Alex and Jake

My first impression of Alex was mixed. I had never seen such a bored looking kid, yet on the other hand, he intrigued me. It may have just been the fact that he was the new kid, but I knew I had to meet him. So, I promptly forgot about him. A few weeks later, I was messing around in my backyard, and I saw him pass by. I quietly followed him and was about to go home, when he turned into the abandoned lot. Everyone around knows that the abandoned lot is home to the impromptu gangs, and drug dealers, and that it was off limits. But it seemed like Alex needed to be enlightened. I caught up with him just as he started to get deep into the lot. When I tapped him on the shoulder, he jumped slightly, but recovered himself relatively quickly.
“Not such a good place.” I said.
“Huh?” He looked bewildered.
“Sorry, I mean this place, this place isn’t such a good place.”
He looked around slowly, then nodded his head ever so slightly, and turned around. As we were starting to walk out, I realized that I hadn’t even introduced myself.
“Hey, sorry about that, didn’t mean to scare you. Oh, and I’m Jake.” I pieced together.
“Alex.”
“You like it here?”
“Sure.”
I got the point, even though I was a bit late. I walked back, and when we passed my house, I waved goodbye to Alex.
“Bye” He said.
“Good night.” I said.
He was confused on what to do, and then just turned, and walked away. His introduction to our neighborhood didn’t exactly go over as planned, but it worked out reasonably well. I hoped it would get better. I walked inside, and left all thoughts of new neighbors outside. My room is on the second floor. I ran the stairs to my room, and ran right into my sister, standing right in my way. Sometimes, I could swear she does that kind of stuff on purpose. She caught my flailing arms, and pulled me back to a standing position. I glared at her, and slid past her and into my room. My sister slid in after me, and sat herself down on my bed. At sixteen, she is almost exactly five years older then me. At times, we get along, but as it is with any siblings, we have our bad moments also.
“What’s got you so happy?” she asked.
“Dunno. Your face?”
“Hah, very funny.”
She reached across the bed, and tried to pull me toward her. Her grip slipped, and she went face first across my bed. She started to laugh, and it was almost impossible not to join in.
“Well little man. Tonight there’s a party in the park, and we’re going.” She said once she had regained composure.
“Don’t call me little man!” I cried.
“You know you like it…no really, you have to go.”
“Sure, what else is there to do here.”
“Yeah, whatever, I’ll back at six, so we can get ready.”
She got off my bed, and blew me a kiss, and left, closing the door quietly behind her. I immediately slid off my bed and right onto the floor. I shared a quiet chuckle with myself, and stood up. I realized that if anyone needed to go to a neighborhood party, it was the person new to the party. I went to get Alex.
It turned out that Alex lived only two houses away. I knocked, and stood back. A few seconds later, a quiet form came, and opened the door slowly. It was Alex. It took a second for him to recognize me, but he did.
“Hello....Jake. It’s Jake right?”
“So right. How’s it going?”
“Ok, kind a boring, I’m home alone.”
“Ohhh.” I said, trying to make a joke, but either it didn’t catch on, or Alex didn’t find it funny. After an awkward silence, Alex spoke again.
“Want to come in?”
“Can I?” After asking, I realized that that question was already answered.
“Sure.” Alex stepped out of the way, and let me in. “Just remember to take your shoes off. My mom is really obsessed with keeping it spotless.”
“Don’t worry, my parents are the same way.” I said.
“Cool. Was there a reason you came...or?”
“Oh yeah, there’s a party, at like six or something. Wanna come?”
“Um, my parents wouldn’t be too happy.”
“Oh sorry, your parents are invited also, it is one of those neighborhood things.”
“Hm, sounds interesting.” Alex said. “Sure, I’ll be there.”
“Great. I’ll look for you.” I said. “So, where did you come from?”
“New York. I’m not to sure this is an improvement.”
“Don’t worry, it may look bad at first, but it really gets better.”
Alex mumbled, “Hope so.”
Alex’s house didn’t look to shabby. His parents must like a lot of art, and antiques. But other then that, it looked pretty much like a normal house, in fact, not to unlike mine. Alex led me into his room, which was large change from the rest of the house, but definitely an improvement. The floor was covered with the usual, clothes, books, and electronics. The bed wasn’t made. The entire room, was exactly as it should be. Alex cleared off a space on the bed, and sat down, motioning for me to take the chair. I sat down, and took the room in. Next to me was a new stereo, which looked like a moving present. A skateboard sat unused in its box, beside it was a small group of stuffed animals that looked very used. I motioned toward them, and Alex got red, and started to explain.
“Yeah, I just had those, and I was going to…”
I stopped him midsentence, “ Hey, there’s no need to explain, I was just…actually, it is cool.”
He didn’t look convinced. He just switched the subject. “So, what do you do during the summer?”
“Me, or just what is there to do around here?”
“Both kind of, what do you do?”
“Well, I usually wake up.”
“Then…”
“Well, if I decided to do anything, I usually go to the park, if not, I stay home, and play computer or something.”
“Yeah, sounds right. Exactly what I do.” Alex responded.
“I don’t really know much about you. Could you tell me?’
“Sure, I, well I was born in New York. You know, the city. And I lived there until I moved here about, two weeks ago. I’m twelve as of...four days ago. There’s not much to know about me. Oh yeah, and I’m not exactly the popular type.”
“I can’t see why not, you seem cool enough.”
“Not cool enough.” Alex responded, using a “valley girl” voice. Then, we both started laughing. I think that laugh was when our friendship really started. After we finished laughing, we couldn’t remember what we were laughing about, which spawned a new bout of laughter. I could see Alex open up with each laugh, and after we were both done laughing, he was a totally different person. We both sat in the same spot, at the same time, but we were both different people. I looked at my watch, and cringed.
“Five-fifty six, shit, I need to get home. Do you want me to come get you for the party, or should I see you there?” I asked.
“Oh, can I come with you now? I don’t really have anything else to do.”
“Sure, come on, I need to get home.” I said.
Alex showed my out of his house, and we walked over to mine. He hesitated about going into my house, but came in when I asked him in.
“Wow,” Alex said, “Nice house.”
I gave him a questioning glance, and saw he wasn’t kidding. I left it alone. When we got to my room, I gestured for him to sit, while we were waiting for my sister. He hesitated when I asked him where he wanted to sit, but didn’t have to make a choice, because my sister came. My sister did a double take when she opened my door.
“Julia, this is Alex. Alex, this is my stupid sister Julia.”
Alex giggled a bit, and quietly said, “Hi.”
“Who, who is Alex, I haven’t heard of him before?” Julia asked.
“I just met your brother today. I just moved here.” Alex responded.
I nodded my head.
“Huh, sure, he coming to?” She asked.
I nodded my head again.
“Well, welcome to Denver, Alex, I hope you have a good time here. I’m sure you have heard about the party. Don’t get your hopes up, it isn’t a kegger, it’s just another one of those neighborhood parties. But should be fun.” Julia said. “Let’s go.”
Julia left, and we both followed her out. I looked at Alex, and moved my finger around my ear, telling him I though she was crazy. Alex nodded his head, and giggled a little bit. I smiled, and dropped back, to walk by Alex. A few minutes later, we entered the park, where things were almost done getting set up. Alex leaned over, “I’m glad we didn’t have to help.” I nodded my head in agreement, and led Alex over see if I could introduce him to anyone. I couldn’t find anyone, so we both agreed that we needed to find the food. We found it, and settled in. With our heaping plates, we went to the far end of the park, and sat in a nice patch of grass to eat. We both attempted to be polite, and wait for the other to start, but then hunger got a hold of us, and we both started on our food. Something stuck Alex as funny, and a spray of potato salad left his mouth. He tried to keep it in, but soon, all of his potato salad lay on the ground next to him. I started to laugh, and handed my only remaining napkin over. Alex fell back, and started to convulse from the laughter.
“Ok...ok, you’re going to be ok.” I joked.
“I...I hope so.” Alex said, over his laughter.
A minute or two, Alex stopped laughing, and tried to catch his breath. I let him, before I started talking again.
“Hey man, do you have any siblings?”
Alex shook his head, and sat up on his elbows.
“No, just me and my parents.” He said.
“Cool, you like being an only child?” I asked.
“Yeah...well, yeah, I don’t think having a sibling would be to good.”
“Exactly my thought, except for that I have one.”
I looked Alex in the eyes, and smiled. Alex looked back, and then glanced over at the party.
“Is there anything worth doing?” He asked.
I shook my head, then I got an idea. I jumped up, and picked up my trash. “Hey, come with me.” I said.
Alex picked up his plates, and got up, a lot slower then I did.
“What? What’s going on?” He asked.
“Nothing, you’ll see. Just come with me.” I responded.
Passing by a trash can, I tossed my plates, and turned around, in time to see Alex do the same.
“Ok, you want to see the best part of the park?” I asked.
“Uh...duh.” Alex said.
“Ok good, because that’s where we’re going.” I oriented myself, and made my way to the east side of the park. We stopped before a large group of trees.
“Ok, this hurts a little bit, but trust me, it’s worth it.” I started to walk into the trees. I could barely make out the opening, but it was there. I made it al the way through the trees, and came out in the middle of a clearing with a bench and a rust swing set in it.
I turned around, and grabbed Alex’s hand, and helped him through.
“Here we are.” I pointed in Alex’s hair. He looked confused, but then he understood, and brushed the pine needles out of his hair.
“This place is amazing, it’s like a secret hideout or something.” Alex said.
“Yeah, I found it last year when my ball got lost. It’s like they forgot about it or something. I don’t come here too often.”
Alex sat down on one of the swings, and tried to swing, but when he heard the noise it made, he stopped, and just sat in the swing.
“Yeah, there’s just one rule about this place. Don’t tell!”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, this place is too cool to tell anyone about.” Alex said.
I sat down at the picnic table, and rested my head on the table. We both sat quiet for a minute of two, until Alex started to talk.
“You know, thank you. Thanks you for talking to me.”
“Huh? You’re welcome.”
“Really, thanks, in New York, no one would even really talk to me.”
“What do you mean, why wouldn’t anyone want to talk to you?” I lifted my head, intrigued.
Alex shook his head, “I don’t understand either, but my point is thanks.”
“You’re more then welcome.” I responded. I glanced at my watch, and when I saw what time it was, I got up slowly. “We should get going.” I said.
Alex stood up, at about the same speed.
“Sure, I should probably get going, my parents will be getting home soon.”
With that, we both left the way we came in. We searched out my sister, and found her dancing with one of her friends.
“Sister! Sister, I’m going.”
I playfully kicked Julia for ignoring me, and started to walk Alex home. We stopped in front of Alex’s house. We both fumbled for words, and found them at the same time.
“Goodnight...you go first.” I said.
“You first.”
“No, you first.”
“Oh, whatever. Goodnight, I had a good time.”
“I had a good time too. Let’s do something tomorrow.”
“Sure, I’ll come over in the morning?” Alex asked.
“Yep, sounds right. Well, I’ll let you get back. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight Jake.”
I turned, and walked to my house. I was excited, and anxious. Excited that I had found what seemed like a good friend, and anxious that I had gone too far. But the anxiousness subsided the more I though of how the night had gone. Unlike earlier in the day, the only thought on my mind was Alex. When I got in bed, the only thing I could think about was what to do tomorrow. But even thoughts of a new found friend can’t keep me awake after an exhausting day, and I wasn’t even awake when my sister came back to check on me ten minutes later.

In the morning, I woke up extra early, as if, if I slept late, Alex would disappear forever. He didn’t. When I was eating my breakfast, the doorbell rang, and I sprang out of my chair to answer it. I pulled open the door, and there stood Alex. I pulled open the screen door, and invited him in. He glanced down, and saw that I was still eating, and decided to sit based on that fact. I sat down, and started eating again. With a full mouth I said, “Morning, Alex.” I wiped the drip of milk coming down my mouth, and kept chewing.
“Good morning. I’ll just let you eat there, then we can talk.” Alex said. I nodded my head in agreement, and continued eating.