The sounds of birds chirping, kids playing down the street, and random cars passing by every few minutes or so could be heard as I continued to lie, lazily sprawled out along the two-seater swing on my front porch, rocking slightly back and forth. The time was around four o'clock in the afternoon and I was waiting for Kara and Lisa and the guys to come over to watch a movie until my parents got home. We usually did this every day after school. Being that I was the only child and my parents were usually never home, I was never good at keeping myself busy and so I got bored easily. I heard the sound of a car door slamming shut and sat up, expecting to see Alex's car parked in my driveway. To my dismay, the driveway was still empty.

Getting to my feet, I leaned over the banister curiously to see who had interrupted my tranquil state. Across the street was Ms. Barone, better known as crazy cat lady, getting her mail. With a sigh, I glanced next door to Jane's house to see her and her mom climbing out of their car, grocery bags in hand. My impulsive nature getting the better of me, I hopped down the porch steps and jogged across the lawn, over to Jane's driveway.

"Hey neighbor," I greeted as the pair turned their attention towards me. Jane smiled at me with familiarity while her mom eyed me curiously. "I'm Brooke by the way," I smiled at Mrs. Roberts. "I live next door."

The confusion in her mother's eyes immediately melted into joy, as she dropped her grocery bags to the ground and pulled me into a hug. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jane's face pale with horror.

"Oh my, it's so nice to meet you! Please, call me Mary! Are you one of Jane's friends? That's so nice, you're such a beauty! I was worried about Jane; she's quite shy and all, so I was worried about her making—"

"Uh, okay mom that's enough. Uh…you have ice cream in your grocery bags; you should really go refrigerate that…" Jane's face was tinted red, and she was shuffling around awkwardly. Mrs. Roberts finally pulled away and quickly picked up her bags.

"Right, wouldn't want that to melt! Brooke dear, you're always welcome to stop by! Please, I ins—"

"MOM!" Jane turned to her mom, who grinned in response, waved goodbye to me, and disappeared into the garage. I turned back to Jane, whose cheeks were still stained red and I couldn't help but laugh softly. Her and her mom seemed like they were pretty close. I only wished that I had a relationship like that with my parents. "Sorry about that," she laughed nervously.

"It's fine," I waved it off. "Hey, do you need help with those?" I asked, noticing all the bags in her arms that looked like they were ready to burst open.

"Yeah, thanks," she replied as I took some of them from her. The two of us walked through the garage and into the house.

***
"You're kidding!" I exploded with laughter, nearly choking on my vanilla chocolate chip ice cream. The three of us were all in the kitchen, sitting around the island eating our sundaes as Mary continued telling us the story of when Mr. Roberts first tried to ask her out.

"Yes, I was walking down the hallway with my best girlfriend and out of nowhere I hear my name being called out and when I turned around there he was nearly sprinting down to get to me," Mary went on. "Now, keep in mind he wasn't the most graceful guy and he tripped over his own feet and fell face first into the janitor's garbage can!"

The three of us erupted into hysterical laughter once again causing me too nearly fall off my stool. As I took another spoonful of ice cream, I suddenly felt my phone vibrating in my front jean pocket. I pulled it out and looked at the screen where the caller id revealed that it was Alex calling me. I quickly excused myself and stepped out into the living room.

"Yellow?" I answered still laughing.

"Where the fuck are you, woman?" Alex's voice boomed in my ear.

"Oh hey Alex," I said, slowly coming down from my sugar high, "how are you my dear?"

"Hungry," he answered. "We're all here and you're not…and there's no food…"

"What is this fuckery?" I could hear Jack shout in the background.

I rolled my eyes as a small grin spread across my face. "You guys are so needy. I swear sometimes I feel like I'm taking care of a bunch of helpless babies."

"Hey, I resent that! I am a man!" Alex argued, his voice cracking at the end, causing me to burst into giggles.

"Oh yeah?" I laughed. "You're just so manly, I can't even stand it!"

"Well, keep your pants on and get your ass over here!" he ordered.

"Yeah, yeah I'll be there in a minute, and by the way, I'm bringing a friend over—"

"You have friends?" he cut me off.

"Yeah, shocking right?"

"Does this 'friend' have a penis?" he teased.

"Bet you'd like that wouldn't you?" I teased back.

I guessed that he had put me on speaker because without missing a beat Jack came back with, "Excuse me, but the only dick Alex wants is mine!"

Shaking my head, I switched the phone to my other ear and tried to hold back my smile even though I knew they couldn't see anyway. "Just be somewhat clothed and don't trash my house and we’ll be there in a minute," I said before hanging up and sliding my phone back into my pocket. I walked back into the kitchen where Jane and her mom were still sitting, eating their ice cream.

"Everything alright?" Mary asked, looking up as I walked in.

"Oh yeah, my friends kind of broke into my house," I said casually and turned to Jane. "You want to come over?"

"Yes she would love to!" Mary jumped in before Jane could even process an answer. She narrowed her eyes at her mom and then turned back to me.

"Sure."

***
"Well it's about time you got here!" Rian called out as Jane and I padded down the stairs, entering my basement.

"You started the movie without us?" I gasped, watching as Home Alone played on the television screen. "Thanks assholes."

"We tried to make them wait, but we were overruled," Kara said from her seat on the couch. She was snuggled up to Rian, her head on his chest and his arms wrapped around her.

"Whatever," I sighed and turned back to Jane. "Guys, this is Jane, she just moved in next door." Everyone turned their attention away from the screen and looked up at the short brunette. "Jane, this is Kara, Lisa, Alex, Rian, and that's Zack. He goes to Towson." I scanned the room with my eyes, knowing there was someone missing. "Hey, where's J—?"

Just as I said it, like he was on cue, Jack came in, pounding down the stairs, nearly knocking Jane and me over.