“Nintendo 3DS, but it died. I need to charge it.”
His eyes widened. “You got a 3DS?”
“Yeah.”
“I have one too.”
“What games do you have?” I asked.
“Tekken PrimeandMario Kart.”
“I have those too.”
He finally smiled a little. “You good at them?”
“Yeah.”
“Keaton!” A lady’s voice came from inside his house, muffled through the door, yet sharp enough to make me stop talking.
His whole body froze, and his smile disappeared quickly. He answered her without turning. “Yeah?”
“Inside,” the voice snapped back. “Now!”
He swallowed. “I gotta go.”
“Oh. Okay.”
He backed up toward his front door. “I’ll be outside later.”
“Cool.”
He hesitated for a second, then went inside. The door slammed shut, and I stood there, staring at it before I turned back toward my new home.
Mom leaned in the doorway of the house as I walked to go inside. “What’s his name?”
“Keaton.”
“Maybe you two will become best friends?”
I scoffed. “Doubt it.”
“Why—”
A big, white moving truck turned the corner and crawled toward our driveway. It stopped in front of our house, and two guys climbed out. One had a clipboard tucked under his arm; the other went to the back to open it.
Clipboard Guy walked up to Dad. “Any special instructions before we unload?”
“No. Just waiting on my kid to pick his room,” Dad said.
“I’m going.” I jogged inside, down the hallway, and stopped in front of the first door I came to. The room looked a lot like the one I had in Texas, about the same size and the same plain walls, so I stepped inside to check it out. Through the side window, I could see the house next door and straight into a room. A poster on the wall showed a bunch of dark-haired guys in black clothes and red letters across the top that I couldn’t read. A second later, Keaton walked in, and I turned away fast before he could see me and kept going to the last bedroom. It was slightly larger and had a window facing the backyard and the pool.
I stood in the doorway, arguing with myself.
A room facing the backyard meant no one could see me.
The other room meant Keaton was right there and could see inside if my blinds were open.
I didn’t want to admit I liked the first room more just because Keaton was right there, especially since I’d only known him for like five minutes.
