One day, about a week ago, something pretty crazy happened. But before we get to that, allow me to introduce myself. Hi, my name is Ness. I come from a town called Onett. I have raven -colored hair, and tanned skin. I'm 14 years old, and live with my sister, Tracy, my mom, and my dad (though he's not home often). My best friends are Paula Polestar, Jeff Andonuts, and Poo.
I remember it like it was yesterday. A new kid had just moved into town. He had blond, cowlick styled hair. His skin tone isn't as tan as mine, and he often was seen wearing a yellow and red striped t-shirt with blue shorts.
It as a mid-summer day when the event took place. I was hanging out with Paula, Jeff, and Poo at the nearby park as usual. We ended up visiting the park a lot during the summer, since it was nice out and we had a lot of free time. We had noticed the new kid; he was alone and seemed to be enjoying watching the bugs and squirrels crawling around. He had a small book and pencil in hand, though I wasn't completely sure what he was doing.
"Hey, isn't that the kid that just moved into town?" Jeff asked.
"Yeah, I saw him move in across the street from me," Paula stated, "I saw him move in with who I believe were his dad and brother."
"Maybe we could welcome him into the neighborhood?" I thought aloud.
"That's a great idea! We could even throw him a party!" Paula exclaimed.
"I don't think that would be a good idea." Poo cut in.
"Why not?"
"He doesn't seem to want anybody's presence at the moment." Poo gestured to the boy, who had began to pack up his things and leave the area.
"Then what do we do for him?" Paula asked Poo in a slightly irritated tone.
"I say we all meet up at his house and introduce ourselves to him!" Jeff exclaimed, proud of his idea. Nobody seemed to want to object to the idea, and we all just stood there, staring at each other for a few minutes.
"Then it's settled," I finally spoke, "we'll all go meet up at his house tomorrow. Although, I can only come at around noon. I'm busy before then."
The following day, I had arrived at the requested location, where my friends were waiting. They each greeted me with a single nod, and I returned the gesture. We all walked up to the door together, and I knocked. A young ginger-haired boy that looked very similar to the blond we had seen earlier that day opened the door. Though, he had a few notable differences, such as slightly different styled hair, and a blue and yellow striped t-shirt. He didn't seem as shy as the other boy, either. He seemed more confident in himself, as well.
"Who're you?" The boy asked.
I stepped up to the boy. "My name is Ness," I began, "and these are my friends; Paula Polestar, she lives right across the street from you; Jeff Andonuts, son of the genius Dr. Andonuts; and Poo, the Crown Prince of Dalaam!"
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all. The name's Claus," the boy stated, "my dad, brother, and I have just recently moved here. So… What exactly are you all here for?"
"We wanted to see your brother. We had seen him at the park the other day, and thought that we might come to formally introduce ourselves."
"Well, I could get him out here for yeah, if you'd like."
"That'd be awesome, thanks!"
"All right, give me a second." The ginger disappeared into the house. Then, the blond hid appeared at the door. He had baby blue eyes that I hadn't noticed before. He hesitated when he saw us, and edged away a few inches.
"H-hi…." He whispered shyly, "w-what are you doing here…?" His voice faded as he averted his eyes from us.
"We're here to see you," I began enthusiastically, "after we saw you at the park, we thought we'd introduce ourselves! I'm Ness, and this is Paula, Jeff, and Poo!" I gestured to my friends behind me, stepping out of the way to allow them to greet the blond.
Paula stepped up first, "Hi there, I'm Paula!" She reintroduced herself.
Then, Jeff. "I'm Jeff." He then stepped aside and let Poo up.
"I am Poo." He simply stated.
The blond hesitated before he introduced himself. "I-I'm Lucas…." He whispered, avoiding eye contact.
"Aww, what a cute name~!" Paula commented with a content smile. The boy blushed, embarrassed. He seemed to be contemplating something. He glanced up at us, then at the door. We all stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, until Claus reappeared at the door.
"Alright, Lucas. Dad wants you," Claus then looked at us, "Sorry, we're a little busy at the moment. Something just popped up. So, we don't have time for guests at the moment. Maybe you'll see each other some other time." The ginger then shut the door, and I could see their figures in the door walk away.
"Well, that didn't go well." Jeff stated.
"No kidding. How 'bout we go to the park, maybe he'll come around there later?" I suggested. 'Or maybe he won't show up there at all…' The other three nodded in agreement, and we all headed in that direction.
It wasn't that far of a walk from Lucas' to the park. Once we arrived there, Paula and Jeff sat on the bench. I took out a baseball glove, bat, and ball. I handed the glove to Poo, who slipped it on. I then handed him the ball, and we both split; he threw the ball, while I swung the bat to hit it for practice.
"What are we gonna do? That kid- Lucas is too shy to talk to us without his brother there for him." Paula grumbled.
"We could always just wait for him here at the park. If he comes out often enough, then we could surely befriend him." Jeff suggested.
"Yeah… But maybe he's an indoor kid." I commented, knowing that not everyone likes to come out all the time.
"Then we could befriend his brother, first. He seems more outgoing, maybe he'd accept, and even bring Lucas along on one, if not multiple trips."
"That… Could work… But how exactly are we going to do that?"
"Leave that up to me." Jeff fixed his glasses. The rest of us looked at him, as he left an awkward silence nobody intended to respond to.