Philemaphobia Chapter Two

"How was your last 1st day of school?" Mom asked almost immediately Cherry and I walked in.

I threw my bag on the couch and darted my eyes into the kitchen where mom was cooking. I smelled a rat already. Mom never cooked. She usually ordered take out meals at a nearby restaurant. She was also never home this early. Being a lawyer meant long hours in the office.

"It was just like any other day in hell." I said. "Why are you home?"

"Whatever your cooking smells nice." Cherry chuckled as she followed me into the kitchen.

"Thanks Cherry." Mom smiled as she pointed at me with the spatula. "At least someone's happy to see me."

"She's happy to see food, not you." I teased wondering if my question was answered.

"I took the night off." She said. "We have new neighbors and your dad invited them over for dinner."

Dad was an agent and he liked to network. Inviting neighbors over was a strategic move. But he was really friendly though. Maybe the dinner had nothing to do with his work.

"I heard that they have a cute son. Maybe you can get over your dry spell of boys." Mom wriggled her eyebrows.

"I'm not sure we'd be friends with the neighbors if I killed their son." I said blankly causing mom to scoff.

We all knew the reason behind my dry spell. And even though Mom and Cherry didn't believe that I was the reason behind the deaths of 3 of my classmates, I did.

"Anyway, go freshen up. Dinner will be ready at 7. Cherry, you're more than welcome to stay." Mom explained though she didn't have to. We always had dinner at 7 and Cherry always stayed.

"It's actually my parents anniversary today and we're having a massive family gathering. Even Harry and Terry are coming." She scrunched her nose up.

Cherry had a huge family made of 6 siblings with her included. Harry and Terry were the oldest and had already moved outta the family house.

I went upstairs immediately Cherry left. A couple of hours later I heard the doorbell ring. I was still in my room as mom ushered the guests inside. I should have been down there welcoming our neighbors like a good host would but I was just far too lazy.

I'd expected mom to yell my name and call me for dinner but that never happened. Maybe she'd forgotten bout my existence.

My answer came 5 minutes later when I heard a knock on my bedroom door. I peered at the door in confusion. My parents never had the decency to maintain my privacy by knocking. I padded across the room to the door.

Honestly I was surprised to find a boy my age standing there. My eyes immediately darted to his  dyed hair. He looked kinda punk rock which only made me smile.

"Umm and who exactly are you?" I asked when my eyes finally met his.

"Your mom said that only a boy could get you outta bed." He chuckled. "I'm the boy sent to retrieve you."

"Food would've been more effective." I said quickly trying not to blush as I stepped out of my room.

I moved quickly and closed the door behind me so he couldn't see inside. I wasn't exactly the neatest person ever and showing him that I casually left my underwear on the floor wasn't the best 1st impression.

"I'll keep that in mind for next time a strange lady sends me to wake up her daughter." He grinned stupidly and made me chuckle.

"If there's gonna be a next time then I prefer Hawaiian pizza." I claimed.

"Point taken."

We stood there in silence more or less assessing each other. He was wearing a black shirt and some ripped black jeans. This type of look was really common around here but it managed to make the girls go crazy for some reason.

"You go to St Peter's high?" The boy asked looking at the logo on my shirt.

"Yeah. I'm a senior." I paused. "What's your name?"

"Oh me too. I just transferred." He smiled. "I'm Jordan, your neighbor."

I nodded slowly having figured he belonged to the family next door. I ran my hair through my messy thinking it would probably be smart to clean up for dinner - or at least get outta my uniform.

We slowly began walking downstairs. Obviously neither of us wanted to sit through dinner. It would be awkward small talk between two families that knew they were only eating together to be polite.

"So when do you start at hell?" I asked forgetting to drop the nickname I had developed for school.

"Hell?" He chuckled. "I start tomorrow. Should I be nervous?"

I shrugged. "Probably not, you're really hot." My cheeks burned when I realized what I said. "Umm...I mean... What I mean is you look like you'll fit in."

Jordan let out a small chuckle and stared at me for a minute. "You say that as if you don't fit in."

I paused and just looked at this new kid. He seemed nice enough and was definitely attractive but I knew that as soon as he got to school tomorrow, he'd be filled with all the rumours that circulated around me. It only took one lie for one to cut off contacts with me.

"You'll understand tomorrow." I explained and though Jordan seemed like he was gonna protest, he let it drop.

We proceeded to have our dinner. His parents were nice people and got along well with mine.

I didn't think this boy would make me laugh so hard but it turns out he was quite humorous. This kinda made me wish we went different schools. If he'd transferred into the private school  down the block we would have definitely been friends then.

When dinner was over we stood at the end of the hallway. Our parents swapped goodbyes and promise to catch up soon.

"See ya in school." Jordan said as he pocketed his hands. "Now I'll have someone to sit with at lunch."

All I could do was smile weakly. There's no way he'd still be willing to associate with me by lunch time. The popular would have already sucked him into their world of evil.

"Yeah." I lied. "See you around."

Jordan gave me a weird look obviously having noticed my hesitation. I smiled sheepishly and avoided eye contact.

"Save me a spot ok?" He smiled as he knew he'd caught me. I'd have to answer him directly this time.

"If you'll still wanna be friends." I mumbled as I shut the door on a stunned looking boy.

Well if my school mates won't ruin my chances of friendship with this guy then my defensiveness definitely will...