Chapter Text
Jeff stared out the window watching the houses on the streets pass by, each of the same build, only differing by color. It had been only a month since Jeff’s dad had announced his promotion, with the added bonus of getting to move into one of those “fancy neighborhoods”. He and his brother, Liu, both protested the idea, but his mother and father were thrilled to finally leave their old home. Jeff was less than excited. He was 17, almost ready to finish highschool, and all of a sudden he was swept up and taken to some random part of the country just so his dad could make a few extra bucks. Barely even getting to say goodbye to the few friends he already had.
“Jeffery, wipe off that depressed look on your face! Smile, honey, we’re nearly there.” Called his mother from the front seat, eyeing him in the rearview mirror.
Jeff made his mouth into a straight line and relaxed his eyebrows, but he refused to smile. If he continued to sulk he knew his mom would go on another one of her tirades, and he didn’t want that. “Aren’t you excited for our rooms Jeff? You saw from the pictures, we both get our own bathroom!” Lui said, trying to avoid another awkward silence.
Jeff huffed, and pulled the drawstrings of his hoodie, sealing himself further into his prison of brooding. “I don’t need all that space, and I didn't mind sharing a bathroom.”
“Well now you have room to display all your guitars and posters, that’s nice isn’t it?” Liu insisted, trying to cheer Jeff out of his mood.
Jeff thought it over, he had to admit it would be nice to have extra wall space, his old room barely could contain the small amount of posters and artwork he had accumulated. But he refused to show interest and shrugged in response. He was still on strike about this new house and he refused to give it a chance for the time being.
After about 15 minutes or so the car finally pulled into the lot of the new house. Just like every other building on the street it was pale white, had light blue accents and a dark brown roof. It was the type of house you and your friends would go to during halloween, because the massive size and perfect architecture made a promise that the residents would be selling king sized candy bars.
Halloween . It was a few weeks before Halloween, and was one of Jeff’s favorite holidays, but this year the occasion seemed sullied, none of his friends would be around this year. Grumbling at the thought, Jeff began to help unload the back of his dad’s car where they had tried to pack as much as possible. Most of Jeff’s valuables were in the moving van, and so he was only left with his clothes, two rolled up posters, and one of his guitars that they managed to cram into the back. Guitar in hand and suitcase in the other, Jeff trudged up the patio of the home and waited for his dad to unlock the door to the house. “Wow! Would Ya look at those decorations!” His father said, taking the keys out of his pocket. “These people really know how to celebrate!”
He unlocked the door and Jeff walked inside, it was true, the surrounding neighbors’ homes were completely decked out for Halloween, it almost felt welcoming.
After about 2 hours of setting up what they did have available, the family settled down for takeout, opting to sit on the floor since their furniture had not shown up yet. Jeff had managed to put all his clothes in his closet and rolled up the air mattress bed for him and Liu. His mother began to talk about their school life. “I heard the school district over here is really good! I've heard about so many kids graduating and going on to become so successful! Maybe there’s hope for our Jeffery after all!” She chimed, with a teasing tone.
Jeff rolled his eyes, taking a big bite of food, talking between chews. “Well a year isn’t gonna fix what’s already broken.”
His mother scoffed and looked down at her plate, and then back to him. “I at least want you to try and make friends this year, finish school off with a bang!”
Jeff dropped his fork into his food, and looked up to make eye contact with his parents. “I HAD friends mom! I did before we moved, why do you act like I didn’t?”
“Jeff, can you really consider those boys your friends ? They were a little on the dorky side, you oughta join a sport! Make some friends with some real men!” Spoke his father, trying to sound like what he just said wasn’t an insult.
Jeff shook his head, refusing to argue anymore. Grabbing his plate he went upstairs to his new room, ignoring the calls of Liu, who was trying to keep the peace between mother and father. All Jeff wanted to do was sleep, but the nagging sense of anger festering in his gut kept him awake and disgruntled. It did not help that anger issues ran in the family, but everyone seemed to mask it better than Jeff. He looked around his bare room, laying on his half deflated air mattress. His room had a fairly large window overlooking the neighborhood. Getting up, Jeff peered outside to see if anything caught his eye, if there was anything beyond the endless maze of white and blue homes, the seemingly infinite green lawns and white picket fences. And to Jeff’s surprise, there was. Just nearly out of his field of vision, Jeff saw the tops of trees, stretching out beyond the confines of his neighborhood. He didn’t recall seeing a forest on his way over, it piqued his interest.
Just as he began to get closer to get a better look, Jeff jumped back. “Ow! Fuck!” He exclaimed, holding the bridge of his nose.
A seemingly random headache shot through Jeff’s brain. Like he had popped a blood vessel, or twisted his neck at a wrong angle. Backing away from the window, Jeff removed his hands, touching his upper lip. A thin trickle of blood had spilt from his nose and onto his hand. For a moment his brain felt off, like he had forgotten what the normal response to a bloody nose was. But it merely lasted for a moment, after his pause Jeff went to his bathroom and began to shove toilet paper into the bleeding orifice. He sat on the toilet and threw his head back, letting out a frustrated groan. It must have been the change of environment, to trigger a nosebleed so suddenly. And yet, even as he waited for it to subside, Jeff couldn’t shake the weird feeling he got from the window, the forest. He chalked it up to his anxiety and left it at that. School started in a week, and he did not want this to become a problem.