Fletcher huffed as he placed the last box of his belongings on the floor of his new room. He was finally all moved in. Now all he had to do was get his school stuff together for tomorrow. He groaned at the thought.
Why did we have to leave it so late? He complained silently as he sat down on the floor and opened a box. The house was move in ready two weeks ago, but for some reason his parents had decided that they were going to stay in their old house right up until the last minute.
“There are so many memories here.” His mother had said, patting the banister of their old house fondly.“You and your sister were both born here, and you grew up here.”
Fletcher had corrected her, pointing out that they hadn’t been born in the house, but at the hospital nearby. As for growing up, that was why they were moving in the first place. That stupid city where they had lived before was full of people who hated Fletcher, and who had bullied him.
A shudder passed through Fletcher at the memory and he pushed it away. He was starting fresh here, and he wasn’t going to let the past ruin things. With a determined expression, he started to pull his clothes out of the boxes and sort them out on the floor around him.
He was just putting the last of his clothes away in the dresser when his bedroom door swung open. Holly stood in the doorway, holding a critter carrier. Fletcher instantly recognized it and hurried to take it from Holly.
“I thought he was going to stay in the living room until everything was settled.” He said, peering in at the little creature curled up comfortably inside.
“He tried to bite Dad.” Holly laughed, crossing the room to sit on Fletcher’s bed. “Mom told me to bring him up here, since you’re the only one he likes.”
Fletcher couldn’t keep from chuckling. “Okay.” He placed the critter carrier on a box and carefully opened it. Inside, Bambi, Fletcher’s dwarf hamster, lifted his head and sniffed the air. “Come on out.” Fletcher said, reaching a hand in.
Bambi sniffed his fingers before jumping into Fletcher’s palm and running up his arm. Fletcher laughed when little whiskers tickled his cheek.
“Here’s his ball.” Holly said, passing the sphere of transparent blue plastic to Fletcher. She had been rummaging through his boxes and had found all of Bambi’s things.
Fletcher took the ball from her, but then returned it to the box. “He’s just going to stay with me for a bit first.”
Bambi was like Fletcher’s best friend, other than his sister. Even though they had only come together a few months ago, they were already close, and Fletcher had even trained Bambi to do a couple of things. Just having Bambi with him brought a smile to Fletcher’s face.
“Just don’t bring him to dinner.” Holly warned, a smile coming to her face. “Mom ordered pizza. Vegetarian with extra cheese.”
Fletcher smiled as Holly left the room. He already felt comfortable in the new house. He moved some boxes out of the way while Bambi sniffed the air. It felt like anything could happen in the year to come.
As he passed the window, Fletcher looked outside. There was a window on the house next door that was directly across from his own. While he was looking, someone entered the room beyond the window. Fletcher recognized one of the boys Holly had been talking to.
The boy started to take off his shirt and Fletcher quickly ducked away from the window. As his face started to heat up, he hoped that he hadn’t been seen.
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