"What?!" I screeched at my mother, jumping up from my spot at the counter. "New neighbors?!"
Mom, sighing, replied, "Hun, don't you think your a bit old to be getting excited by this? You're not even going to be here much longer, maybe a year."
I gaped at her. I said, "Mother! You know I've always wanted a Japanese husband. And now that we have neighbors moving in from Japan, this could be my chance! At least, just to be friends. It would be so cool!"
Mom smiled a tired smile, then replied, "Alright, alright Ellen. You win."
I just grinned at her. But I froze when I heard the rumble of a loud truck outside.
"Ohmygod, Mom! You didn't tell me they were moving in today!"
"Sweetie, sweetie, calm down! I didn't know either. I just knew that it was going to be before the end of the week."
I looked into the mirror in the hallway, making sure I wasn't a complete mess. Grabbing a brush from the drawer, I yanked it through my hair. "I'm ready. Let's go!"
Grabbing Mom's hand, I yanked her out the front door with a "whoa!" from her. I slowed down from a sprint to a fast walk, as we continued up the driveway towards the tuck. I tried to compose myself, and Mom fixed her top and straightened out her shorts. We got to the top of the driveway, just for me to stop in my tracks; causing Mom to walk right into my from behind.
I instantly blushed, looking at the incredibly cute guy in the driver's seat. No way he's Japanese! I thought, staring at his hair. His hair is orange! I was even more awestruck, when another guy leaned over to talk to the one driving.
I did a double-take; for a second there, I thought there was simply a mirror. But, no! Twins! Inwardly I squealed. Every girl has fantasies about twins every once in a while, right? Crap, I thought, starting to panic. This is either really good... or the worst possible tease ever. The whole "twins-fight-breaks-up-brothers" thing.
I decided to just play it cool, and let things ride out the way they may. How wrong I was; fate wasn't exactly my friend, apparently.
The guys got out of their truck, and noticed us standing there. Instantly, they smiled.
"Weeeell," the one on the right said.
"You must be our new neighbors!" the one on the left finished. "Nice to meet you," they said together, their English hardly impaired by an accent at all.
"I'm Kaoru," the one on the right said.
"And I'm Hikaru," the other one followed.
"And we're the Hitachiin twins." Again, with that simultaneous-ness.
"I'm Miranda Willowfields; it's a pleasure to meet you boys," mom beamed at them. "And this is my daughter."
"H-hi. I'm Ellen Willowfields. Nice to have you guys as our new neighbors," I said, looking between them to not make eye-contact.
The boys shook mom's hand, and then grasped mine. They pulled me into a double-sided hug before I could pull my hand away.
"We're going to be great friends," Kaoru whispered into my ear. "Just you wait..."
That's how my life became a confusing mess. A confusing mess that was a helluva a lot of fun!
END PART 1