Alright! Second chapter!
Special thanks to those of you who already reviewed, you guys are incredible!
And I hope you enjoy this chapter as well :)
Mercedes P.O.V
Ten hours. They had been trapped in that moving van for ten hours. It was terrible, the young girl was all hot and tired and just wanted to go jump in a pool somewhere. But no, not today. Today, she and her older brother had to help their parents unpack the moving van. As her parents moved the heavier items into the house, she and her brother were left in the van to make a passageway to make the boxes easier to move.
"Now, stay together," their mother warned her two kids. "We don't know this neighborhood very well and I don't want you guys getting lost."
"Yes, Mom," Matt nodded. Mrs. Jones raised an eyebrow at her daughter.
"Did you hear me, Mercedes?"
"Yes, Mama," the girl sighed. For some reason, her mom always thought she was going to get into some sort of trouble. Now, it was true that Mercedes wasn't always the most obedient child, she was definitely strong willed, but she wasn't a troublemaker.
"Good," their mother nodded. "Your dad and I will be out periodically to check on you two. The faster you work the faster you'll be done," she smiled as she moved some boxes inside the house. She wasn't gone for more than five whole minutes when Matt slumped down to the ground.
"It's so boring in here," he whined.
"Well then, we'd better hurry up," Mercedes suggested, pushing a small box aside.
"But look at all these boxes; it's going to take forever."
"So, what do you want to do about it?"
"Well, why don't you move all the small, light boxes and I'll move the bigger ones in the back. That way we don't both have to work at the same time and we won't get in each other's way." The young girl crossed her arms.
"So, what will you be doing while I'm working?"
"Well, I could," Matt began, looking around as if he was searching for an idea. "Oh I know, I could go unpack my room and come back in like twenty minutes."
"I don't know, Mom said we should stay together."
"And we will, it's not like I'm going to a different planet. I'll be right inside the house," he assured.
"But Mom said-"
"Oh come on, please? There's nothing wrong with this plan but if you don't want me to go, I won't," he remarked, earnestly.
"You really think it'll work? And I won't get in trouble?"
"Cross my heart." Mercedes looked contemplatively at her fingers for a moment before making up her mind.
"Fine," she sighed.
"Really? That's awesome, I'll be back in like thirty minutes," he promised as he left the van.
"Hey wait, you said twenty!"
"Thanks so much 'Cedes, you're the best!" he called back as he left out of the truck.
"Matt?" she called out, but there was no response. She sighed and began to rifle through some nearby boxes. I'm going to get in trouble for this, I just know it. Mercedes tried to push this thought out of her mind as she moved some of the boxes to the front. That's when she found him. Mr. Raymond, her teddy bear. Even though she was way too old for kids stuff like that, she was secretly happy her mother hadn't thrown him away. She wanted to go put him in her room but there was still so many boxes to move. There's no way I can do this all myself, she sighed. That's when she heard someone climb onto the van, causing her to perk up.
"Matt? I'm glad you're back, I need help," she grinned. There was no response but she could still hear footsteps moving towards her. Mercedes clutched her teddy bear tighter.
"Matt?" she asked again, her voice cracking a little. The footsteps disappeared for a minute, as if the person was walking on the boxes now. The young girl moved deeper into the van.
"Who's there?" she demanded. She barely got the words out with another child basically flew down in front of her, crashing into the floor. What was that?
"What in the world?" she asked, hanging on tightly to the teddy bear in her hands. Mercedes recognized the person as a young boy with blond hair. He stood up and gave her a clear look. She assumed he was about her age and stared at him curiously. He merely stared back. She wondered if he was going to say anything but after a moment of silence, she chose to speak.
"Hello?"
"I-it's-name-" he stuttered
"Are you okay?" She stepped closer to him; Did he hurt his head when he jumped? The boy shook his head wildly, causing her to pause. What's wrong with him?
"I'm Sam," he asserted.
"So, you do speak," she laughed.
"Yes, ma'am," he grinned. "What's your name?"
"It's nice to meet you Sam," she smiled politely. "My name's-"
"Mercedes!" a voice cried outside the van, it sounded scared. Mama? Is she calling me?. "Mercedes!" I've got to go find her, she decided. She swiftly moved passed Sam and made her way to the front of the truck.
"Mama?" she replied.
"Oh, there you are," her mom smiled, entering the van. "I saw Matt inside and I got worried, I thought I told you not to stay outside alone," she said, her voice getting serious.
"I'm sorry, Mama," she replied, lowering her head. "Matt looked tired, I thought he could use a break." I knew I was going to get blamed for this. I was trying to help Matt, but I should have asked-
"She wasn't alone ma'am, she was me," he proclaimed proudly. Mercedes looked up at the blond who had interrupted her thoughts as her mother turned her attention to the boy as well.
"And who are you?" her mother asked.
"Sam Evans, at your service," he bowed.
"Well, thank you, Sam, for watching out for my daughter," she chuckled. "But I'm afraid it's almost time for dinner."
"Yea, I should go home before Mama starts to worry," he agreed. "I just have to get Declan."
"Such a good boy for thinking of your mother like that," the lady nodded, looking at her daughter. "You could learn something from him, Mercedes. I'll go get your brother, honey." They all got out of the moving van but Sam and Mercedes waited next to the front door, while her mom went to go get Declan. Sam was saying something but the young girl was annoyed.
"You didn't have to do that," she snapped.
"Do what?"
"Stand up for me; I can take care of myself."
"We're both like eight, we can't take care of ourselves," he joked. "I still sleep with a night light."
"You're not funny."
"I was just trying to help."
"Well next time, don't," she said bluntly.
"Geez, fine," he replied irritated. Mercedes sighed guiltily as she watched him look at the floor. I guess that was kind of mean, she reasoned. That's when he felt a tender hand on his arm, so he looked up.
"Hey Sam? I'm sorry. You were just being nice, I shouldn't have been mean. It's just my parents always see me as such a baby, you know? They think I can't take care of myself and whenever I try to prove it, I just get in trouble. I hate being treated like a baby. Are your parents like that?" she asked. He didn't answer. He just stood there, staring at her. She backed up a little and stared at him. What is up with him? Is he angry at me? But I said I was sorry. Maybe he just wants to go home? "Uh, Sam? I'm going to go get Declan," she said, turning to go inside.
"Wait!" Sam screamed, grabbing her hand. She turned around to face him but he had that same blank look on his face. She gazed down at their hands. What does he want? His hand felt a little funny but Mercedes was more worried about get her own palm free. She looked up into his eyes to ask if he could let go but then she heard someone snickering behind her. Declan and Matt appeared on the porch, laughing.
"Sam?" Declan asked.
"What?" he looked up at his brother.
"Let's go, buddy," his sibling decided. "You can play with your girlfriend later."
"Uh, she's not-" Sam began.
"I'm not his girlfriend," Mercedes said, quickly dropping his hand. "Boys are gross."
"We're not gross!" Sam blushed. "Girls are gross!"
"Really?" asked Matt. "Then why were you guys holding hands?"
"Uh, we were-" Mercedes tried.
"Arm wrestling!" Sam grinned.
"What?" asked Declan.
"Yep! And I was winning too!"
"It didn't look like arm wrestling to me," Matt admitted, suspiciously.
"Well, we were," snapped Mercedes. "And you weren't winning, Sam. I was so going to win."
"Well, we won't know now, will we?" the blond shrugged. "Next time?"
"You're on," she agreed.
"Alright," Declan chuckled. "Well then we better get out of your way then." Mercedes watched the boys leave, admittedly a little disappointed. She waved at them as they left but her mom called her inside. Before entering the house, she noticed that Sam was looking at her from over his shoulder. She smiled and headed inside.
"It's good to see that you guys are already making friends," smiled Mrs. Jones as she set the table.
"Yea, Declan's pretty cool," Matt shrugged as he took his spot.
"And what about Sam?" she asked Mercedes.
"Uh, he's nice, I guess," the young girl said, trying to mimic Matt's nonchalant attitude.
"Aw, 'Cedes has a boyfriend," her older brother teased.
"What? No!"
"So that wasn't you holding hands out there?"
"He was holding my hand!"
"I thought you guys were 'arm wrestling'?" Matt smirked.
"Uh, we were."
"Yea, sure."
"We were!"
"Whatever you say, baby sister."
"You're such a stupid head!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Nu huh!"
"Yea huh!"
"Mercedes, we do not call each other names in this house," Mrs. Jones warned.
"But Mama, he was-"
"Just joking, right Matt?"
"Yea," he mumbled.
"Good to hear it." They got the table ready and started to eat when the phone rang. "I'll get it," she said, getting up. "Matt, slow down. That food isn't going to run away," she warned before going to the phone. The boy merely nodded before continuing to devour the food. Mercedes watched her brother in amusement and looked down at her own plate.
"Hey Mattie?"
"Hmm," he mumbled through a full mouth.
"Can I have your broccoli?" she grinned. He smiled and nodded.
"But you know what you have to do."
"Sure," she agreed, sliding her creamed corn onto his plate before grabbing his broccoli.
"I still don't know how you eat that stuff," he said, already eating the corn.
"It's good and so much better than that stuff," she replied, wrinkling her nose at the maize.
"The only thing broccoli is good for is for drowning in cheese."
"Ew, no. That's gross."
"You're gross."
"You're weird."
"No, I'm awesome. There's a difference."
"That's enough, you two," their mother laughed, sitting herself back down. "Your dad just called, he's going to be coming home a little late tonight."
"Is everything okay?" asked Mercedes.
"Yes, dear," she smiled. "He just has to verify a few things for his new job."
"Is he going to be working late a lot?"
"Sometimes," her mother admitted.
"Oh," the younger girl sighed. She looked down at her plate and began to play with her broccoli.
"But he'll definitely be here to tuck you in," her mother promised. Mercedes face lit up as she grinned at her mother.
"Good," she nodded.
"So are we going school supply shopping tomorrow?" Matt asked.
"We should do that soon," Mrs. Jones agreed, biting her bottom lip. "This town confuses me a little, very different from back home but I should be able to find a Wal-Mart nearby." They continued to eat dinner, talking about the supplies they were going to have to go buy for school. Mercedes couldn't wait to start school, at her last home, she didn't have many friends. The other kids were only nice to her when they wanted to know her brother, so she never knew when someone really liked her. Now Matt was going to a different school, sure it was right next door to her school but at least no one knew them yet. At the end of the meal, they cleaned up the table and she and Matt went into the living room to watch TV. Soon she heard the front door's doorknob turn and jumped up.
"Matt! Daddy's home!" she said.
"Yea, I'll see him when he comes into this room," replied her brother as he remained focus on the screen. Mercedes shrugged and headed to the door but stopped when she heard her dad's voice. He was talking to someone.
"Thank you for the pie," her father's voice chuckled as he entered the house. "You should come in, meet the family."
"Well maybe for a moment, I have to get back to my kids," a woman said as she followed Mr. Jones in. Mercedes saw that she was really pretty. She was tall, blond and had very familiar eyes. They're just like Sam's, she realized, walking up to the stranger.
"You have children?" her dad continued.
"Two boys," she smiled. "They were here earlier, actually."
"Really? I have two of my own. A boy and a girl, speaking of which, here she is," Mr. Jones smiled, resting his hand on his daughter's head. "Mercedes, say hello to Mrs. Evans."
"Hi," she smiled.
"Why hello there," the woman grinned. Wow, she looks really happy. That must be a super good pie.
"Felicia? Matt?" her dad called. "Come meet our new neighbor." Mercedes' mom came out of the kitchen, removing her apron to shake the blond woman's hand.
"Hi, I'm Felicia Jones."
"Makayla Evans," the woman smiled.
"Matt?" Mr. Jones called again. "Boy, stop watching that TV and get out here." The boy appeared in a matter of seconds and shook the woman's hand. He paused for a moment to stare at her face.
"Are you Declan's sister?" he asked. The blond blushed and shook her head.
"I'm his mother," she corrected, causing the boy's eyes to grow wide.
"What? You don't even look old!"
"Matt!" Mrs. Jones said.
"Aw, thank you. You're a sweet boy," Mrs. Evans smiled. "I hope our families can be great friends."
"I'm sure we will," agreed Mr. Jones.
"Well, I've got to get back to my boys."
"Right, Sam and Declan?" questioned Mrs. Jones. "They're great kids. Is your husband watching them now?"
"Oh no, he's still at work."
"Well, you all should come over for dinner soon."
"We'll take you up on that," the blond laughed. "Well, I should go now. If you guys need anything, I'm right across the street."
"Do you know where we can buy school supplies? My mom's confused," Mercedes asked.
"I'm not confused," her mother said.
"But Mama, you said-"
"I'm just not used to town yet."
"Yea," Mrs. Evans nodded. "This town's layout is pretty weird but if you drive south on Mahogany Avenue, you'll hit a Wal-Mart."
"Okay, thank you," her mother responded, but she didn't look relieved.
"In fact, I'm going supply shopping on Tuesday; y'all are welcome to join us."
"Oh, that would be great! Are you sure you wouldn't mind?"
"Of course not, neighbor," the blond smiled. "I'd love for you to come along." She looked down at her watch and frowned slightly. "I'll call you tomorrow; I've really got to go."
"Sure, sorry for taking up your time. Have a wonderful night," Mr. Jones nodded. "And thanks so much for the help."
"Not a problem! See you tomorrow," she waved before leaving.
"She's nice," Matt grinned, once she was gone.
"Very nice," Mrs. Jones agreed, taking the pie into the kitchen.
"Hey, she brought us a pie," laughed Mr. Jones, following his wife. "I didn't know people still did that."
"Is it apple?" asked Matt, following him. Mercedes was about to shut door when she noticed someone standing in the doorway of the house across the street. Sam? To confirm her suspicions, the boy waved at her. She smiled and waved back. I hope we'll be good friends too, she thought to herself.
