A/N: Hey there! I know you guys might hate me for making you wait so long for Chapter 2. I was so distracted ever since I watched the Mortal Instruments movie. I fell in love with it and bought all the books so I've been a bookworm for the past weeks trying to reach the end of every book! I decided to take a break and update this story. I PROMISE to update this regularly, since a lot of people are so into it. Don't forget to check out the trailer on my Youtube channel: TheMuseofEvol.
Interesting Strangers
"Hun, you have to admit the food was amazing and the service on point!" Kelly's mother, Heather announced praising the restaurant they had chosen. In the end the three had agreed on an American-Italian place called Mizanin's to have lunch, not so much Shane since he'd always pick Mexican food over anything.
They were on their way out of the door and as Kelly glanced back to their table she saw the tall blonde hostess saying something to their waiter who was a good looking guy around Kelly's age with spiky brown hair. She looked annoyed and he looked to be apologizing but with a flip of her long blonde ponytail she walked off leaving him to help the busboy pick up the table.
All of a sudden he turned and saw Kelly watching him. Kelly immediately felt herself flush for being caught staring and turned her attention to following her parents out of the door. She wasn't able to see the smirk that spread out on his face afterwards.
From the moment the waiter had arrived to take their drink order Kelly had felt uncomfortable by the way he looked at her. When she couldn't figure out what to order he was too generous in explaining every dish to her even though she hadn't asked. He was a nice guy and a very good waiter especially since his parents were the owners, but it seemed to Kelly that if her parents hadn't been there he probably would have been asking for her number. Even though it did seem like he was taken by the pretty blonde hostess, he didn't seem to care about flirting with other girls.
"Yeah, I admit it was great food and excellent service. Although that waiter was being a bit too nice to you Kelly," Shane said and wiggled his eyebrows. Kelly smiled at his silliness but was also surprised that he noticed.
"Really?" Heather said looking confused. "I thought he was just being friendly like a waiter should. Hmmm…he wouldn't be a bad catch though. Hard worker, it looks like he works out…"
"Um, Mom. I don't think I want to be setup with anyone. Thank you," Kelly said but smiled. She felt awkward to think of herself dating or talking to guys. Yes, she had a lot of guy friends before but for some reason she hadn't thought of anyone as attractive or interesting enough to date. Not since Drew McIntyre.
When Shannon Moore, the original drum player of her brother's band started hanging out with the potheads at school he started missing a lot of band practices. He was always distracted and the other guys started becoming annoyed since they weren't into doing drugs of any sort. Eventually Adam talked to Shannon and told him they had found someone else to play drums. Shannon was disappointed but didn't hold a grudge towards the guys. He even hung out with them at times and gave tips to the new member of the band.
Drew McIntyre was a mysterious guy, that was probably why Kelly had been so drawn to him. Adam and the guys had met him at one of the gigs they had played at, he had told them he played drums if they ever were looking for someone. They had told him they already had a full band but they would keep it in mind. In the end they ended up calling him up after Shannon's new behavior and he even transferred schools in order to spend more time with the guys.
At first it was strange to Kelly to have someone new in her circle of friends especially since Drew was so much to himself at times. He did goof around or crack a joke at times but it was so rare that when it happened Kelly found herself staring at him in wonder. Usually, while the others guys had a deep and random conversation about the best rock bands he would be reading a book or writing lyrics to new songs. Kelly would watch how concentrated he was and how he would carelessly push his shoulder length brown hair aside whenever it got in his face.
He was so different from the other guys that sometimes she wondered how they played so well together. But then again, she knew Adam and his friends accepted anyone the way they were. She loved all of them, Christian, Seth and her crazy brother but she felt a different connection to Drew because he was so like her. He like her also held back at showing everything about himself.
She would get nervous to talk to him whenever they had moments to themselves since she had no idea what to talk about. They could sit in silence for long moments and over time it felt normal. Eventually she found herself spending a lot of time with him and there was a time when she felt like they could have been something more than friends. However, they never had a chance for that to happen.
"Alright, time to get to work. I really hope we can get a bit settled before Wednesday. I won't be able to concentrate on work knowing I still have so much stuff left to unpack," Heather said as they pulled up their new driveway. Kelly's mother and father both worked for Paradise Homes, Inc. Her mother was a real estate agent while her father was the leader of the construction team. Shane was always announcing his self made motto to the world of "I build houses and my wife sells them." Everyone thought it was funny, everyone except her mother who always rolled her eyes at her husband.
"Don't worry hun, we'll get a lot done. Plus, Torrie is coming and that's some extra help as well unless she gets distracted by thinking of Carlito's amazing hair," he said. The three got out of the car, Kelly took the keys for the house from her dad and opened the front door while he and her mom got to work on carrying things from the U-Haul inside.
She threw the keys on the kitchen counter and grabbed a hair band from her pocket to pull her hair up. No one ever liked the work that came with unpacking but at least it was a distraction so they wouldn't think of bad memories.
The Blanks had been hard at work for about three hours and Kelly felt like her arms were going to fall off from carrying so many things. The boxes weren't so bad but since her father refused to hire movers they had the mission of carrying their couches and beds inside as well. They were sliding the box spring from her parent's bed out of the U-Haul truck slowly, Kelly and her mother were at the bottom while her dad was on the truck holding it from the top.
Suddenly, something happened and it slid down too fast landing on her mother's foot. "Ow!" she cried moving her foot, "Hunny, be careful that caught my foot."
Shane looked apologetic. "I'm sorry. I guess it would have been a good idea to hire those movers. I didn't think it was going to be so much work getting these out of the truck and in the house."
"Well it was a lot of work getting them out of the old house and in here," Heather said motioning to the truck. "It's alright we'll figure this out…" As they set the box spring on the sidewalk so Kelly and her mother could turn it, she saw her mother's gaze land somewhere behind her.
Kelly turned and saw a woman walking towards them with a plate in her hand. She was a short, plump woman, with light brownish short curly hair and glasses on the tip of her nose. She was smiling broadly as she approached. Her mother motioned for Kelly to set the box spring down. When she did, Kelly wiped at her sweaty forehead and was glad for a small break.
"Well hello there, new neighbors!" the woman announced excitedly. "Am I glad to finally have some new faces around here!"
She could see her mother was thrown off by her energy and friendliness. "Well, we are glad to be here as well. I'm Heather Blank, this is my daughter Kelly and my husband Shane is inside the truck."
The woman shook her mother's hand and then Kelly's. "I am Carol Cena and I live with my husband John. It is so wonderful to meet you. I was just telling my husband the other day that I thought I saw someone checking this house out. We live in the house right next door on your right, here on your left live Shawn and Rebecca Michaels with their two little boys but they are rarely home since Shawn is a pro wrestler and travels a lot. The other neighbors are very friendly as well, but if you need help with names I'm here for you."
Kelly realized the woman was a talker but very friendly indeed. She was happy to be living in a friendly neighborhood. In Yakima, it wasn't so bad but there were some grumpy, retired people who would get upset if you even looked at their perfectly mowed lawn. Carol Cena did not look like a grumpy person at all.
"Thank you so much, Mrs. Cena. We are glad to know we have someone to help us out," Heather said as Shane jumped out of the truck and went to shake the woman's hand as well.
The woman then remembering the plate she was holding handed it to Heather. "Please, call me Carol. Oh dear, I almost forgot! I baked some cookies for you all, nothing big. I usually make a casserole but I was so anxious to meet you!"
"Oh goodness! Don't worry yourself, these smell delicious," Shane exclaimed taking the plate from his wife, unwrapping it and taking a bite from one. "And they are delicious…"
Heather shot her husband a look and turned to their new neighbor. "Excuse my husband Carol. He is a food fanatic of every kind."
"Well I'm glad he's enjoying them," she said and laughed heartily. "Oh by the way, I also came over because I saw you were struggling with some of the heavier items." Her attention turned to the box spring laying on the lawn.
"Yes, well my dear husband didn't think it would be necessary to hire movers and now he realizes he was wrong," Heather said while Shane still chewing the cooking just shrugged.
"Oh it happens. My husband is the same way, he has to do everything himself or it's not done right in his opinion. Anyway, I was going to tell you, one of my sons is arriving today from Bothell, it's not too far. He attends college there and is going to spend the summer with us. He has a football scholarship and is in good shape. Good enough shape to help you with some of those beds," Carol offered.
"Oh that is a very nice offer, Mrs…I mean Carol but we don't want to bother him. He will probably be tired from his drive here. We'll be able to somehow get everything inside," Heather told her nicely.
"Oh nonsense! John won't mind, he loves to help out and he'll be happy to see we have new neighbors. I'll send him over when he gets here which will probably be in less than an hour," she said turning to go so Heather wouldn't have a chance to refuse again, "I hope you enjoy the cookies and I'll see you soon. I have to go tidy up John's room before he gets here."
"John, I thought that was your husband's name?" Shane said a bit confused.
Carol turned back. "Yes well my husband would not leave me alone about having a John Jr. ever since our first born. I was able to put it off for my first two sons but he beat me to name our last." She rolled her eyes reminding Kelly so much of her own mother. She knew the two women were going to get along great.
Heather and Shane laughed as Carol waved them a good-bye heading towards her home which looked very cozy and warm with its light brown color and beautiful flowers underneath the windows.
Heather sighed and put her hands on her hips as she watched their neighbor walk away. "Well that was nice of her to offer her son's help. We honestly could use it. I just hope he doesn't mind."
"Well, she said he wouldn't. Plus it gives us a chance to take a small break from lifting heavy stuff. I'm sweating out of this shirt," Kelly's dad announced while he grabbed another cookie from the plate.
"Yeah, I think I'll go inside and look over a few work papers and organize the office room while we wait for John to come by," she said and then looking at the cookie plate, "Shane, you're going to finish them all! Slow down."
"Oh, sorry," he said his mouth full and offered the plate to Heather and then to Kelly who took one. She bit into and was bet by how wonderfully soft and warm they were. "I guess I'll just look through some of the boxes inside and see what needs to be thrown into the shed."
"Kelly, hunny maybe you can start fixing your room…?" her mother started. However, Kelly had another idea. She was tired of moving things around.
"Actually I was wondering if I can take a walk around the neighborhood…get to know it a little better? If that's okay?" she said. Her mother nodded.
"That's fine, just be back soon…and be careful," she said giving her the look she always did when was going to go off on her own. That look had started ever since her brother passed away.
"I will be, I promise," she said and started down the sidewalk. She could hear her mother telling her dad to give her the plate of cookies, that he had had enough already. Kelly smiled, her dad drove her mom crazy but eventually he always let her win.
When she reached the corner of the sidewalk she turned back and saw her father hand her mom the plate and then kiss her on the cheek as he walked inside their new home.
Kelly had been walking through the neighborhood for awhile, loving the fact that the sun was warm but there was a slight breeze allowing it to be perfect weather on this Monday afternoon. She liked looking at all the houses as she passed by, seeing the different kind of creativity her new neighbors had in fixing their yards. Some houses had ponds, small waterfalls, statues, eccentric flowers and so much more. She also liked the fact that the houses were all different shapes and sizes just like her new neighbors who waved at her and smiled if they happened to be outside. She would hate living in those kinds of neighborhoods where the houses were basically designed the same way.
As she looked ahead at the end of the road, she saw it was a dead end. She guessed it was because there was a park there. She could just make out a jungle gym, swings, and a sandbox where a couple of kids where playing supervised by a woman with long black hair. She decided it would be nice to sit at one of the picnic tables under the big shade the trees in the park were giving. That's where she decided to head to.
She passed the sandbox where she could see a boy about eight years old and a little girl about five or six making sandcastles. Their mother (she guessed) was sitting in front of the sand castle poking away at her phone. She looked up and smiled at Kelly as she passed and then noticed that the little boy had thrown sand at the girl. "Omar! Don't be throwing sand. You are getting your sister all dirty." Kelly noticed she had a thick Mexican accent.
Kelly reached the picnic table and took a seat feeling fresh being out of the sun. As she looked around the park she noticed it was a pretty big size with many areas to barbecue. She could hear the sound of running water and guessed there was probably a creek nearby hidden among the trees that surrounded the park.
Then she turned her head and spotted a bit away a basketball court. It had been so long that she'd seen a court; ever she had quit the team in school. She had avoided walking through the gym just so she wouldn't be reminded of her playing days and her brother sitting on the bleachers cheering her on. It just made her feel sad and she didn't want to feel that way. She always tried to avoid thinking of anything that had to do with him because it hurt her to know that she couldn't cry. She didn't understand why that was. It felt like she was doing him an injustice by not crying. It was like if she never cared about him. Everyone in her family had cried, even her dad who was such a goofball. So what was wrong with her?
As she stared at the court she then saw a couple of teenage girls and a guy around her age walking towards it from the opposite side. The boy who wore purple basketball shorts, a white t-shirt and a purple head band with writing Kelly couldn't quite make out over his mow hawk styled hair was spinning a basketball in his hand carelessly as he chatted with the two girls. The girls were completely opposite from each other. One of them had light brown skin that matched the color of her long wavy hair which she had up in a high ponytail. The other girl was light skinned and very blonde with her straight hair in a low side ponytail.
As they reached the court, the darker of the girls immediately started stretching her long legs as the other girl stretched her arms. The boy threw the ball from half the court towards one of the hoops and missed by a wide gap and making a face of disappointment. "Zac you're never going to make that shot if you don't stretch and actually learn how to shoot!" Kelly heard the darker of the girls announce.
"I know how to shoot!" she heard the boys named Zac complain, "that shot is just impossible!"
The girl which Kelly guessed was Latina walked over to him as he retrieved the ball. "I've seen Randy do it many times already and the reason he can is because he actually practices instead of just throwing the ball at the hoop and hoping to get lucky."
"I don't just throw the ball at the hoop…" Zac started. The blonde girl seeing this was going to turn into an argument stopped her stretching and went towards them.
"Guys," she had a smaller, girlier voice than the Latina, "let's not argue, please. Let's just start practicing before Randy gets here and becomes upset."
Kelly thought that Zac and the darker girl were going to keep arguing but they looked at each other, then at the blonde in front of them and slowly nodded. "You're right Tiff," the darker girl said, "let's get to work. I think we owe it to Randy since he's the hardest worker out of all of us and he still manages to come to practice."
As the three started doing some drills with the ball Kelly started thinking again of her basketball playing days. She thought her team was pretty good since her coach was very strict and precise. As she watched these three she was surprised to see how good their technique was at shooting as well the speed at which they moved and passed the ball. Even Zac, who she hadn't taken seriously at first, was great especially at rebounds.
The three were shouting so much she barely realized another scream from behind her. She turned and saw the little girl who had playing in the sand crying and rubbing at her eyes. She saw her mom look up and quickly stuff her phone in her pocket as she headed towards the sand box. She picked up the little girl and looked down angrily at the boy. "Omar! What did I tell you? Look what you did now, you got sand in her eyes. That hurts mijo, don't do that!"
The little boy just stared at his mom looking sad. "I'm sorry, Mom."
"Don't say sorry to me. Say sorry to you're sister. I'm going to have a talk with Papi about this," she said. "Come on let's get you guys cleaned up." She took Omar's sandy hand and started towing him along.
"I'm really sorry, Julie," Kelly heard the little boy saying to his sister as they walked away. She had been paying so much attention to the scene that she hadn't noticed two more teenagers walking towards the park. They looked to be headed to the basketball court to join the others.
As they came close and passed with the woman with the children she heard one of them greet her. "Hey Rosa, having a tough time I see?" He was very tall and built with blonde spiky hair and a very big smile. He was wearing long white basketball shorts and a light blue shirt.
"Ugh, these kids are always fighting with each other. I have to get home and wash Julie's eyes out. Omar threw sand at her," she complained to them. As she adjusted the weight of Julie on her hip she moved away and Kelly was able to see the other boy standing with the one who had greeted her.
Kelly couldn't help but notice how attractive he was. He was tall and built but he was less stockier that the first one, more lean. He was darker too with short dark hair and Kelly noticed as she looked at his arms that they were both covered in dark tattoos. She couldn't see them all since his t-shirt cut her off but she guessed he had tattoo sleeves on both arms. He looked like the bad boy that all the good girls wanted to get to know. It was funny to see him standing there looking at Rosa with her kids, smiling tenderly at Julie who was still rubbing her eyes. He liked kids, now all the girls definitely liked him.
He then spoke and his voice was deep and husky. He looked down at the little boy. "Omar, that's not nice to be doing that to your little sister. You're supposed to have fun with her when you play not make her get sad."
Kelly heard the little boy. "I know, Randy. I won't do it again, I promise."
So that was Randy.
Now, she knew why the other three at the basketball took him seriously. He was a bit intimidating, even more than the big blonde one next to him. He had a certain kind of nice authority to him.
"Well I better get going. I need to give these two a nice bath. Have a good practice guys," Rosa told the two boys and started walking away still towing little Omar along.
"Man, she's having a hard time keeping up with them, huh?" the tall blonde commented to Randy. "It's too bad she won't look for a new sitter."
Randy shrugged. "I think it's good she's spending time with her kids, she barely ever did. Her and Alberto are always working. It kind of worked out that my Aunt Stephanie can't babysit anymore so she can take some time off and be with them."
"I guess that's true," the blonde one said and as he looked around, his gaze landed on Kelly who then flushed. She realized what she might look like sitting there listening and staring at everyone in the park. She turned away from his stare and acted as though there was something under the picnic table she was looking at.
After a bit, she decided it was best to head back home and help her parents unpack the rest of the things. She stole a glance at the court and saw the two guys greeting the other three.
Her focus was on Randy who play punched Zac while he was shooting the ball and then pulled his sweatband down on his eyes. "Hey!" Zac exclaimed and tried to hit Randy back.
"Can't catch me little bro," he announced as all the shots Zac took at him missed. Eventually they stopped messing around and the small blonde went over to Randy. He immediately bent down gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek.
Kelly turned away feeling awkward and…dissapointed. She was never one to be jealous especially about a guy she didn't know. She had just been so attracted to him, which was rare and it caught her off guard to see him with the short blonde. Of course he would have a girlfriend. Why hadn't she thought that?
She decided it really was time to go and stop looking like a creeper. She got up and started crossing past the sandbox and toys but she couldn't tune them out. "Was it busy at The Spot today?" she heard the small voice of the blonde.
"It was alright, I just had to help my aunt with some paperwork. Sorry we're late," Kelly heard Randy say as she walked. He then spoke loud to the rest, "Alright guys let's get a good practice in today guys! The 4 on 4 Spokane competition is drawing close and we need to be ready. So let's get to it….Zac!"
Kelly continued walking as she almost got to the edge of the park though she heard them all shouting. She thought they were talking to each other but as it turned out they were yelling out at her. She turned quickly to see the ball flying right to her. They were trying to warn her. Zac must of tried one of his half court shots again and missed sending the ball flying. Her reflexes were quick though as she jumped up and caught it before it went over her head.
She turned to look at them and saw that Randy was running towards her to retrieve the ball. In force of habit she threw it just like she would pass it in a game of basketball. Randy caught off guard almost didn't catch it. He didn't expect her to throw it that way, she thought looking at his surprised expression.
He looked at her for a moment, they weren't very far apart but she could tell he had blue eyes just like hers only his were a bit darker. He then smiled slightly, "Thanks."
She nodded a bit and responded. "You're welcome." With that he turned and headed back to the court and she headed back to her home. She mentally told herself to not come back and be listening to other people's conversations and lives even if it was a good distraction from her own.
Chapter 3 will be up sooner than you know. I will try hard :) Please review and let me know how you like it so far.
