Ch 1

'Pride! Get off the computer! I'm not going to tell you again!' But she would tell him again. She always told him again. Prides mom never seemed to get tired of nagging him about something. He was starting to hate the sound of his own name because when he heard it, there was always a lecture coming with it.

Prides dad had left when he was five. He said he was going out for milk and after awhile Pride knew he wasn't coming back. It stung sometimes, knowing that his dad didn't want him. But then he would remember how much his mother loved him, even thru the nagging.

He finally logged off the computer and dragged himself downstairs for lunch. 'We are going over to meet the new neighbors today, so eat fast' his mother said. 'I'm pretty sure they aren't axe murderers this time,eh?' Wink. Pride rolled his eyes. The people who had lived there before looked like they kept children in their basement and it had given him the creeps, so he made the classic mistake of telling his mom. Now, she took every opportunity to remind him how stupid it was. But he was seven now and much braver. There was nothing in that house that worried him.

After he finished lunch, his mom reminded him to be friendly, to smile and to not be afraid. 'Mom! I'm not a little kid anymore. I'm not afraid of the house!' Pride grumbled, partly to reassure himself.

They walked over to the neighbors house, stepping over boxes and staying out of the way of the busy movers. A man and a woman were directing people what things were to go where but they stopped when they saw Pride and his mother. Apparently no one else had come to welcome them yet so they were quite excited to see some friendly faces. The woman said she had a daughter who was Prides age and yelled for the girl. 'Kayla! Get over here!'

Pride smiled at the idea that someone else's mom was hollering for them for once.

A small girl, maybe six or seven, trudged out of the backyard, whining about how she was in the middle of building a fort and she really didn't have time for distractions. 'Kayla this is Pride and his mother.' Her father said 'they live in the house next to us. Maybe he can help you build your fort!' Pride felt her dissaproving gaze and suddenly he wished he spent more time outside instead of on the computer. Maybe his mother had been right...

'Sorry Pride. It's a girls only fort. Kayla yelled as she ran back to the backyard. 'Better luck next time.'

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