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“For the love of God...”
“Sorry,” Aaron tells her. “We were just leaving.”
She pouts adorably but turns away to grind against the female body behind her. Finally making it out of the door, Aaron and I are too out of it to drive. Good thing we didn't bring our cars. I flag down a taxi and we both get in.
“That was intense,” I say.
“It never gets less than that in Latimer,” Aaron replies.
Amazement and excitement fill me as I shake my head. These delicious-looking women had been unafraid to go for whom they wanted as opposed to the high-ended, stick-like women my father tried to set me up with; women who bore me to tears.
Though I grew up here, Latimer is so much different from the world my parents have thrust me into. A world I hate. Full of fake people, of appearances. And as the taxi drives by the quiet and quaint streets, I stare out the window.
This is where I want to be.
And the house to be leased—my childhood home, which is next door to Aaron’s childhood home—seems like a huge sign.
As I take my phone out of my pocket to read the realtor’s message, I can almost hear my father’s voice grating on my nerves.This is unacceptable, Mitchell. And that alone has me typing ‘yes’ to the realtor, who instantly replies like he has been staring at his phone screen the whole time. I grin to myself, prouder than I have been in a very long time. This is my first step to freedom.
CHAPTER2
MITCHELL
When the car pulls into Aaron’s parents drive away, I give him a soft tap. He had pretty much dozed off the moment we took off. He sits up quickly.
“Are we there?”
“Yes,” I tell him.
As he fumbles with the door, I turn to look at the front porch. Everything looks pretty much the same, except that Aaron’s parents’ home has a fresh coat of paint. The swing we had often played on still stands. Taking in the landscape that brightened my past fills me with nostalgia as I am reminded of how happy I once was.
Back then, Father had been less snobby, mom had been warmer. They were rich, but not overtly so that they began to lose sight of what mattered as they did now.
“Hey, man, thanks for the night out,” Aaron says, finally getting the door to open.
As I look at him, movement in one of the bedrooms upstairs pulls my eye. A light had been turned on and a woman was peering down through the window.
“Who’s that?” I ask Aaron as his right foot hits the grass.
He turns to look where I am looking as the drapes close and the lights go off once again.
“That’s my sister, Beth. Remember Beth?”
Of course. How could I forget? Beth is Aaron’s younger sister. When we had moved away, Beth had still been an awkward high schooler who blushed a lot. She had been very adorable and someone I felt protective over, even though we’d never been close due to our age difference.
As Aaron stumbles out, I find myself wondering what she looks like now and what she has been up to. But Aaron answers before I think to ask, a deep scowl marring his features.
“Some stupid dude broke her heart. I offered to beat him to a pulp, but she wasn’t having any of it. She’s taking a much-needed break off school.”
I shake my head in disbelief, not knowing what to say to that. I don’t know what Beth looks like and the sort of personality she now has, which is why I don’t immediately throw stones. But then, the new knowledge leaves me a little more curious.
“Thanks for the night out, man,” Aaron says again.
“We both needed it,” I reply. “And watch your back, I’m about to become your next-door neighbor.”
Aaron just grins and continues to make his way towards the door. The driver pulls away and begins the short drive to my hotel. My phone begins to ring and I take it out to find my mother’s name displayed on the screen.
“Hello, Mother.”
