Short Story Competition!

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by Theresa (Year 8)

I remember the day he moved in next door. It was a quiet and peaceful day, just like all boiling, hot, summer days. And then the removal trucks came. I remember peering through the window, hiding behind my pink curtains. I remember Mum mentioning something about new neighbours. I didn’t think anything of it, I was the only kid on the block, and it was going to stay like that. But I was wrong.

I remember laughing at his wild hair; I remember running outside to get a better look. I remember my mum, standing at the fence, greeting them with a smile on her face.

“Mum…” I had whined, tugging at her top, “Who are they?” I asked, even though I know the answer.

She smiled and ruffled my chocolate-coloured hair, “Our new neighbours,” she said proudly and hoisted me up so I could see over the fence. I looked at the boy, he was probably my age, maybe older. His Mum noticed me and pointed me out. He turned around, I waved. He waved back and ran over to the fence.

“I’m Jeremy!” he announced, “Who are you?”

“Madison,” I said timidly, suddenly self conscious about my first impression.

“Do you want to play?”

“Okay!”

My mum put me down and said to him, “You can come over and play in the backyard if you want, your house might be a little too hectic to play in.”

I remember his tenth birthday; he invited me to his birthday party. I remember waking up and rushing my Mum to make him a birthday cake. I remember running down to the milkbar and buying exactly ten candles to stick on top.

I remember I stepped into his house at exactly 3.15, holding a box with a cake balanced on top. I was the first one there. I remember Jeremy coming out to greet me, taking the cake off my load and leading me into the kitchen where he put it on the counter. I remember him thanking me for bringing a present and shaking the box. I remember laughing as he pretended to use his ‘super vision’ to see through the box.

I remember the next person who came in, Leanne. I remember Jeremy blushing as she hugged him. I remember me feeling left out. I felt our friendship slip away. I remember sitting in the corner while the party was in full swing. I remember leaving early.

I remember our first fight, the day after his party. I remember him coming over to my house and knocking on my bedroom door where I was hiding. “Mads?” I covered my ears, “I’m coming in,” he said, turning the doorknob. I hid my head under the duvet, partly because I didn’t want to see him and partly because I was still in my pajamas.

“Madison? Mads?” he asked, glancing around the room and stared at me under my duvet, “Why’d you leave yesterday? You left early!”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled.

“You know, it was really selfish of you.”

I threw my cover off, “Selfish?!” I asked annoyed, “You think I’m selfish?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you get the hell out of my room?!” I yelled and threw the duvet back over my head. After I few seconds I heard my door click shut. I laid there for a while. Then I heard a satisfying ‘slam’ next door. A tear slid down my cheek.

I remember he stopped hanging out with me afterwards. He was in the ‘cool’ crowd now, with girls like Leanne admiring them. I remember we got over it, after a few months. But it wasn’t the same. He was different. So we went our different ways.

I remember my seventeenth birthday, I was home alone. My mum had gone to get a cake from the bakery and I was sitting in the middle of the kitchen, wondering if my Unknown Present Giver would strike again. I remember the first time it happened. It was my eleventh birthday. I had woken up and my mum gave me something. It was a parcel, unknown sender, saying Happy Birthday on it. I remember opening it and finding a box of chocolate and a pretty charm bracelet. I remember I had spent a few weeks trying to track down the sender.

Then it happened again the year after. This time it was a gift voucher to my favourite store, Summer Breeze. And then on my thirteenth birthday, the new Harry Potter book. When I turned fourteen it was a basket of make-up left on my doorstep. The next year, I received a whole bag of hair accessories and the next book in Harry Potter. Last year I got a new pair of shoes and a handbag that I had been saving up for. I remember looking forward to it every year.

I remember someone rang the doorbell. I remember sighing and grabbing a wad of tissues, assuming that my mum had forgotten her keys at home. I shuffled to the door and opened it. I remember a guy with crazy brown hair, sticking in all directions standing at my front door. I remember him holding a bunch of red roses and a box of chocolates. I also remembered it was Valentine’s Day. I remember him smiling.

I stood there with my mouth open for what felt like an eternity, “Aren’t you going to invite me in?” he asked, smiling. I stepped to the side so he could get in. “Here,” he said, thrusting the chocolate and a bouquet of roses at me, “Happy Seventeenth.”

My eyes started to brim with tears, “Jeremy…”

“Madison,” he said smiling, “I’m sorry.”

He handed me a parcel, I looked at the writing, it was exactly the same as my Unknown Present Giver’s. I felt my heart skip a beat, I looked back up at him. “It was you?”

“Do you want to go out sometime?”

“…Like a date?”

He nodded, “Yes.”

“…I’d love to,” I smiled.