((See what this pairing makes me do? I couldn't sleep because I needed to start this story. And now, here I am with the second chapter because immediately after submitting the first chapter, ideas for this one came to mind. Aargh…
Anyways, I hope you guys like this story, even though it has a strange name. Don't worry, I plan on incorporating the name in the story later on, so… Yeah.
Oh yeah, you guys came here to read the next chapter, not my rambling. Hahaha, here you go-))
Chapter 2: Hopscotch
"Arthur, can you give me the box cutter?" Allistor said after pulling one box off of the mountain the movers had left for us to sort through. He held his hand out expectantly and I put the tool in it. He muttered what sounded like a 'thank you', but with Allistor, it could have been 'chicken'. One would never know.
As he cut open the box, I walked over to the sofa and made myself comfortable—well, as comfortable one could be in a stuffy apartment with no air-conditioning. I felt as if I was going to melt into the cushion. We had already arranged the furniture, and of course, the movers had to put the box containing the rotating fan somewhere in the middle of the mountain of boxes Allistor put himself to work opening. I sighed, and watched as my older brother unpacked his collection of shot-glasses.
"How much longer until you unpack the tellie, or even some books?" I asked, yawning out of boredom.
"Hell if I know. How much longer until you actually start doing something productive?" Allistor quipped back.
I sat up a little. "What—I did help, mind you. Who else helped move that bloody entertainment center over there? You certainly didn't do it yourself…!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, grandma, cool your jets. I was just joking around with you," Allistor said with a smirk.
"Yeah, right," I muttered, sinking back into the sofa.
"What was that…?" he asked as he placed his shot-glasses on a shelf next to what he designated as the liquor cabinet—it was actually a medicine cabinet. "Listen, why don't you go outside for a while and get some fresh air? If I need you, I'll call for you." He turned back and eyed me before jabbing one of his long, boney fingers at me. "And don't you run off and ditch me."
I rolled my eyes, and for once actually agreed with Allistor's suggestion. "Whatever," I said, lifting myself up from the comfort of the couch. I walked out, and almost immediately, the temperature around me dropped a few degrees. "Damn stuffy apartment," I muttered and slipped my hands in my pockets as I walked down the corridor. I began to hum lightly as I made my way toward the front door of the apartment building.
And that's when he walked in.
"Adios, mi amigos!" said a familiar Spanish man as he waved at someone on the other side of the door—I could only guess it was his friends from earlier—before he turned around.
For a moment, we both just stood there, staring at each other in a silence almost heavier than the heat. I guess he felt it, too, since he put on an all-too-trusting smile and said, "Hola, you must be the new neighbor, si?"
I couldn't even begin to guess how he'd figured out I spoke English, but that didn't matter. How the hell did the coincidence happen that I ended up living in the same apartment building as some random guy I saw on the street?
I didn't reply to him; I simply turned around and walked the other way out of embarrassment of how I'd behaved earlier. "Ah, did I say something wrong?" he asked, but I kept walking until I met the other exit to the building. I opened it to a little playground. I figured it was only appropriate, since there were apartments everywhere in this part of the city. There was a small group of little kids playing, and so on whim, I decided to stay and watch to alleviate the odd sense of embarrassment.
There was two kids on the playhouse, one on a swing, and three that were playing sidewalk games with chalk. I could only guess it was hopscotch, since they were all jumping in a rhythm, and each took turns.
"Hahah, aren't the little kids so cute?" spoke a voice right next to me.
I looked over to see the same Spaniard there, watching the children. As I got to look at him, he really did look like he was just about me age, if not just a year or two off. Since I didn't feel like running off again, I simply answered, "Yeah,"
Suddenly, he looked at me with a bright expression. "So you are English! Aha, I knew it!" He put on his sunshine grin again, and I realized seeing it from a distance was nothing like seeing it up close. It was… Mesmerizing. "Oh, perdoname, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo. I live in apartment number four." He rubbed the back of his neck.
I cleared my throat before I spoke. "I'm Arthur Kirkland. My brother, Allistor, and I just moved in. In fact, he's still unpacking."
Antonio laughed. "I already know. The landlord told me about the two of you when I asked why he was taking the 'for rent' sign down." He paused before speaking again. "I never thought that you would be my neighbor. When I saw you over by the café, I thought you were a tourist, or something. But, what an odd twist of fate—it's really nice to meet you!"
I swore that the whole time he spoke, his words were going a million miles a minute. I was going to respond to him, when suddenly we heard three soft voices saying, "'Tonio~! 'Tonio~!"
We both looked at the three girls who were playing hopscotch, and one of them said something in Spanish that I could barely translate to 'come play with us'.
Antonio grinned at me. "Feel like a game of hopscotch?" he asked.
I just gaped at him. "But—that's a child's game!" I retorted.
He laughed and walked toward them, grabbing my hand to pull me along. "Come on, it'll be fun, si?" I let myself get dragged into it. Not because I wanted to, but because Antonio's hand felt so soft that I oddly didn't want to let go of it yet. "You know how to play, right?" he asked.
I scoffed. "Of course! They play this in the U.K., too, you know."
"Good! I'll go first, then you go, okay?"
"Alright."
Antonio then let go of my hand and began jumping to the instructions written in poorly scripted Spanish on the sidewalk. Once he finished the series of twirls, jumps, and one-legged stumbles, he ended it with a cheerful jump. "Your turn, Arthur!" he said, though my name sounded more like 'Arturo'.
I hesitated for a moment, contemplating if I should really do this, and the fact that if Allistor saw this, I'd never live it down… But I bit back those screaming doubts and gave in to my inner child as I completed the little obstacle map. However, as I did the last jump, I tripped on one of my shoelaces, and fell right into something—Antonio.
We both fell to the ground, and landed with me on top of him. For a minute, I let realization sink in before I clambered away. "Oh, god, Antonio. Sorry I'm so clumsy." I said, but as I looked at him, I figured that I didn't need to be sorry.
He was laughing so hard, the vein in his forehead was pulsing, and his cheeks were red. "Oh, dios mio! That was hilarious!"
I simply stared at him like he was a mad man as he laughed it out.
"Ahahah, that was really fun, don't you agree, Arthur?" the Spaniard asked and I looked at him skeptically. People in Spain sure are weird.
It was then that I heard a familiar voice calling for me—Allistor. "Oi! Arthur, get your butt in here and help me situate the television!" I heard him call.
I gave Antonio an apologetic look. "That's my brother. I should probably go…" I said.
"Oh, one thing really quick, Arthur. Are you going to be attending the nearby public high school?" he asked.
I blinked. "Um, yeah…?"
"Aha, very good. Maybe we'll have some classes together, hm?"
So he was in high school, after all. What a small world. "Yeah, that'll be nice," I answered him.
Then I heard Allistor again. "Arthur, get over here, you old grandma!"
I glared in the general direction of the voice. "I'm not old, you twit! I'm much younger than you are!" I then got up and walked into the building.
