R Y A N

          SATURDAY arrived quickly, and I hadn't seen no sign of the mysterious terrors next door. I had seen Noah a few times from the front garden, while he was getting out of his car. He waved at me, but that was it. I was too shy to even go and speak to him, even though we already briefly met. He only ever got a shy smile and a weak wave back. So far he seems really nice, but I had never seen his two terror siblings their Mother spoke about. I was starting to think that Mrs Greyson kept her other two children locked up in the attic and that's why I hadn't seen them. There was no other explanation for not seeing the two troublesome kids.

She did call them terrors and there must be a reason why... right?

Tonight we were going to have dinner with them, and I now had to face a night with nerves that I always get when I meet new people. I pull on some shorts that sit on my knee's and a white t-shirt that read 'GHOSTBUSTERS' on the front with the movie logo around the O. I had a thing for eighties movies and it was one of my favourite things that dad and I shared. I pull my hair through the hair band on my wrist and leave the end tucked in to make a messy bun then spray on my marshmallow body spray mum got me.

"I hope I can still buy this spray over here?" I think to myself, placing the cap back on.

I slip on a pair of white converse, leaving my room behind and taking deep breathes to calm my nerves. When I go downstairs Dad is in a white shirt and blue trousers. Mum is in a flowery maxi dress while Tori is wearing skinny jeans and a red v necked top. Thank god Jackson is only in a red t-shirt and jean shorts - I was starting to feel like I was too dressed down for dinner next door and I now don't need to change my clothes.

          The Greyson house was a lot bigger than ours. It had three floors and a massive driveway - compared to ours, our house was a shoebox. The garage was a triple, a lot bigger than our double garage and there were different coloured flowers that lined up the path way to the front door.
   When we reach the blue door, Dad presses the button and we hear the bell chimes echoing. I start to nervously pick at my fingers, getting even more nervous then I was ten minutes ago with the anistpation of meeting the unknown Greyson siblings. I hate meeting new people, always have, but at least I had my family with me. We wait patiently for the door to open when Mrs Greyson answers, a inviting smile on her face and she ushers us in immediately, smiling at each of us as she closes the door behind us.

"Come in, come in," she says.

"Thank you, this is for you. I hope you like red?" Dad says handing her the bottle.

"Oh yes, thank you. You didn't have to," she says politely with a smile. There's no way my parents would of shown up without some sort of bottle to say thank you for dinner. Mum clears her throat and pulls Tori towards her.

"This is Victoria, the sleepy head you didn't get to meet."

"Nice to meet you Mrs Greyson," Tori says holding out her hand.

"Pleasure is all mine, my dear. Well, your just as gorgeous as your mother described."

"Thank you," my sister beams. My brows furrow and I wonder why she didn't correct mum about her name. She never liked being called Victoria and she always said "please, call me Tori," but she doesn't.

"Kids! Come and meet our guests," Mrs Greyson says calling up the stairs. "They only got back this morning from camping so they've been sleeping most of the day, bless them. But at least it's been quiet with them both tucked away. I had a nice pile of laundry to do while they slept," she says with an eye roll and a playful smile.

"Camping? That's why I hadn't see them," I think, remembering her comments on our first night here.

"Noah and I have enjoyed the peace and quiet these last few days. Shame to have them back really," she chuckles, as do my parents. "Noah will be out soon, he's been slaving over the stove all afternoon. I hope you like Italian?" she says with a proud smile.

"We love it!" Jackson says with a grin. Everyone chuckles and I know Jackson is secretly hoping for spaghetti bolognese, his favourite dish of the month. I say month because the kid practically changes his mind like clockwork every month. Last month it was cheeseburgers, before that ham sandwiches. At one point it was nothing but macaroni and cheese, yuck. You have no idea how long the house smelled of cheese for during that addiction.

Suddenly a thud of steps tap around the floor upstairs and I stiffen. Mrs Greyson said she had two terrors, I didn't know what she meant by that and honestly I was scared. I didn't know if they were two girls, two boys or one of each. I didn't know how old they were either, are they my age or older? All I knew was that if she called them terrors as their mother, what were they really like?

"Why did we need to move next door to this family," I think swallowing thickling as I hear the thuds grow louder.

Two tall figures descend down the stairs and my question is answered when I see two boys. The tallest one - just as big as Noah has a hard faced, almost a scold. He has the same piercing blue eyes and black hair that was brushed back, neat as Noah's. He's wearing a black long sleeved t-shirt that's rolled up to his elbows, dark blue jeans and his frame is muscular. He has a tattoo on his left arm, but it's half covered by his thick banded watch and I can't seem to see what it is. His face looks deep in thought and to be honest, he's quite scary looking.

"This is Nicholas..." she says pointing to him and it looks like he tries to force a smile, his lips tugging at the side. "And this is my youngest Nathan," she says pulling him down from the stairs.

Nathan is just as tall as his brothers and all three looked practically like triplets, only his eyes matches his mothers, grey. He's muscular too and the grey t-shirt he is wearing showed them off. It's possible that all three are athletes with their big frames, they were like giants compared to me. He has a big cheesy smile that lights the room with dimples, the complete opposite to his moody looking brother.

"Mr and Mrs Blake, lovely to meet you," Nathan says, shaking my parents hands. Nicholas just nods while he also shook their hands.

"Please... call me Peter..." Dad never liked to be referred to as Mr Blake outside his work office. He found it too formal, even mine and Jackson friends always called him Peter. Sometimes they got away with calling him Mr B, but that was rare. He points to the rest of us, introducing us one by one to the two terrors, a proud smile across his face. "This is my wife Carrie, my daughter and her son, Tori and Jackson..." he looks round for me but I'm hidden behind Mum, hiding like I always do. "Annnnnd... where is...?" He questions then smiles at me, tugging at my arm and he pulls me forward, "...c'mere peanut... this is Ryan."

"Ryan huh? Nice name. I like it," Nathan says with a small smile.

"Thanks... they thought I was going to be a boy," l say quietly looking down at the floor.

"Not all true," my Mum smiles.

It was only partly true. I was named after Dad's brother who died when he was eight months old from cot death, my Dad being only seven at the time. When they was told I was a boy the name was picked by my Dad and all my clothes were blue until the day I arrived. They both got the shock of theirs lives and even the doctor was surprised at how wrong they were with the ultrasound.
   Dad didn't want to change my name because he had been saying it for the last four months of mums pregnancy and apparently constantly speaking to me calling me Ryan. He loved his brother, even at a young age and to have a child named after my uncle made him incredibly happy. Even when I turned out to be a girl.

"Well I like it, it's unique," Mrs Greyson smiles while lifting my chin up, "pretty name for a pretty girl," she says to me, poking my nose, gently. She smiles a soft smile at me which I return and then she points her finger behind us. "Come through this way," she says pulling us into the room on the right. "Dinner won't be long."

Their house was identical to ours - the downstairs at least, but everything was dark vintage wood, not light wood like in our home. When we pile into the dining room I see a table with eight matching chairs only, there's one stool. I wonder if there was a Mr Greyson? I haven't seen anyone apart from Noah and Mrs Greyson around the house, maybe a housekeeper or two, but I didn't dare ask.
   The plates and glasses were already set with two bottles of wine and then a third when ours is added. The walls are painted a light beige with family photos all around the room. A door on the left swings open and Noah comes in with a basket full of bread rolls. Mrs Greyson smiles, pulling on Tori's arm as she approaches him.

"Sweetie this is Victoria, the Blake's eldest daughter. This is Noah, my eldest," she says proudly.

"Hi," Noah says, with a grin and a sparkle in his eye.

"Hi," Tori says.

"Hi." Noah says again breathlessly.

"Hi."

"Hi," he says and the rest of us just stare at them, all with a smirk - except Jackson and I who just look on confused.

"Say hi again why don't you, 'cause I don't think you heard each other the first five times," I say under my breath, a little more loudly then I intended. I cover my mouth, eyes wide and I feel Tori's eyes on me as she glares in my direction. If only looks could kill, I would be a goner. Nathan starts to belly laugh while I hear a scoff and see a smirk from Nicholas, looking at me he winks and I blush furiously from embarrassment.

"Me and my stupid big mouth!" I think, screaming internally.

"Well..." Mrs Greyson clears her throat and straightening out her clothes, "please sit. Noah," she smiles at him softly, "serve dinner when your ready," he nods, smiling stupidly at Tori before disappearing back through the door he came through.

Mum takes the seat at the head of the table while Dad sits next to her, Jacskon always sits with dad and Tori takes her seat next to him. When Nicolas sits on a chair besides my Mum I go to sit next to Tori, but I'm pulled into a chair by Nathan and I'm sat between him and Nicholas.

"We can leave the uncomfortable stool to Noah and see what other embarrassing interactions happen between him and your sister. Wanna help me count?" Nathan whispers sitting down and I manage a small, shy smile at him.

Over the course of the meal Noah and Tori seemed to hit it off almost instantly. I wondered if she would let herself go and eventually date him - they seemed to really like each other. It would be nice to finally see her happy again after Jack. She deserves all the happiness in world after what she's been through in her short life.
   Mrs Greyson and my parents talked most of the night with each other while in true Jackson form he had his head stuck in a book. It's some medieval fantasy novel that he hadn't put down since we arrived off the plane - only he was now on book two, apparently it's just as good as the first. Don't get me wrong, I love reading just as much as him, only I'm not rude enough to read at the table while eating dinner.
   I on the other hand was stuck between the youngest Greyson boys and most of my time has been spent talking to them. I've learned that Nathan is five years older than me and just finished high school, he's starting college in the autumn while Nicholas is a year older than him, about to start his second year of college. Both of them are learning business studies and honestly I found the business talk a little boring, but Nathan has taken the hint, keeping their business school talk to a minimal. Nicholas hasn't said much since we've sat down, but he is carefully listening to everything Nathan and I have talked about whenever I'm asked a question.
   That was the thing with me, I answered questions, but I never asked any back. I was too shy to ask anything. I'm always afraid that people would think I'm being too nosey or too personal. Plus, I just hated talking to people I just met, I needed time to get comfortable and open up a bit. But Nathan made me feel comfortable and I was happy to answer any questions he asked me.

"You looking forward to school?"

"Huh?"

"School? You looking forward to starting?" Nathan asks.

"I am!" Jackson said peering over his book.

"Course you are nerd, you love school!" I scold at Jackson. He sits up, back straight and beams a proud smile at my statement.

I like school, but only certain subjects. Where as Jackson just loved school in general and used to hate it when it finished at the end of the day. He even asked a teacher once if the school could open on the weekends as well as during the week, she thought he was joking, but that boy was deadly serious.

"Not a fan of it I take it?" Nathan smirks.

"Not really. If I was still in England I'd be finished in two years, yet I get four years added to my sentence," I say looking down.

"Great huh!" Jackson smiled.

"Urgh," I wrinkle my nose, "just don't get why I need to learn all those stupid things, like when am I gonna use algebra in the real world?" I moan.

"Sounds like you Nic," Nathan says to his brother.

"Yeah..." he chuckles lowly. "I hated school when I was your age, but then you realise it was the best years of your life and soon you'll want to go back," Nicholas says speaking for the first time since we sat down to eat. I make eye contact with him for the first time since that embarrassing interaction between our older siblings and I notice there is a softness to them - not hard and scary like they were before.

"Guess I'll find out when I'm older then," I say picking at my food, not because it doesn't taste nice, I just don't want to start all over again at a new school in my teens. I hear a snicker from the brothers and look down with embarrassment for the umpteenth time tonight.

"Do you have a favourite subject?" Nathan asks.

"English but, I love music the most."

"Oh yeah? Do you play anything?"

"Guitar and I... I sing a little," I answer Nathan's question shyly.

"Oh yeah? You any good?" He asks but I just shrug my right shoulder at him, not really knowing what to say. "Would like to hear it sometime," he says and when I look over at Nathan, he smiles softly at me.

"Ryan doesn't sing in front of people, not even us. She only sings in the shower," Jackson says taking a bite of food, "she's ssshhhhhy," he says to Nathan and Nicholas, teasing me as his head bobs from side to side, mocking me.

"Freak! You listen to me in the shower?"

"Only cause you sing really loud when you think no one is listening!" He rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to his book. "You know the walls back home were like, paper thin aunty Ryan," he teases again. I give him a death glare, hoping to hurt him with just my eyes through his book, but it doesn't work.

"Damn I wish I had superpowers, like Cyclops in X-Men," I think.

"I mean, you shouldn't hide it, you're really good at it," he says, shrugging his shoulder, taking a bite of his food.

"I get it," Nicholas whispers, leaning into my shoulder. When I turn to look at him he has a soft smile across his face which makes him look kind, he winks at me and then turns his attention back to his plate, twirling his pasta around his fork.

"Nic has played the piano since his was a kid, but we never heard him play till last year."

"Last year?"

"Yeah," he scoffs with a smile. "Finally plucked up the courage to play at Christmas, but the sneaky bit of whisky possibly helped some," he smirks.

"Maybe I should try whiskey?" I say with a glint in my eye.

"Not till your twenty one kid," Nicolas chuckles.

"Another added three year sentence," I huff, knowing that the legal age to drink in the USA it's 21yrs. "At least back home I could drink when I turned eighteen," I say rolling my eyes and I hear Nicholas laugh a little.

"Do you like it here?" Nathan asks after there is a silence between us and I'm thankful that he can carry a conversation. "I know it must be hard moving away from somewhere you've known all your life."

"It's weird here."

"How so?"

"Like... uhmmmmmm," I try to think of an example, anything to explain why America is weird to me and why I knew it was going to take some getting use to. I think really hard, coming up empty, until it hit's me,"Oh! Okay... what do you call pringles?"

"Pringles," Nicholas shrugs.

"No, no, no. Like what are they?"

"Chips," Nathan shrugs, copying the actions his brother just made.

"No they're crisps," I huff in annoyance, rolling my eyes. We've only been here a few days and when we went to the supermarket, the blonde lady in the cereal aisle stared blankly at Jackson and I when were asked where the crisps were. Luckily enough, we've both seen enough American TV to correct our mistake.

"Huh?" He chuckles.

"Crisps are chips," I tell him in my English accent.

"So what do English people call chips?" Nicholas says leaning in with a smile.

"Chips are what you call fries, chips are crisps and fries are chips. It's just so weird here and we speak the same language," I tell them and they both chuckle.

"You're weird," Nicholas says. I stiffen at his first impression of me and slowly shrink back into my seat. Being called weird wasn't always a good thing and again I start to pick at my food, feeling disappointment in myself for being that weird, freak girl that lives next door.

"Great, just great. First interaction with new people and they already think I'm weird!" I think.

"So are you," Nathan chuckles.

"And so are you," Nicholas replies with a nod towards his brother.

"Guess all three of us can be weird together," Nathan smiles as he nudges me and I smile back at him.

"By the way," Nathan says looking down at me, "love the t-shirt, its actually one of my favourite movies," he smiles. I return his grin and look down at the 'Ghostbusters' t-shirt I'm wearing.

At my age some kids didn't know anything about the type of movies I loved because they were all so old. But they are classics. Dad always said that kids nowadays should know the classics like Ghostbusters, The Goonies, Back To The Future and The Breakfast Club being some of the few. Not to mention some of the horror movies like Jaws and Alien he allowed me to watch with him without Mum knowing. Watching movies was one of the things Dad and I loved to do together, even Jackson joined us a few times and it makes me smile that these two brothers know what my t-shirt means.

"I love eighties movies," I say.

"Looks like we have another weirdo for movie night Nic," Nathan says with a grin and Nicholas returns his.

▪️ ▪️ ▪️ ▪️ ▪️ ▪️ ▪️ ▪️

          BACK HOME after our dinner with the Greysons I felt happier that we had such nice neighbour's. Mrs Greyson was really nice and welcoming and she reminded me a lot of Dad's sister back home - Holly.
   Noah spoke most of the night with Tori, they seemed to get on really well and the obvious flirting entertained me and especially Nathan. We counted an extra eight times they said 'hi' when he came back into the room and they said 'bye' six times which saw me and Nathan counting on our fingers. I like Nathan a lot. He's fun and so easy to talk to, I was thankful the name terror didn't apply to him because he was so kind and warming to me.
   Nicholas on the other hand was very intimidating, he seemed like the kind of person that you would eventually warm to but, I don't think I would ever want to be alone with him. Not yet anyway, he's way too scary. I was worried about living here and mostly worried about the people we would be living next door to. Our neighbour's in London were loud, annoying and had unruly kids who was up at all hours of the night. There was always shouting and loud music playing but, meeting the Greysons made me have a good feeling about living here.

Maybe moving here would be a amazing adventure.

*word count -  3356*

💙💙💙💙💙
Well they ain't that bad... not really the terrors their mum said they were.

Have you ever had to move away, to a new school? House? Job?
Getting to know new people is so awkward & hard, I hate it. 😂

Tell me what you think about our Greyson men...
Leave me a comment & don't forget to vote.
CeeCee xoxo
💙💙💙💙💙