“Damn it!” I let out a frustrated groan, falling back into the chair while I watched Jules’s character claim yet another victory.

“I thought you were good at this?”

I looked over at him, giving him a bitter expression while he wore a cocky grin.

You see, I am pretty good with my games, especially Mortal Kombat. But against Jules? I just got my ass handed to me. We had rematch after rematch and majority ended with him taking the win.

“I always won against Oscar,” I muttered as I sunk into the chair.

“Yeah, but I suck at these type of games. You know I suck,” Oscar replied, looking up from his comic book. “I don’t like competitive games.”

“Guess you aren’t as good as you thought,” Jules said. “We can have another rematch if you want, I might even let you win this time.”

“Wowww!” I scoffed at him. “I’d rather die trying my best than win with your pity.”

My phone suddenly buzzed, gaining my immediate attention. A text message from Dad flashed up on the screen, displaying my cue to leave.

- School night means early night, kiddo -

“That’s dad, I gotta go,” I got up from the chair, stretching my arms up into the air. “Better retreat anyway before more of my pride gets damaged.”

“You’re behaving tonight,” Oscar frowned. “It’s not even ten.”

“I got homework to do,” I shrugged. “Gotta make up for yesterday.”

“You actually care about that stuff?” Jules asked, almost sounding surprised.

“Oliver’s a closeted nerd,” Oscar said.

“Shut up, it’s not a secret,” I rolled my eyes at him. “I just like the work.”

“You actually like school work?” Jules questioned, seeming more surprised by the minute.

“What idea of me do you have?” I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Uh,” Jules paused. “A rebel?”

Oscar snorted. “A rebel with pretty pink hair, huh?”

“I guess I’m just…” I grinned at Oscar and Jules, giving them time to brace for impact. “A pretty, bad boy.”

“No, that pun was pretty bad,” Oscar replied with a blank expression.

“Come on, it was classic,” I chuckled, hearing Jules join in with me. “At least Jules has a good sense of humour.”

“I can’t believe you’re into shitty puns, Jules,” Oscar gasped. “Unbelievable.”

“You’re unbelievable,” I remarked.

“At least my jokes are funny, Oliver,” he retorted.

“Yeah but too bad your face is too!” I shot back.

“Whatever, Pinkie Pie,” Oscar shooed me off with his hands.

I shook my head at him, looking over at Jules who looked amused at our little banter. Surprisingly, with my lingering suspicions, I actually had fun with him tonight. Nothing better than the power of virtually beating the shit out of each other to help bring two people closer.

“You need a lift home, Jules?” I offered.

He looked at me with surprise. “Oh uh, yeah, actually. I’d appreciate that.”

“I see how it is,” Oscar frowned as I helped Jules get up. “Both of you are just gonna leave me behind.”

“Figured you needed some alone time with your hand tonight,” I smirked.

“Leave, Oliver!” he tossed his pillow at me, but I managed to block it.

“See, I knew you were frustrated!” I remarked, gaining another pillow toss as I left the room.

Once closing his door, darkness surrounded us. I pulled my phone out, flicking the flashlight on in order to see where the hell I was going. I looked over at Jules, putting my finger to my lips to silently tell him to stay quiet. He nodded in response.

Oscar’s parents were already in bed and if we woke them, Oscar would suffer the consequences, meaning I would have to put up with a pissed off Oscar. It’s a situation none of us needs to be in.

We quietly stepped downstairs, carefully wandering in the darkness, trying to find our way out.

Jules stuck close to me, carefully walking with me as we made our way through the house to the entrance. We quickly pulled our shoes back on, and then looked towards our next challenge; opening the door.

I slowly twisted the knob, causing a loud creak noise as I attempted to open the door.

I paused, holding my breath.

Silence.

I took a deep breath in, knowing what I had to do. I quickly pulled the door open, wincing at the creaking noise that echoed throughout the house. I grabbed Jules’s arm, dragging him outside with me, and then quickly pulled the door shut behind us.

“Whew,” I exhaled.

“You made more stressful than it had to be, you know that right?” Jules questioned.

“Don’t be foolish. That was a life or death situation,” I said. “We made it out though.”

I looked into the plant pot at the entrance, finding several stones with words written on them.

“What are you doing?” Jules asked.

“Looking for Faith,” I said, scanning pass the stones.

Hope, Love, Family, Trust - Faith. There it is.

“Faith?” Jules said, sounding puzzled.

I picked the ‘Faith’ stone up, turning it over to find the spare key magnetically stuck to it.

“It’s where they keep their spare key,” I explained. “We need to lock up the house behind us.”

I took the key and locked the front door, then put back on the stone and placed right where it belonged.

“Interesting. Are they not afraid someone will figure that out?” Jules wondered.

“Guess you just gotta have faith then, huh?” I grinned, walking past him.

I headed towards the Jeep, sitting perfectly illuminated under the streetlight.

“Did you just- You didn’t just-” he stammered. “Really? That was awful.”

“It was great,” I disagreed.

“Not at all original,” Jules caught up with me, shaking his head.

“Whatever you say,” I smiled, stopping next to the car door and pulling my keys out of my pocket.

“So how long have you and Oscar been friends for?” Jules asked.

“Hmm, I believe I got stuck with that nerd in… Year 5?” I replied, thinking back to when we first met. “Yeah, Year 5. We had this Spelling Bee Competition and I remember thinking I was fucked if I was battling against the Asian kid.”

“Did you lose?” he asked.

“No, I actually won,” I replied. “He came second.”

“And that triggered a friendship between you both?” Jules wondered.

“Well no, I got to know of him at the Spelling Bee and then, later on, I caught him sitting alone reading some comics,” I explained. “We ended up trading comics, then became best friends that did all this geeky crap together.”

“That’s cute, you guys seem pretty close,” he smiled.

“What about you, Jules?” I turned to face him. “You got any friends from your previous town?”

Jules tensed up, clenching his jaw and even looking away from me.

“I did…” he said quietly.

How dramatic.

“Okay, you can drop this ‘mysterious and brooding’ thing you got going on,” I frowned, rolling my eyes at him. “What happened? You kill a man?”

Jules furrowed his brows together. “Uh, no?”

“That’s exactly what a killer would say!” I said, crossing my arms. “Fess up or I’ll turn you in!”

“I didn’t kill anyone???”

“Uhhuh sure, like I’m gonna trust a killer.”

“You really think I could kill a man?”

“That’s the point, Jules,” I said, gaining an eyebrow raise from him. “I don’t know.”

“We just gamed for the last few hours and now you’re accusing me of murder?” Jules questioned.

“Exactly! That’s how you were so easily able to defeat me!”

He let out a laugh, shaking his head. “You’re insane.”

“If you’re not a killer then, what’s your secret?” I asked. “Witness Protection Program? Is that it?”

“H-How did you figure it out?” Jules looked taken aback. “Great! Now I gotta call my Agent and tell them that some kid figured it all out.”

He looked at me, rolling his eyes as he smirked. He nearly had me fooled.

“So I ruined your cover then?” I asked.

“Yep, now I gotta relocate,” he sighed. “Thanks.”

I stifled a laugh, rolling my eyes as a smile spread across my face.

“Okay, so if it’s not that, what is it?” I questioned. “Are you a vampire?”

“Is it that difficult to believe I just transferred here over something plain and boring?” Jules asked.

“Did you transfer here over something plain and boring?” I questioned.

He sighed, running his hand through his hair.

“I don’t mean to be so edgy or whatever,” Jules frowned. “But I just don’t want to talk about why I came here.”

He wore a painful expression, his brows furrowing together and his eyes filling with sadness.

I dropped my arms, letting out an exhale.

“You’re not a serial killer or on the run?” I asked.

“No,” Jules answered.

“Not a vampire, werewolf or other weird teen drama thing?”

“No,” he chuckled.

“Just a kid with some issues?”

“Pretty much,”

I sighed. “Fineee, I’ll leave it alone.”

“Thank you,” Jules replied.

“Can I at least know where you live?” I asked, opening the car door. “So I can take you home.”

He smiled at me and I felt stomach twist, causing me to immediately turn my attention to the inside of my car.

“14 Archer Street," he responded.

“Oh swee-”

I paused, realising what he just said. I looked over at him, visibly seeing the question mark near his head as I stared at him suspiciously.

“14 Archer Street?” I asked him.

“Yes?” he replied, unsure.

“The two-story with the sweet ass garden?” I further inquired.

“I think?” he replied with uncertainty.

Number 14 was a prestigious house, holding the title of the 'Prism Home Garden Award' three years in a row. The owners are a sweet couple and their youngest one is a cutie. Too bad their eldest is a venomous two-faced snake.

I took a deep breath, knowing I needed to ask him. He couldn’t be living there, no way in hell was it true. No way could this guy be living with... that.

“You sure?” I asked, bracing myself for what was to come. “That means you’re living with Abigale Towns then.”

“Yeah!” He replied straight away, with much more confidence and a bright smile.

Fuckkkkk no.

“Oh Jesus, I knew it,” I groaned. “I knew you were evil.”

I let out a heavy sigh, staring at him a serious expression, eyeing his every move. Just when I thought he could be trusted, he had to go and reveal this.

“Not harsh at all,” he replied.

“This is listed in the Top 10 anime betrayals, I want you to know that.” I frowned at him. “Why on Earth are you living with Abigale Towns?”

“Because she is my cousin.” He answered like that was obvious.

“Wha-wha- what?!” I sputtered, shocked beyond relief. “You’re RELATED to that Devil?!”

This was even more of a shocking discovery. Not only has there been a new guy that’s been here for three months without anyone knowing - there has been a new guy that’s been here for three months residing in Abigale Towns’s house without anyone knowing!

“Well, I wouldn’t call her a devil,” He shrugged. “What does it matter anyway?”

“She is not a nice person,” I frowned at him.

Jules frowned back, letting out a hefty sigh. “Yeah… I’m just kind of figuring that out.”

“So she is a bitch to you as well?” I asked.

“A mega bitch,” he grimaced. “She has her good moments though.”

I nodded, understanding him too well. Abby definitely had her moments, moments where she seemed like a nice and genuine person. It’s why Max keeps going back to her.

“Well, on the other hand,”

I looked at him, receiving a lost expression from him.

“I’m your next door neighbour.”