Moving to a new city, if you could call Shakopee, Minnesota a city, was never easy. Logan knew his mom wasn't trying to ruin his life. But while that wasn't the intended goal, the results remained the same.

The spaces between the houses spotting the expansive farmlands gradually decreased before the moving truck crossed over the "city" line. Sighing in defeated acceptance, Logan felt his heart sink deep in his gut. Making friends was never his forte. Eventually, he would. But he was looking at a long time before then. A long, lonely time.

"Please don't make that face, Hortense." Only his deep love for his mother allowed Logan to accept that he would forever and always be her "Little Hortense".

Glancing to his left and avoiding eye contact with his mother, Logan offered up a small smile. It wasn't her fault her real estate agency transferred her to the middle of nowhere.

Returning to his book, Logan's eye flitted from line to line; trying to find his place. Unable to find the line, Logan gave up, closing his book. His nerves about the impending new school year were too distracting.

"You'll do fine." He wasn't sure if his mom was talking about school itself or making friends. Possibly both.

His mother pulled into the short gravel driveway of a blue house. That was going to get old fast. Gravel driveways were horrible for basketball. And while Logan was no star player, he didn't mind shooting hoops every now and then.

"We'll get it paved eventually." The irrational fear that his mother could read his mind occurred to Logan before he dismissed it. His nerves were going to drive him completely insane if he wasn't careful. "Scary, huh?"

Eyes wide, the thought returned to Logan's brain. Shaking his head, as if it would help expel the thought, Logan followed his mother out of the car. His walk to the front door was interrupted by a male voice calling out a greeting.

"I'll be back." Gaining a nod in acknowledgement from his mother, Logan crossed over the grassy yard of his neighbor and climbed up the front steps.

The boy sitting there was, simply put: hot. And he seemed to know it. His relaxed posture suggested he had all the time in the world to sit there and watch the world go by. The comb in his hand suggested he had been previously grooming himself.

Shoving his hands into his front pockets, Logan spoke out his own greeting. "What's up?"

Shrugging his shoulders, the pretty boy gestured to the empty seat next to him. Taking the wicker chair, Logan leaned back in an attempt to mimic the other's relaxed pose. A relative silence followed, in which Logan took in the rest of the neighborhood. Nice enough.

"You new?" The boy spoke again.

"Yeah, Logan." Sitting back up, he turned his body to the side to bring the other into his sight.

"James." Apparently he wasn't much of a talker. "You like trampolines?"

"What?" And he was confusing Logan.

"C'mon, I've got one in the back." Following the other, Logan regarded the other's generous height. He was always the shortest. Circling around to James' backyard Logan was greeted with what was truly a gift from the gods. "Well?"

James tucked his comb into his back pocket, eyebrow raised in question.

"I love trampolines."

Everything I write is so short. This is gonna be "long".