my first day turned out to not be so bad. i had my morning classes with jack, who made the lessons more fun for me by giving teachers more smart remarks that they all seemed to be humorously used to.

then i spent lunch with the twins and also johnson and sam, and realised that despite their horny behaviour, they weren't actually bad people.

by the time, i reached my last class, my focus was gone and i wasn't bothered to pay attention so i found more interest in my phone.

but this only resulted into a back and forth disagreement with the teacher, who then gave me a behavioural letter for a guardian to sign. great.

"hey, i'm back!" i called out when i arrived back home.

i checked around to see if anyone was actually here for once until i started hearing moans and giggles coming from my father's room.

feeling a sense of vomit coming up my throat, i grimaced at the creaking bed noises and grabbed my phone to hastily leave the house again.

there's no way that i could stay with that happening in the room opposite mine and with the walls so thin.

i started walking down the street without any destination in mind, just as a rundown car sped down the road and halted at a house ahead.

there were two large boys waiting at the door. i recognised one of them as the one who fought jack last week, just before a teenaged boy and girl climbed out the car with their backpacks.

the group of them soon started arguing about something that i couldn't make out. i could only realise that they were the ones who'd keep me up at night with their constant yelling.

the only girl frustratedly left the group to lean against the gate and light up a cigarette, while the other boys carried on arguing. one paced in anger until he noticed me and creased his brows.

"what the fuck are you looking at?" he called out.

shaking it off as if i wasn't just watching their entire disagreement, i carried on walking. up ahead, i saw kenzie and jack on their way back from school.

"hey" i said once we reached each other.

"hey, what are you doing?" kenzie wondered, trying to figure it out by looking around.

i scrunched up my face in disgust, "dave has a friend over. i couldn't handle staying in there".

"ew, gross" she grimaced.

"hey, by the way, what's their deal?" i nodded my head over at the hostile family across the street.

"them? they're the peravích family" kenzie informed. "tommy, dan, ricky and nina. yeah, you don't really want to cross anyone on the southside, but they're who you should be extra careful with".

in confusion, i frowned, "why?".

jack chuckled, narrowing his eyes at me, "it's pretty obvious, no?".

i glanced back over at the family, seeing the boys take out various guns from the trunk of the car and pretend to aim them for practice.

"anyways since your house is occupied, you can chill out at our place. we have cigarettes, beer and we managed to get our hands on a newish tv set" kenzie offered.

"your hands on meaning...".

"we stole it from a yard sale" jack proudly answered, which i found quite amusing to be honest.

i followed kenzie to the porch of their house, noticing that they only lived just around the corner from my own.

jack held back as eyes drifted across the street.

"actually, i'll catch up with you guys later" he told, before jogging over to the peravich household and talking to the only girl that i gathered was nina.

they exchanged words for a second or two until she threw away her burnt out cigarette and jack followed her inside the house.

kenzie rolled her eyes, "come on, the only thing he's going to catch is stds".

entering the gilinsky house, i stepped over the various pairs of shoes that cluttered the doorway then the few toys that took over the living room.

sat in front of the tv was a young girl and two boys, who's eyes never looked up at us once or even blinked at the screen.

"hey" kenzie dropped her backpack by the door and i did the same.

"hi" the children responded monotonously.

"guys, this is sofia" she introduced. "these are my brothers and sister, ayden, jasmine and then the little one is gabriel".

i heard kenzie and jack talking about those exact names at school today, but i just never expected them to all be under one household.

kenzie walked over to the siblings and picked up the youngest child who i guessed was only at the age of two.

"hey munchkin" she lightly squeezed his cheeks whilst i awkwardly stood at the start of the living room, not knowing what to do next.

in that moment, hurried footsteps came rushing down the stairs and were revealed to come from a dark-haired woman who was dressed in a waitressing outfit and seemed stressed.

"mackenzie, where have you been?" she complained whilst trying to put on her other shoe. "i'm running late".

"mom, what about jack? he hasn't even bothered to come home yet" kenzie retorted.

their mom didn't look as though she was a day over the age of 30, but to be kenzie and jack's mom, she would have to atleast be 32.

"i'll deal with him later. where are my keys?" she questioned, but everyone muttered a response of confusion that she groaned at.

their mother's attention soon diverted to me.

"who's this?" she asked, brushing her hair in the mirror.

"this is sofia sanchez. she's new and lives around the corner. this is my mom, natalia" kenzie replied, whilst playing with a giggling gabriel in her arms.

"hey sweetie" natalia smiled and i gave a small wave. "hmm, sanchez? dirty dave has a daughter?".

"mom" kenzie muttered.

i chuckled, "oh, none taken. he's not exactly father of the year".

natalia laughed too as she secured her hair in a high ponytail, "well, nice to meet you sofia. sorry for running around so much".

"no, it's fine. i get it" i said, watching her continue to search high and low for those keys.

"kids, come on, keys! mommy's late!" she exclaimed before the eldest of the younger kids, ayden held up a pair of keys with his eyes still on the cartoons they were watching.

natalia sighed with relief and collected them, then kissed the top of ayden and jasmine's heads.

"okay, i gotta go. i may pick up a few extra hours tonight for the electric bill, so if i'm not back by dinner go ahead and heat up the lasagne in the oven at around 400 degrees. you'll know when it's ready when the—".

"cheese starts to bubble. i know, mom, go" kenzie continued.

"okay, i'll see you all later" she announced, giving a cheek kiss to kenzie and gabriel. "be good for your big sister and brother, and nice to meet you again, sofia".

when she left, the house quietened down except for the sounds of the tv cartoons and gabriel's mindless talking.

"the kids just watch tv all night, so there's not really much babysitting to do except watch over this one more" she motioned to gabriel. "you can go ahead and grab some drinks in the fridge and we can just hang out upstairs".

i nodded, "yeah, sure".

-

the gilinsky family will be in this a lot so i may do a small character visual for them soon

{vote, comment and share}