The New Neighbors

From the outside ,the house looked impressive. It had been built with wheat colored bricks and had red brick decorations. Large, triangular windows added to the overall style of the house and had been added to the house in a mostly symmetric way.

The house was equipped with a large kitchen and one modern bathroom, it also had a small living room, three bedrooms, a modest dining area, a game room and a small basement.

The building was shaped like a circle. The house was partially surrounded by a garden path on two sides.

The second floor was the same size as the first, but part of it hung over the edge of the floor below, creating an overhang on one side and a balcony on the other. The floor had a different style than the floor below.

The roof was low, triangular, but one side was longer than the other and was covered with stone slabs.A few large windows let in just enough light to the rooms below the roof.

The house itself was surrounded by a gorgeous garden, including hanging grape vines, a pagoda, a pond and many different flowers.

In short,the house was wonderful. More than Malia had imagined it to be.

*~*

A girl sat on the floor,her legs wrapped around each other,her eyes plain white,in a seeming trance,and an interwoven,blue-green surge of particles surrounding her. The whole room was breezy, causing some of her lightweight belongings to fly around. They all gathered together inner circle,floating in mid-air. Her white eyes turn blazy, flashes of light zapping out of her eyeballs. The wind grew mightier,and then-

"Sekeenat!." The girl snapped back to reality, startled. Her mother's voice sure was loud.

"Sekeenat! Saukowa kasa. Me kene shagaltuwa?." Her mother yelled. The girl, Sekeenat,rolled her eyes,annoyed, and slowly rose from her sitting position. [ᶜᵒᵐᵉ ᵈᵒʷⁿˢᵗᵃⁱʳˢ,ʷʰᵃᵗ ᵃʳᵉ ʸᵒᵘ ᵇᵘˢʸ ᵈᵒⁱⁿᵍ?]

"Sekeenat!." She groaned loudly, throwing her head back.

"Ina zuwa uwa!." She adjusted her 'tufatarwa' and picked up her hijabi from her bed, quickly putting it on,and dashing out of the room. [ⁱᵐ ᶜᵒᵐⁱⁿᵍ ᵐᵒᵗʰᵉʳ] \ [her ᵈʳᵉˢˢ]

She found her mother standing in the kitchen doorway,her younger sister behind her.

"Ga ni uwa. Menene?." She asked. Her mother glared at her for her sass, and she mumbled a quick 'sorry uwa'. [ʰᵉʳᵉ ⁱ ᵃᵐ ᵐᵒᵗʰᵉʳ,ʷʰᵃᵗ ⁱˢ ⁱᵗ?]

"Grab a basket, we're paying our new neighbors a visit." Her mother said, nodding her head to the basket on the floor beside her. Sekeenat sighed and did as told. She grabbed the basket and followed her mother and sisters out of the house.

"When did we get new neighbors?." She asked, quizzically.

"This morning. Zainab said she saw them moving their things." Her mother responded. Sekeenat turned her gaze to her younger sister,Zainab, who was fourteen years in age. Zainab had a cheeky smile on her face.

"Na rantse da Allah, their son is very cute." Zainab said. Sekeenat burst into laughter just as her mother smacked the silly girl on the head. [ⁱ ˢʷᵉᵃʳ ᵗᵒ ᵃˡˡᵃʰ,ᵗʰᵉⁱʳ ˢᵒⁿ ⁱˢ ᵛᵉʳʸ ᶜᵘᵗᵉ]

"Behave yourself." Their mother scolded. Zainab smiled sheepishly back, whilst her sisters giggled. They soon arrived at their destination. A beautiful,modern,two storey building house.

Her youngest sister,shukrat, pressed the square shaped button and they all heard a faint buzz coming from inside. In less than a minute the door was opened. A tall,light skinned, curvy woman stood by the doorway,a polite smile on her face,but confusion swimming in her eyes.

"Hello! I'm Aleeyat Falade,your next door neighbor,and these are my daughters." Sekeenat's mother introduced,a bright smile on her face,and voice filled with excitement. It would be nice to have some company again. Aleeyat thought when her daughter told her about the new neighbors.

"We brought you some food." She continued. Sekeenat and her sisters brought the basket forward with welcoming smiles on their faces. The light skinned woman's smile brightened.

"Wow! Thank you so much. Please do come in. " She took a step back, leaving room for them to walk in. Aleeyat Falade and her daughters walked in with their smiles still intact.

"You have such a lovely home." Aleeyat gushed at the change in interior. Their old neighbors were quite...plain,but it seemed the news ones had quite a taste. Aleeyat grew even more excited.

"Thank you," The lady replied. "Drop those over there." She pointed at the dining room area. Sekeenat and her sisters did as told, dropping the baskets containing food on the table.

"Hold one,let me call my kids so you can meet them. My husband went out for some errands." The lady reiterated. The Falades took their seats and waited for the said kids to arrive.

"Ostyn! Lia!."

"Yes mom." A masculine voice had said. Sekeenat snapped her gaze from the flat screen tv showing 'SpongeBob' on it,to the source of the voice. There stood the most good looking, scrumptious guy she had ever seen. 6'4ft tall, light skinned,full dark hair,long legs, captivating honey eyes-

Holy fucking shit,she was staring at a god!. A god!.

She felt someone lean on her, then whisper," Told you he was very cute."

Well goddamn Zainab, he's a lot more than just cute. Sekeenat thought to herself.

"Meet my son, Ostyn,and his twin sister,Malia." Sekeenat then noticed a girl standing next to him. She was a copy and paste of her brother, except her eyes were chocolate brown.

"Good afternoon ma'am." The girl,Malia, did a little bow with her head,a soft smile on her face. She turned to the girls and waved. All three waved back.

Soon enough, both mothers were already chatting away,amoung themselves excitedly. The two seemed to click well.

Zainab jumped up from her sitting position, and in the blink of an eye, she was standing right in front of Ostyn.

"Hi, I'm Zainab. I'm fourteen." Zainab beamed, stretching her hand forward to him. Sekeenat watched her sister with wide eyes, already feeling embarrassed. The disarming smile that grew on his face took her completely off-guard. Ostyn took little Zainab's hand in his to shake, amusement swimming in his eyes.

"Ostyn. Seventeen." He said.

The latter hummed." That's not so bad. It's just three years age difference-"

"Zainab!." Sekeenat shrieked, glaring at the young girl. The twins burst into fits of laughter. Sekeenat grew slightly distracted by the sound of his laughter.

His beautiful laughter....