After almost a day and a half of nonstop driving, John and his father finally pulled up to the piece of shit apartment complex they were going to be living in. It was fairly large, but it was obviously falling apart. Some windows were cracked, others were broken to nothing but shards barely clinging to the frame. Those were probably abandoned apartments. The parking lot was desolate, probably because it was only three in the afternoon.
John got out of the car, taking a couple boxes with him, his father doing the same and heading towards the main door. He had the apartment key with him, so they could just climb the stairs up to the fifth floor, since the elevator was being fixed. John took the first step up the stairs, praying that he wouldn't slip, since he couldn't see the stairs over the boxes he carried. After the first two flights it seemed like he was doing pretty well. He heard his father say hello to someone at the top of another flight, but didn't bother greeting whoever it was. He'd just pass them wordlessly, nudging his glasses up with the corner of a box. The good thing was that the apartment complex was air conditioned, so he didn't have to worry about frying in the hot Texas sun.
But halfway up the third flight, he caught his foot on an uneven piece of wood in the stairs, his heart skipping a beat, and his breath stopping completely in complete shock when he began to fall backwards. The boxes he held were heavy, if one landed on his head he'd be a goner.
All of a sudden, something else grabbed the part of his shirt over his stomach, haulting him. John raised an eyebrow in befuddlement as he was steadied, looking around the boxes to see a boy around his age, who looked as shocked to see him as he felt. He was a bit taller than the raven-haired boy, and his own hair was a bit longer, colored a platinum blonde. Is that even natural? John thought to himself, proceeding to wonder if it were even possible to reach that color with dye. He must have been about to go outside, because he wore a dark pair of aviators. Either that or he was trying too hard to look cool. Though John doubted it, with a plain red t-shirt and denim capris, he looked more like a beachgoer than anything, minus the fact that he wore a pair of black converse instead of sandals. Was that what Texas had to offer? Beachy-looking dudes who wore shades inside?
The boy looked like he was about to ask him something, like 'are you okay?' or even tell him to be careful, but after eying each other for a few minutes, all the blonde could get out was: "Have a nice trip?"
John was about to respond literally, realizing the point of the joke, and rolling his eyes. "Yeah, and it would have been so much better with a fifty pound box landing on my head, but that didn't happen. Thanks for that, by the way." he grumbled, though he couldn't help but give a grateful look when he took two boxes off of the four he carried.
"Jesus, these are heavily, what's the rush? This apartment is a piece of shit anyway, the parking lot would be more hospitable." he grunted upon taking half of the load and continuing up the stairs.
John followed, now able to see over the boxes he carried. "I gathered that, but honestly it looks worse from the outside." he said, walking alongside him. "What's your name, anyway?" he asked, pausing to adjust his grip on the boxes.
"Dave. Dave Strider. You're the Egberts, right? Our new neighbors? My bro sent me down to help you guys when he saw you pull into the parking lot." Dave said, shooting the other an annoyed glance. At least he thought it looked annoyed, the way his blonde eyebrows furrowed and his freckled cheeks tensed up as he bit his bottom lip. It must be a habit for him when he got upset.
"Yeah, I'm John. But your Bro really didn't have to do that, I mean, it's our first time moving but we basically have everything under control." John said, shrugging as they finally reached the fifth floor, walking towards the open door. His father had obviously reached it long before them. "But it was nice of you to help, and you kinda saved my ass, so, thanks." he chuckled. Dave shrugged, and smiled a little.
"Meh, just another day I'm being way too heroic and shit, what can you do?" he smirked, adjusting his shades. It appeared he actually wore them all the time. John wouldn't question it, this guy was a new friend, and who was he to question weird habits? They started back down the stairs, at twice the speed as before.
They were in a silence until they got back to the car. "So you're about fifteen?" John asked, grabbing a side table and a box he put on top of it. Dave just grabbed a few more boxes. "Turned fifteen December third, what about you?" He responded, opening the door for John, following him inside, being hit again with a blast of cool air. The maintenance man and the sign on the elevator were gone, so he led John into the elevator, pressing the '5' and watching the door close.
"I turned fifteen on the thirteeth of last month. By the way, are you out of school for summer yet?" John asked, setting down the furniture for the short remainder of the elevator ride, crossing his arms after pushing up his glasses once more.
"Yeah. We got out on the twentieth of May, yesterday. Where are you from, anyway?" Dave did the same with the boxes he carried, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind his ear. "Washington." John responded, sighing. "A thirty hour drive, dude, minus all the times we got lost. I was starting to think we'd never get here." he said.
The elevator door opened, and the two of them grabbed the things they'd brought in, taking it to the apartment, continuing to talk to each other non-stop. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad.