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Your head rests on the window as you watch the scenery passing by before your eyes can focus on anything in particular.
You, your mother, and your younger sister are driving to your grandfather’s house. The divorce has been hard on your mom, and her father was more than happy to take you all in while she gets back on her feet. Your eyes slide to the carton of cigarettes on the dash. Lord knows when that would be.
The reason you're so irritated with the whole thing is because you'd been evicted a few days after your junior year ended, so now you had to go to a completely new school for your senior year before you could even graduate. Your 18th birthday won't happen for another month yet and you don't have any money (or a job for that matter) so you couldn’t stay in (hometown) to graduate with the rest of your friends. They were texting a bit now, but you know it's just a matter of time before they stop texting you all together and you're left completely alone in a stupid podunk town. Life just kinda sucks right now.
Denton has a population of 2,893 (now 2,896), a beautiful historical area, and a large lake, Lake Britannia. It has one elementary/middle school, and high school that could be best described as ‘mediocrely acceptable’. The main street that runs through the middle of it all doubles as a district road, and connects to state highways on either end once you get far enough out. You’re pulling onto said main street, slowing down considerably as your mother minds the speed limit signs posted everywhere. Must have a problem with speeding, you think absentmindedly, looking back blankly at the people milling about the shops stop to stare at your out of place hybrid with the gaudy moving trailer attached. You slump down in your seat to avoid the looks.
“Thank god we’re finally fuckin’ here,” you hear your sister mutter from behind you. You silently agree, hoping your mom didn’t catch the comment, but she seems too occupied with the GPS to care.
“Okay, so we gotta turn here…I think. Jesus, Dad, could you have been any vaguer with your directions?” she grumbles, pulling onto a winding side road. You sit up again to eye the lake, sunlight rippling its surface. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
You pass a disturbingly pink house nestled away in the trees. Never mind, you think, seeing someone with a huge floppy straw hat working away in the garden. The last thing you needed was overly friendly neighbors barging their way into your life and trying to get all buddy-buddy with you before you could graduate and let this place eat your dust. It was in your best interest to not get attached to anyone so nobody got hurt. Simple as that.
The person in the garden looks up as you pass, and you see them clap their hands in excitement before standing and practically goddamn skipping into the house. You grimace. Looks like you were right.
A short distance later, you’re pulling into the drive of a large Craftsman-style house and your mother shuts the car off with a smile. “Alright girls, we’re here!”
Your sister pulls out her earbuds with a roll of her eyes. You grimace back at your mom, too tired and still a little sore to muster a real one. Her own smile grows strained until she sees the man coming out onto the porch. Stepping out of the car to embrace him, you hear your grandfather’s booming voice as he hugs your mom before turning to hug you.
“How ya holdin’ up kiddo?” you rest your head on his chest and sigh.
“Y’know, same old same old,” you say quietly. You feel his grip tighten around you a little bit as he gives his own sigh and releases you.
“Tell you what kid, you still into cars?”
You perk up a little. You and your dad had worked on all kinds of cars together since you were tiny, from handing him tools as he needed, to rebuilding an engine block entirely on your own. At this point, you could probably run your own shop.
“Yeah, why?”
Your grandfather just smiles, a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he leans in conspiratorially.
“Let’s just say I’ve got a project for you,” he replied. “I'll show you when we've got a free minute.”
You nod, watching the man move down the driveway with a smile playing on your lips.
---
Eyeing the piles of boxes in your new room, you sigh and flop onto your bed tiredly. You can hear your mother and grandfather bustling around in the kitchen, some kind of peppy music blaring from the radio. In the next room over your sister’s trying to drown it out with her own horrendous tunes. You smile a little, wistful and tired, before getting up to sort your boxes.
Okay, so clothes next to the closet... CDs and movies under the window...trinkets and pictures by the bed…posters on TOP of the bed...
Your grandpa had given you a decent-sized T.V. for your room, which you accepted gratefully, and upon further inspection, it would appear to have a little slot in the top to play DVDs. You smiled more genuinely to yourself now. This was pretty sweet. You sat it on top of your dresser, right across from your bed. Maybe this won’t suck so bad after all.
Laying a few posters across your bed to let them flatten out a little, you’re looking for your fairy lights when you realize they’re probably crammed into one of the boxes you can’t pry open.
You’re ambling down the stairs to find some scissors when the doorbell rings.
Your mother pokes her head out of the kitchen. “Get the door, would you, sweetheart?”
“Sure,” you respond, making your way down and reaching for the door. Upon opening it, you’re greeted with the sight of the perky looking pink-haired person from earlier. He’s accompanied by a pair of grumpy looking teens and an even grumpier blonde man.
“Uh, hi.”
“Hello, poppet! Would your mummy and daddy be home by any chance?”
You can literally feel your eyes deaden. “Well, my mom’s in the kitchen but I’m pretty sure my dad’s balls deep in some dollar store whore right now, to be honest.”
While the man’s lips purse in distaste, eyes surprised and wide, the scruffy blonde next to him chuckles a raspy, throaty thing that makes the corner of your mouth quirk a little. The darker haired teen tries to hold in his own laughter with a snort.
“O-oh, well,” the man’s stammering now, obviously at a loss for words. You roll your eyes, taking pity on the man. “Come in.” you step back, turning toward the kitchen and leaving them to come inside of their own accord.
You lean in the kitchen, making your grandpa and mom turn to you expectantly. “We’ve got company. Neighbors, I think.”
Your grandpa nods. “Yeah, I figured Ollie and his family would be coming over. Don’t worry kid, you can go hide in your room until dinner.”
You nod and mutter a quiet thanks before trying to slink past the living room and towards the stairs.
“So, poppet, are you going to go to Lakeview?”
No such luck.
You turn to see the neighbors taking up the couches, the scruffy blonde already lighting up a cigarette. The teens seem to be arguing quietly between themselves. The strawberry blonde, who you’re assuming is the ‘Ollie’ your grandpa mentioned, looked at you expectantly. Despite your irritation and the urge to just ignore him, you stay to make dreaded small talk.
“Is that the high school here?”
He nods. You nod too. “Then yeah.”
This makes him clap happily, like when you first saw him from the passenger seat. Dear god.
“Did you hear that, boys? Maybe you’ll have a chance to make an actual friend for once!” he elbows the teens on either side of him. Ouch. Even your mom wasn’t that ignorantly mean.
“Whaddya mean Dad, we have plenty of friends!” the brunette squawks indignantly.
“Drug dealers aren’t friends numbnuts,” the messy-haired blonde quips. ‘Numbnuts’ scoffs.
“Mattie’s right, Allen, those...hooligans you hang around are no good!” Ollie gestures to you. “This young lady on the other hand-” he pauses with an embarrassed tinge to his cheeks. “I’m terribly sorry, dear, but I don’t believe I know your name?”
You were already halfway up the stairs when he asked, but were soon thwarted by your sister. She snagged your wrist and pulled you close with a mischievous glint you knew too well.
“Don’t even think about going hermit on this one, (nickname). Those dudes are hot and they are interested,” she declared, quiet enough for the remark to stay between you two. “Plus they might have cute friends.” Winking, she turned you around by your shoulders and gave you a slight push back downstairs.
“Her name’s Y/N, and I am Lauren,” she announced. “Nice to meet you guys.”
You hug your arms to your body, rolling your eyes. This was gonna be a long night.
“Look, Laur, if you wanna entertain that’s fine, but I’m gonna go finish unpacking,” you sigh. “And I still need fucking scissors,” you grumble, slipping away to finish what you came down to do in the first place.
You just snag a knife from the kitchen as you can’t bother looking for the scissors, just wanting to escape back to your room. Half walking, half jogging, you beat a hasty retreat and ignore your sister’s slight temper tantrum, hearing your mom leave the kitchen to greet the newcomers.
When you close your door, you lean against it for a moment, take a deep breath, and get to work.
---
You’re hanging your last poster when you hear your mom call you down. You kick the few boxes of clothes out of the way of the door and towards the closet to put away later. Knife in hand, you shuffle back downstairs and into the dining room. To your surprise, the neighbors are still here, and Lauren is sat right next to the guys - Mattie and Allen?- looking like the cat who got the canary. When you enter though, all the attention’s on you. You sigh through your nose, taking a seat next to your mom and pointedly ignore your sister.
You practically refuse to say anything through dinner, but you listen. ‘Mattie and Allen’ prefer Matt and Al, respectively, and the older men’s names were Oliver and Francois. You kinda like him- like you, he spent most of the meal grumpily ignoring most everyone else and barely speaking.
As soon as you finish, you excuse yourself quickly and slink back off to your room, but your respite is short-lived.
A knock on your door makes you stop hanging clothes for a moment before you hear your mom calling your name.
“Come in,” you holler, not bothering to turn your music down.
The door opens to reveal your mother, sister, and the neighbor dudes. Lauren has that glint in her eye again, making your blood run a little cold. Your mom strolls right in and turns your speakers down. “You’re gonna ruin your ears, dear,” she chides, casting a disdainful eye around your room, likely judging how you already made the room look as grungy as your last one.
“Like they’re not already,” you quip, turning back to your closet. “Do you need something?”
“Well Lauren was telling me that you wanted to spend a little time with the neighbors but you were too shy to ask! So I thought you kids could all hang out while the grownups chatted for a while!”
An embarrassed flush worked its way up the back of your neck and onto your face. “What are we, fucking five?” you sneer, shooting a venomous look towards your smug sister. After a minute you nod your begrudging consent. “Fine. They’ll probably get bored in 5 minutes and leave anyway, it’s not like I give a shit.”
“Language,” your mother scolds, shooting you a look. You give her a deadpan face until she exits, leaving you with Lauren and the neighbors.
“God, Lauren, you can be such a little bitch,” you glare, not bothering to say anything to the boys. She just laughs.
“It’s not my fault I have to look out for my loser of a big sister, (nickname), if you don’t get any friends how am I gonna get anywhere in this shitty excuse of a town?” She eyes Matt and Al. “No offense, guys.”
“None taken, this place sucks,” Al smirks at her and she eats it up, making you want to gag. Matt nods in agreement, a few strands of hair falling from his loose ponytail.
“Whatever,” you mutter, hanging the last shirt in the box. You kick the box full of pants and undergarments across the room and towards the dresser. You hear her sigh and flop onto your bed.
“You’re not actually mad at me, are you?” she asks quietly. A sigh leaves your chest at how… small she sounds.
“Nah,” you turn and look at her, shooting a small smile her way. “Just...embarrassed at how you went about it, I guess.” You spare a look at the guys in your doorway. “You guys can come in, y’know.”
There are a few minutes of quiet as you all listen to the music you have on and you put away pants in your dresser. Lauren starts up a game of 20 questions in an attempt to get the conversation flowing.
“Al, if you could only bring one movie with you to a deserted island, what would it be?” Al smirks at Lauren and you roll your eyes.
“Pulp Fiction,” he states proudly. You turn to hide your “of-fucking-course” face from view, shoving underwear and socks in your drawer as quickly as possible. You’d refold them later. “Y/N, what would your ideal guy be like?” your ears prick at the mention of your name, and your shoulders slump at the question of choice.
“Dunno, never thought about it.” you grumble, wanting to change the topic quickly. “Laur--”
“Oh no, Y/N, fess up. You and I both know you’ve thought about it,” she grins like the shit stirring little bastard she is. You glare at her witheringly, but she remains unfazed. You feel that flush returning, your neck all prickly and hot.
“Fuckin’... kind, but hates people too. Tall, I guess. And um. I’ve always thought dudes with long hair were hot.” you are very pointedly not looking at the group behind you. “He’d need to be into music too, of course.”
“Of course,” Lauren reassures. You go back to glaring at her, still refusing to look at the guys in the room with you.
“Laur, if you could only eat one kind of food for forever, what would you eat?”
“Umm, fruit or something. Matt, what would your ideal date be?” you want to curl up and die. Why is she being like this right now?
“I’d take her to get a bite to eat, we’d go watch a movie or drive to the lake and listen to music, then I’d take her home. I’m a classy man, no smoochin 'til the second date unless she wants some,” you hear the wolfish grin in his words, and are happy to busy yourself with tacking your lights up. “Y/N,” Christ, why does everyone wanna talk to you? “What are your top three musical artists right now?” Oh. A question you don’t mind, actually.
“Ah, well… I think if I had to pick three… today it’d have to be Pearl Jam, Deftones, and Sublime. You?” for the first time since the neighbors have been over, you are able to look right at them without wanting to spontaneously combust. Matt is facing you now, a soft smile on his face.
“Deftones, Kings of Leon, and Alice in Chains.” you feel your heart beating in your chest as you look at him. “But Pearl Jam is always a favorite,” he shrugs out of his flannel, rolling up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo of the stickman logo. Your eyes widen and Lauren gasps.
“Shut. Up!” she cries. You look at her and back to Matt before lowering your gaze. “Y/N has the same tat!”
“No way,” Al laughs. You shrug, lifting your hair and turning so Lauren can pull the neck of your shirt down enough to reveal your own stickman at the base of your neck. Matt hums approvingly, and you’re glad he can’t see your face. “Well Mattie, I guess that settles it, huh?” You watch from the corner of your eye as Al cackles, elbowing at the blonde.
“Mattie, Allen, time to go!” you hear Oliver call from downstairs. The two bid you and your sister goodnight, tromping down the stairs and out the door. You flop onto your bed next to Lauren with a groan.
“What was with all those questions anyways, huh?” you gripe, tugging a lock of her hair gently.
“Matt’s totally into you. What, I can’t help wingman my sister? You deserve to have fun, at least.”
“Hmph. He really isn’t, but I appreciate the thought. Now bugger off so I can get ready for bed.”
“Whatever you say nickname~ But just so you know, he got kinda pink when he saw your tat. Looked at it over his sunnies and everything--” your face is burning as you yell at her to leave, pushing her out the door while she laughs away.
---
The next day, you are pulled outside by your grandfather while your mom and sister go into town for something. He brings you to his huge, 3 car garage, and rolls up the furthest door. Inside is a sight for sore eyes; a cute little Toyota, circa the mid-2000s if you had to guess. When he flicks on the lights to reveal a plethora of tools, parts, and supplies, the lightbulb comes on in your head. He smiles and nods when you look at him, tossing you the keys.
“She’s been sitting awhile, but I don’t think she’s done for yet. I know I can depend on you to get her back up and going.” You nod, walking up to run your hand along the side of it gently. You don’t even notice you’re crying until he comes closer, handing you a tissue and wrapping you up into a hug. “Have fun lovebug. Let me know if we need to order any parts in,” he kisses the top of your head and leaves you be.
Immediately, you run back into the house to grab your speaker and return to set it up on a nearby shelf. The majority of your day is spent troubleshooting, and attempting to diagnose the car’s numerous issues. When your grandfather calls you in for dinner, you have enough foresight to at least wash your hands, but you bring the Haynes manual in with you. Your mother gripes but you don’t even hear her, too absorbed in finding a fix.
The next day is spent pretty similarly, but when midday rolls around, you take a break to take care of your wailing stomach. No one else is home, so you fix yourself a sandwich and grab a bag of chips before stepping out to enjoy your lunch on the porch. Aaaaand look at the manual some more.
You don’t hear footsteps coming up to you, nor do you notice the male leaning over you until he blocks your light. When you look up, mouth full of sandwich, you immediately blush upon seeing it’s Matt. Swallowing quickly, you shoot him a quick smile. “Hey, what’s up man?”
He nods at you, hands in his pockets. “Nothin’. Al’s in town with his girlfriend and Dad told me to get out for the afternoon. Figured you might have something cool going on, considering your excellent taste in music.” he pauses, looking at the book in your lap. “What’re you reading?”
You take in the compliment with a wide eyed blush, before registering the question. “Oh, just the Haynes for the car Grampa has me workin’ on.”
He raises a brow, seeming… impressed, if you had to classify the look. “You work on cars?”
“Trucks too,” you nod, standing and brushing your hands off on your pants after tucking the manual under your arm. “Wanna see what I’m doin’?” you ask shyly. He nods, lips quirking up in a smirk.
“Lead the way.”
Matt’s surprisingly helpful, and an amazing listener, handing you tools and making good conversation with you. After a couple hours, it feels like the two of you have known each other for years. During a break, he nudges you with his elbow. “Hey, wanna smoke?” Pinched in his thumb and forefinger is what you can only assume is a joint.
“Oh sweet Christ, yes,” you groan. It’s been a long few weeks and lord knows you want nothing more than to relax a bit. He lights it up with a grin, taking a quick puff and passing it to you. Time passes, the two of you content to bask in the evening sun and the music coming from your speaker. You’re thinking that maybe you’d like some ice cream when Matt breaks the silence.
“Wanna go out sometime?” the question startles you out of the haze, and you look at the other teen with an incredulous expression. He seems to hesitate, grimacing and looking at his feet instead. “Don’t feel like you have to say yes, I just thought--”
“Yeah,” you chirp. He looks at you again, glasses almost flying off with how quickly he turned to do so.
“Really? I mean, like it can just be a hang out thing, it doesn’t have to be a date-date, I understand--”
You giggle, placing your hand over his. “Really Matt. I wouldn’t say yes if I didn’t want to,” you look away now, feeling your own cheeks grow warm. “And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in a date-date.”
He’s looking at you with the softest expression you’ve ever seen him make, jaw slightly slack and a pink tinge to his cheeks. Then he grins, a genuinely giddy thing that makes you smile too. “A-alright. Um. Want to go get a bite and hit the lake then?”
You bite your lip a little, nodding. The smile won’t go away. “I’d love to.”