Bradin sat at the dinner table, sipping water, slightly in a daze. Everyone else around him was talking, as he pushed his food around with a fork, not really in the mood to eat. "Oh Bradin," his aunt started. He looked up, meeting her glance. "Today your brother, sister, and I went to meet our new neighbors. The father wasn't home, but his daughter, Anna who is your age was. I went out on a limb and told her you'd walk with her to school tomorrow, if that's okay with you? You know, just so she's not alone."
Just as Bradin was about to answer, Jay cut in with a laugh. "Oh, he's already met her. Just before. They were making goggly eyes at each other for awhile."
Bradin sighed, "Shut up, Jay. Yeah, Aunt Ava, that's fine. I was talking to her before."
"She is really pretty," Nikki chimed in. "I swear, she looks like a model."
"And their house is huge!" Derek exclaimed.
"Yeah, I didn't know James Scott was moving in next door, though." Bradin said, slightly confused to his Aunt.
Susannah's eyes got big. "James Scott? As in...the author?"
"That's his house?" Ava asked.
"According to Jay." replied Bradin.
Everyone looked to Jay for an explanation.
"What? That's what I heard. I heard they moved here from Wisconsin. Don't shoot the messenger." And he went back to eating.
"Wow, that's kind of cool. We live next to an extremely famous author." Sunsannah boasted.
"Hopefully he's half as nice as his daughter. I guess you never know with moody writers, though." Ava joked.
Bradin's phone buzzed, and Callie's name showed up on it. "Thanks for the dinner, Aunt Ava. It was really good. Callie's waiting outside, I won't be too long." He said, taking his dishes over to the sink.
"Alright, remember you have your homework to do, though so don't be too long." She called after him as he ran out the door. Looking at Susannah, she sighed, shaking her head.
"Hey!" Callie said, running up to him, hugging him.
"Hey you," Bradin responded with a peck on the lips. They started off, walking down the beach. The sun was just setting, making the night slightly cooler. Bradin pulled Callie close to him.
"I missed you today, how was practice?"
"It was good. You know, practice I guess."
"That's good." She snuggled in closer to him. "Wow, they finally finished that place." She noticed as they passed Anna's house. "It's huge."
Yeah, I met the girl that lives there today, Anna. She's our age."
"Oh..." Callie trailed, not sounding too excited.
"Yeah, she's nice. I can't believe her dad is James Scott. That's nuts." He added.
"That rumor is true? That James Scott moved in there? I thought it was just a rumor." Callie was not liking the sound of this whole situation.
"Yeah, according to Jay it's true. That's cool, huh?"
"I guess. I'll uh...be looking forward to meeting her at school."
"She's starting tomorrow. I could tell she seemed a bit freaked by it, so I hope everything goes alright." Bradin was not about to tell Callie that he was walking to school with her tomorrow morning, as he could already tell Callie was just uncomfortable with her living so close to Bradin.
"I'll be nice to her, and I'll tell all the other girls to be, too." She turned to him and smiled. They were at the pier now. It was virtually empty, always was on Sunday nights.
"Well that's nice of you," He responded, giving her a long, gentle kiss on the lips.
Callie smiled slyly, "I know." She returned the kiss.
It was nearly 9:30 when Bradin returned to the house, Ava, Susannah, and Nikki were watching television and Derrick was asleep. He went up to his bedroom, sat at his desk. Losing himself in thought for a few moments, he blankly stared off. When he came to, he turned towards his radio and switched it on. An old jazz tune filtered quietly through the speaker as if it were elevator music. Tapping his pencil, he tried to concentrate on the page of math problems in front of him.
Just then, a light switched on directly across from him. Interrupted, he looked up and his lips curled into a smile when he saw Anna walking into her room. She sat down at her bed and stared for a moment. He noticed that her window was opened and followed with opening his. It was either the music or the sound of the window opening that startled her, maybe both, but she immediately turned to face him. When she realized who it was that she was looking at, she too smiled and went to her window.
"Hey," Bradin spoke out to her.
Smiling and looking down, Anna waved. "Hi, Bradin."
For a moment, there was a silence. The only sound that could be heard was the faint song coming from the radio, and a bird that stood on a palm outside. "Enjoying yourself so far?" He questioned.
Anna nodded. "Mmm-hmmm, sure am."
Bradin returned the nod, satisfied with her answer. "Tomorrow then, I'll be by. Don't forget." He grinned.
"Of course not. I'll be ready and waiting. So, goodnight for now, and thank you again. I really appreciate it." The two locked eyes for a moment before she blushed, turned away, and pulled her drapes closed. Bradin caught himself smiling, and he sighed. The picture of Callie on his desk caught the corner of his eye. Turning to it, he bit his lip. Tomorrow would be a very interesting day.
If you've been reading so far, thanks a lot. I'm really just trying to get a feel of what people are thinking of the story. I figure won't continue if it's not really read, or liked, haha, but if it is, then I definitely will. So, thanks again!
