"The new neighbours have moved in," Lian stated before moving away from the window.
"Really?" Melinda asked bouncing up to spot next to the window where her mother had just been.
"Millie get your skates," her dad called grabbing his car keys.
"Ready," Melinda replied as she bounded up the stairs and back, ice skates in hand.
"Alright let's go," he said ushering her out the door.
"Do you think they'll have a pet?" Melinda asked with her head pressed against the car window.
"I don't know, perhaps," her father replied with his eyes fixed on the road.
"Other children perhaps?"
"Maybe."
"Do you like it?" Julie Coulson asked turning towards her son. "I know it's smaller than the old house but there's just us now so…"
"It's fine mum," Phil said with a small smile. He rarely smiled a genuine smile these days, not after the death of his dad.
"You can go pick your room," his mother said brightly, too brightly.
She's trying to put on a strong front for me Phil thought to himself as he trudged up the stairs. She didn't need to but she did, she just didn't want him to see her in pain. Phil knew how much his father's death had affected her as well as him, but it made her feel better to think that he didn't know about her pain. That's why he put on a show and let her put on her happy face, as long as his mum would be alright he would pretend that he didn't see her in pain. All she wanted was to be a good parent.
Slowly inspecting each of the rooms, Phil finally chose the most spacious of the rooms that had a lovely vine climbing on the outside of the wall next to his new house was nice, it wasn't too big nor was it too small. It had a nice three bedrooms with enough space for he and his mum to live comfortably and a lovely yard too. Perhaps he could persuade his mother to allow him to get a dog. Going back down stairs Phil saw his mother unpacking boxes and sorting things into their new homes.
"Decided on a room yet honey?" His mother asked swiping her hair back from her forehead.
"Yes," Phil replied searching through the boxes and finally locating the ones marked with a bold PHIL across the top.
"Let me know if you need a hand carrying any of the boxes up," his mother called after him as he lugged a box up the stairs.
"Will do," answered back, still pulling the box up the stairs.
"Wow," Phil's mum said as she leaned against his door frame. "You've done a great job sweetie."
"Thanks mum," Phil responded, genuinely happy. It had taken him a couple of days but now his room was well and truly his own. His posters and Captain America memorabilia decorated the room, giving it a clear sense that this was his room.
"Come down for dinner," his mother said pushing herself off the door frame and heading down stairs with Phil trailing behind her. "I got tacos."
"So do you think you'll be up to starting school tomorrow?" Phil's mother asked, methodically stacking dishes in the dishwasher.
"Yeah I guess," he replied flicking on the television.
"I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends," his mother continued as she tidied up the kitchen.
"Maybe," he answered hopping from one channel to another.
"I will be good to get a fresh start. New school, new friends, new neighbours, new house, new places to see…"
"Uh huh."
"Phil are you even listening to me?!"
"What yeah, new stuff."
"Right," his mother said walking in with a cup of tea. "Have you got all your school stuff ready?"
"No."
"Well perhaps you should go upstairs and prepare your things for tomorrow."
"Alright," Phil replied getting up from the couch and heading off towards his room.
His feet dragged upon the carpet as he made his way slowly. His stomach was churning at the prospect of school tomorrow. A new school with new people and no friends, not one familiar face. Phillip Coulson was scared. He sighed crossing the threshold into his new room, his blue eyes scanning the room with a sadness embedded in them. People used to say that he had sparkling eyes, but now his twinkly blue eyes seemed dull and lifeless. They remind him of his father's eyes the last time he saw him, cold and lifeless lying in a coffin. His father's once bright blue eyes were empty and dead, and as he looked in the mirror he could see his father's eyes mirrored in his own. He turned towards the window and leaned against the ledge, there was a nice summer breeze blowing and it felt good against his skin. Looking outside his window his eyes locked with a pair of deep brown eyes. They were mesmerising and had glint in them, something that clearly marked danger and adventure. He watched the girl in the window opposite him as she stood there and returned his stare. She was slight and maybe a year or so younger than him, but had the most intense gaze that soon had him looking away after several moments. When he looked back however, the girl was gone having drawn the curtains, but had left him with a growing curiosity.
Phil shouldered his backpack uncomfortably as he waited in the school office to be shown his new class. It was his first day and he felt sick with worry. What if he didn't make any friends? What if he got bullied? What if he made an idiot of himself?
"Ahh Phillip is it?" The deputy principal Mr Lynn said as he came out of his office with a jovial smile. He was a solidly built man with a bald head and steely grey eyes. To some he might've seemed an intimidating man, but the joyful expression on his face eased one's worries about the muscles in the his arms threatening to break free from the confines of his shirt. Phil liked the look of him.
"I'll take you to your class then Phil," Mr Lynn said leading the way.
They arrived at a brown door with with a clear panel running through the centre of it. Pearing through the panel Mr Lynn knocked firmly on the door before entering, gesturing for Phil to follow.
"Aah class, today we have a new student joining us. This is Phil," the teacher announced waving her hands in Phils direction. "And Phil is one of our fourth graders. This is a split class," the teacher explained to Phil, "so we have both third and fourth graders in this class. I am Mrs Matthews and I expect everyone to be kind and welcoming to Phil because we all know what it's like to be the new person in class." The class nodded at the teacher's words and some raised their hands to wave at him. "You can take a seat Phil, there's a spare next to Melinda," the teacher said pointing the desk next to a small Asian girl with deep brown eyes and dark hair.
"Hi," Phil said to the girl, placing his bag next to his desk and taking his seat. She blinked at him with those deep brown eyes before offering up a quiet 'hi' in response.
"Hi honey, how was school?" Phil's mother called from the kitchen as he closed the front door behind him.
"Fine," he replied making his way up the stairs.
"Did you make any friends?"
Phil's mother looked up in annoyance at his lack of reply. "Phil!" she called.
Phil settled down at his desk right in front of the window. He sat there quietly, intently observing the window opposite his. From what he could see, the walls were painted a soft lilac purple and there were posters of Dorothy Hamill. Phil assumed that the room belonged to Melinda as he now knew her, finally able to place a name to the girl with the mesmerising eyes. During class he'd tried to watch her subtly and learnt that she was quiet and kept to herself mostly. She had a friend, Rose if he remembered correctly, they were skipping together at lunch and she was probably one of the few people that Phil saw Melinda interact with.
He started working on his catch up work from the teacher, acutely aware of the movement in the room across his. It probably seemed like a very strange thing for him to want to observe the neighbours, but the girl- Melinda - just seemed so intriguing. Also his desk just happened to be in front of his window soo...
"Phil honey, you didn't answer me," his mother said startling him with her sudden appearance in his room.
"Sorry," Phil said gripping his pencil tightly.
"You doing homework?" his mother asked looking at the pencil in his hand. Phil nodded in response, one of the downsides of starting a new school mid term. "Alright, I'll let you get to it then, but I expect to hear all about your day at dinner," his mother said before leaving with a smile and ruffling his hair.
Once his mother had finally left, Phil turned back to his work before his attention was drawn to the front yard. Melinda was in the yard laughing and smiling as she practiced gymnastics of some sort, performing flips and aerials. Her father (he assumed) stood at one end of the lawn clapping and congratulating her when she executed a perfect move. Phil was entranced by her movements, the way she seemed to tumble and roll effortlessly, landing with complete balance and grace. He wasn't sure how long he sat there watching before Melinda's mother (he assumed) called both she and her father in for dinner.
Shortly after Melinda had disappeared inside her house Phil travelled down stairs to find his mother setting the table for dinner.
"Perfect timing honey," she said looking up at him with a smile. "Dinner's just ready now."
Phil's mother listened intently as he recounted his day to her talking about his new teacher and classmates.
"So did you make many new friends?"
"Not yet,"
"I saw the girl next door," Phil's head snapped up so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. "She looked like a nice girl, is she in your class?" his mother asked.
"Melinda," Phil said, it being the first time that he had actually said her name aloud. "We sit next to each other in class."
"Well that's lovely Phil, it's always nice to have friends who live close to you."
"Yeah, we haven't really talked much… She seems like a quiet person."
"I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends sweetie, just give it some time," his mother reached over patting his hand comfortingly.
Phil smiled at his mother thinking about the girl next door. At his old school Phil hadn't been a popular kid, but he'd had a couple of good friends. He'd never been close friends with a girl before though, he'd always thought that they were the festering grounds of cooties. But this girl, Melinda, she didn't seem like she was riddled with cooties. She actually might not be half bad if Phil really thought about it, perhaps even possibly a future friend.
"I met the new neighbour today, a boy," Melinda said turning her glass of water on its coaster.
"Did you?" her father responded looking up from his meal.
"Yes," Melinda stated without elaboration.
"Don't fidget," her mother said calmly, causing Melinda to retract her hand from her glass. "Is he a nice boy?"
"I don't know, I didn't really talk to him," Melinda replied with a shrug, she wasn't too keen on new people.
"You should welcome him, invite him over or something, dinner perhaps?" Her father said nodding his head, "all new kids need a friend."
Melinda looked at him with big brown eyes, contemplating his words. Did she want to get to know this stranger? This new boy next door? She remembered seeing him sitting alone during lunch and she felt slightly bad for not going and talking to him. She didn't particularly like talking to strangers but she knew what it was like to be alone without friends, it hurt. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just talk to him a little bit, if he was mean she could always just never talk to him again.
"Ok," she finally said agreeing with her father. "I'll talk to him tomorrow."
A/N
I hope you enjoyed this story and I promise more chapters will be up soon. Please comment and let me know what you think or if you have any request or ideas that you'd like me to include in someway (I can always see what I can do). This was inspired by episode two of season three and I just had to write childhood Philinda. I think this will be maybe slight AU but generally I think it will tie in with the AoS timeline later. Please note that some things have been changed such as the age difference between Melinda and Phil so that they'd be a little closer together. Also I am not sticking to the era of the time that they grew up so that will be why some things may seem slightly AU. P.S. Comments make me write faster :P