dry, and I have to curl it before the party.”

“You snooze you lose, suck it Sam” I replied.

I took my sweet time getting ready. Almost forty minutes later, I emerged from the bathroom in my towel, walked to my room and through her door, shouted “bathroom’s yours Sam!”

I heard Sam mumbling as she ran to the bathroom. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but I’m pretty sure I heard the words “asshole” and “prick” somewhere in there.

I sat on my bed in my towel and picked up my phone. It was 11:32am. I had a few texts from Billy and Jason, a few snapchats from our large group in Snapchat, a snapchat from Dani, a few texts from Dani, and missed facetime call from Dani.

First, the texts from Dani. They read:

“Woah, is that your backyard? That’s unreal…”

“Maybe ill have to plan a trip to see you soon!”

“don’t worry I wish you were here too.”

“It’s just not the same without you here…”

Those texts made me smile. It’s a good thing no one was in my room, because I was cheesing like a weirdo.

She wants to come visit me…? Is that to see the sweet backyard, or to see me? Both maybe?

She wishes I was there too. What does she mean ‘it’s not the same without me’? Does she miss me? If she does, why won’t she just say it?

As my mind was wandering… I jumped to Snapchat to check those notifications. It was nothing too exciting, Billy and Jason wrestling on one of those floating mats, messages from a few other people including one from Dani saying, “you two are idiots”. That made me crack a bit of a smile...

I clicked on the Snapchat from Dani, assuming that it was going to be similar to the video of Billy and Jason. Boy, was I wrong. It was a selfie of her, lounging on a dock in a bikini. It was one of those pictures where the girl takes the selfie above her head, looking down so you can see what she’s wearing and where she is. They like to feign like they’re being casual, while actually trying to show off everything to you.

I froze at the snapchat, I may have even started to drool. I’m so thankful there wasn’t a time-limit on it. Dani looked incredible. She was wearing a pink and blue flowered bikini, and some of those huge sunglasses. Even though she was brunette and was tan to begin with, she looked near golden today. I could see her abs and legs, toned and shining in the sun. She was squinting but making a slight kissy face. You know the one.

I stared at the picture for as long as I could, but eventually it disappeared. I doubled clicked the message in Snapchat and sent her a picture in reply. I was still wearing a towel, but just responded with a selfie of half of my face. In testing the waters, I decided to show half of my bare chest as well.

After impulse sending the snapchat, I jumped back to our text conversation and stared at the last message she sent ‘its just not the same without you here’.

How do I reply to that without being too obvious that I miss her…? Why do I miss her like that? We’re just friends, we haven’t ever kissed, or even held hands. What is wrong with me?

I decided to go a different route and gloss-over those feelings… I was going to ignore the last message she sent and go against the unwritten rule in the teenager handbook. I was going to respond to something she sent on snapchat in a text…

“Damnnn Dani, who are you showing off for over there in that bikini? As soon as I leave you bust out that bathing suit?”

I felt like it was semi-flirty but kept with the normal banter that her and I had. And maybe, she’d send me one of those selfies over text… but I wasn’t counting on it.

To distract my brain from the text that I just sent, I started to get dressed for the party.

What do you even wear to these things?

I threw on some briefs and some khaki shorts and went over to Sam’s room. She had just gotten out of the shower and was brushing her hair while facing away from the door. Her door was open, but she was still in a towel, so I knocked on the door frame and started “Hey, Sam. What were…” as I was cut off by a shriek and a yelling sister. “What the fuck you perv… I’m basically naked here.” She screamed as she pushed me out of her room and slammed the door.

As the ‘older’ brother that I am, I’m older by 6 minutes btw. I had to respond with “There’s nothing to see under that towel anyway…”

“Fuck you, you dick… what do you want anyway?” she quipped back.

“Well… before your conniption, I was just trying to figure out what to wear to this party… so what are you wearing?”

“I was just going to wear my orange jumper, its light and breathable, but still cute as fuck…”

“Damn who are you trying to impress? Alright, thanks for the help, I guess I’ll figure it out.”

Well, that was absolutely no help…

After what was probably too much deliberation, I landed on my khaki shorts and a Hawaiian button-down shirt. It was a white/blue with a Hawaiian/palm tree patten all over it.

At 12:40 we were beckoned downstairs by my father. “Are you guys ready yet? Let’s get ready to leave soon!”

Why do we have to be THIS early…?

Sam and I apparently had the same reaction because we both sauntered out of our rooms and downstairs together.

“Well don’t you two look nice” my mom said to both Sam and I.

A few moments later, we walked out of the house as a family. As we exited the house, I could see a bunch of tents and decorations set up at the end of the street in the circle. Think those large tents that are usually used for huge events or weddings. On one side was a group of grills setup, one of those huge smokers and some coolers lined up. On the other side, I could see a bunch of yard games setup in the street. There was obviously cornhole, and some other games that I recognized, but there was also something that looked like large beer pong.

There were a lot of people already out there. It looked like a fairly normal group of people – all laughing and having fun together. It probably looked like your stereotypical small-town crowd. We followed my dad around to a few different groups of people; it seemed as though he had already met a lot of these people. They all were very nice and welcomed us to the neighborhood.

We approached a family that was sitting at a picnic table underneath one of the large tents. It looked like they had two boys around my age. I could tell that Sam perked up as soon as she noticed the two teenage boys sitting there. Dad approached first and spoke to their dad, shook his hand, and exchanged pleasantries. As the pleasantries finished, our dad introduced Sam and I to them.

“Samantha, Seth this is Mr. Williams.”

“Hi Mr. Williams, I’m Seth, nice to meet you.” I said as I shook his hand.

“Hey Seth, Samantha, very nice to meet you. These are my boys Ben and Paul. Boys get your asses up and say hi.”

Sam being a boy-crazy 18-year-old, pushed me out of the way and introduced herself to both boys. She was giggling like a schoolgirl and trying to act flirty with the boys that we just met. I could tell the younger one was falling for it.

Gotta keep my eye on that one.

They came up to me and the older one said, “Whatsup dude, I’m Ben, and this is my little brother Paul.”

“Whatsup guys, nice to meet you”, I responded.

Dad said, “Seth, Mr. Williams let me know that Ben here just finished his sophomore year on the soccer team at Clearwater. Ben, Seth here is going to be a freshman on the soccer team this fall.”

“Oh shit, that’s awesome” Ben said. “We should run some workouts this summer. Our hell week is brutal for most freshman, but I’ll get you in shape. Lemme grab your phone number, ill text you my workout schedule.”

“That would be dope, thanks dude.” I responded as I exchanged numbers with Ben.

As my mom chatted with Mrs. Williams, my dad spoke up “Well, let’s leave the Williams family to finish their food, we’ve got some more people to meet.”

Ben and I pretty much had to pry Sam and Paul apart, apparently Paul was our age, just graduated too, and was on the football team in high school.

We approached a new family that was sitting across the tent from the Williams family. My dad caught the eye of their dad, who waved us over. “Steve, hey! Come on over.” The other dad exclaimed toward my dad.

As we reached their table my dad said “Mark, hey! So, this is the rest of the Johnson family?” Mark responded, “Yes, this is my wife Denise, and my daughter Lauren.”

I smiled as I shook Mr. Johnson’s hand. As I looked from Mrs. Johnson to her daughter, I locked eyes with the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. As I was getting lost in her eyes and her smile, she stood up and came right up to me, hugged me, and said, “Hi, I’m Lauren Johnson, welcome to the neighborhood!”

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Thanks for reading! I’m still fairly new at writing stories, especially ones this long, so please let me know if you have any feedback (good or bad) on this part.

I’m going for a slow-burn type story, I love the little details and back-stories of some of these characters. Trust me, I’ll get to the more exciting stuff, but the buildup always makes that better! I have some good plans for this story, but please let me know if you have any ideas as the story develops!

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