Chapter 1: Life of a Bubblegum

That's the last one, ma'am."

"Oh, thank you so much, what's your name again dear?"

"Troy," our new neighbor introduced himself to Aunt Kelly.

The July sun rose high above our heads sparing us no mercy from its unwieldy heat as we strutted across the lawn to get all our belongings from the small pickup van.  It was surely going to be one of the hottest summers of all years.

Sweat beads pooled under my eyes making it difficult for me to continue carrying the cartoon boxes on the small, paved porch. I huffed out in exasperation dropping the last box not so elegantly. I just hoped the contents inside still had life.

"Abby, dear please get Trixie," Aunt Kelly spoke out, amidst of checking the list of all the belongings.

I sighed and kicked the cartoons of the old stuffs in frustration but nevertheless went to the car to get the cat basket from the backseat. Little meows erupted showing Trixie was clearly intrigued by the new surrounding. She didn't seem so happy the whole car ride.

"Now now, curious aren't we? Well don't let the curiosity kill you," I joked ever so subtly.

As I walked over the dead lawn, I took in the Victorian styled cottage with wooden bricks as its lower self and ivies wrapped around the musky pillars.

The two storied height gave the backyard a nice shade from the scorching heat. The narrow driveway was quite bare, with only a single bulb hanging low from its ceiling and the front door which was heavily embroidered with wooden handiwork, seemed to have a few loose hinges.

In other words, the house needed quite a bit of repairing. Well, at least it was good that Uncle Jeff was into building and renewing things. But any outsider would redeem it as a quality of defined sophistication. Uncle had quite the luck to get this house on sale.

I took Trixie and placed her on the kitchen counter, ready to see my new room. Taking my duffel bag, I jogged up the carpeted stairs and sauntered into the warm room that held nothing except a spring bed, pushed at one corner barely. The walls were colored the shade of sky blue, something I always wanted as a child but Dad thought a girl, his dear princess, got to love pink and purple.

Changing into comfortable clothes, I fell on the bed flat, loving the way how my body immediately relaxed by the softness of the spring bed. Well, shower could wait. 

So this is it, I thought to myself. A new place for a fresh start. My fingers instinctively brushed over the locket that held my favorite picture of us three. It was the last gift from Mom before the accident. I still could feel their warmth, hear their laughter as we watched 'The Croods'. Why did it feel like yesterday? 

Blinking back the angry tears, I rose up to my feet clearly knowing I needed a walk. Also, I could use this to know the neighborhood. Hopping up, I took out the my worn out sneakers and rushed downstairs.

"Hey, Aunt I will be back quickly, just going around for a small walk."

Aunt Kelly gave me a knowing smile. She always knew when to give me space and I loved her for that.

"Be home before it gets dark, sweetie."

                            ☆☆☆

I walked past our neighborhood and along the sidewalk careful not to step over any dog poop, just in case there was any. There were rumors of stray dogs who liked to play around in front of people's lawns. 

The sun's glimmer had gotten down quite a bit, allowing me to bask in the warm yet peaceful weather. From Monday I had to start at the Beverly Hills High School, my last year of high school.

Thinking about being the new kid was sickening enough not to mention having no friends around. How bad could it be. It wasn't like I had a lot of friends before. Most of them stopped talking to me after the incident thinking I was a freak when they once saw me suffering from an anxiety attack. Heck, they wouldn't just leave me alone. Just thinking I didn't have to encounter them again flushed in some soothing peace.

Going around, I treated myself with a soda from the nearest departmental store. As I pondered over the past, I didn't realize it was already getting dark. The sun had sneakily waved its goodbye again.

Cursing myself, I turned to go back but stopped in my tracks when I saw a guy standing with his head hung low under the streetlight. He seemed sad...and lost. I debated over choosing to walk away or help the poor guy. The latter won as I started crossing the road.

When he looked up and saw me walking towards him, he raised his eyebrows and looked behind him. I waved a bit and maybe it looked absurd because the next moment, I saw him creasing his brows and was weirded out to say the least. I wonder if I stank from there too.

I would have called out if only I didn't find myself falling face first. Crouching up with cheeks burning hot, I looked behind to find the source. At the heel of my sneaker, the victim was glued, a strawberry bubblegum.  Biting my lips, I squinted up me eyes to look at the guy hoping that the ground would just swallow me from this embarrassment. But, to my utter shock or maybe the ground swallowed him instead of me, the guy was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe he wasn't lost after all.