Me,Myself and Life...Oh! And the Boy across the Road

I headed out of the front door and down the length of my drive, all the while not lifting my head to see whether the point of my journey was still outside or even if he had noticed me.

I couldn't put it off any longer. Three quarters of the way down my drive I looked up and saw him. He was stood there, at the back of the big white van, looking at me. As I looked up he shot me a sheepish smile and looked away swiftly. I did the same, turned out of my drive and carried on down the street.

Wow! He's definately saw me now. And thank god this time, I didn't look a mess.

I trundled up the road, swinging the pint of milk I had bought at my side, waiting for the van to come into view. Right, I had to do it. I had to talk to him, or at least talk to someone he was with.

All too soon I was level with the van. He was no where to be seen. Instead a women in her mid-forties, very slim and stylish with brown, styled hair was there. She was instructing the removal men on where to put a big, red leather settee.

"Yeah, yeah that's the room. Just put it wherever you can find space, we'll move it later on". I was suprised by her voice. From the objects I had seen being carried out of the van, and the area in which they were moving into and her appearance, I had thought her to be an extremely snobby and arrogant women. I lived in a very wealthy neighbourhood, and most of the people here were snobs. This women, however, subverted the stereotype.

"Erm..Hi". I stammered out, unluckily my raspy voice had come back. I cleared my throat and my eyes watered from the pain. This damn medication! It was meant to anesthetise the pain and clear up the infection! It had done neither so far.

The woman whipped round quickly. "Are you okay?".

I cleared my throat again. "Ahem...Yep, sorry about that. I'm just recovering from a throat infection", thankfully my voice was sounding more 'normal' with every word. "I'm Anna Coleman by the way. I live in the house opposite yours. I just thought I'd introduce myself...seeing as we'll be neighbours". She stood there and gave me a friendly smile, but didn't say anything. Now what do I do? Quick! Quick! Think! Just say something!"Ermm...do you need any milk?" I held up the carton. Oh no I didn't! I cannot believe I just asked that! Out of everything I could have said, I asked if she wanted any milk.

All was silent for a moment, and then the woman erupted into giggles. "I'm sorry love", she managed to gasp out between giggles. "I don't mean to be rude". Quite frankly, I thought she was acting quite the opposite and was glad she reacted like this. It broke the ice anyway. I laughed a little bit to myself too. Once she had recovered, she smiled at me. "I'm sorry about that. You tickled me there, you did. Thankyou for the milk, that's very thoughtful. And we could do with some, I should think my removal men are gasping for a coffee. I'm Valerie Miller, but just call me Val. Now, do you fancy coming inside for a cup of coffee with the milk you've bought? You can meet my son aswell. I think he's up in his room unpacking, or in his case, probably taking a nap". She laughed again to herself, and turned and walked off across the road. I obviously was obliged to follow. It wasn't a question she'd asked me, it was more like an order, but a friendly one.

I followed her across the road and down her drive. All the while she was chatting away and asking the odd question. "Yes, it does seem very nice around here. Very quiet, I must say. So, how old are you"?

"Yeah, it's okay. Full of snobs though. I'm 16"

"Oh you look much older than that! I was thinking at least 18! My gosh! Max, my son, he's 17. He does look a lot older than that aswell though".

"Haha. Well looking older does work to my advantage in some ways, but doesn't in others". We manoeuvred our way around the piles of boxes in the hallway and finally reached the kitchen. Their house was set out exactly the same as ours. Large hallway which led onto an extremely large kitchen, a living room, a dining room, a small bathroom and an extra room which we used as my younger sister, Libby's, playroom. There was a pair of french doors in the dining room which led into the massive garden and a single door in the kitchen which led into the conservatory. If you ventured upstairs you would find a study, a walk-in airing cupboard and four double sized bedrooms, each with an en-suite bathroom.

Mrs Miller, or Val, made us both a cup of coffee aswell as one each for the four removal men. She was correct, they were extremely thankful for the extra dose of caffeine.

We sat chatting for about five minutes when I heard movement in the hallway upstairs. This is the moment I had been dreading, purely because he had seen me at my worst. "Yep. Thought it wouldn't take him long. Probably smelt the coffee. He'll be down in a minute". And guess what? She was right. Not even two minuted later, there were footsteps descending the stairs.

"MUM! I hate this! All of this mess! I can't find a bloody thing in my room! This is total b****cks!". He stormed into the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge, all along ranting away, not even noticing I was there. "Ah great! Milk is all we have to drink!". He grabbed the carton out of the fridge and turned around, immediately freezing with the carton half way up to his mouth.

"Max. We have company. So I would be greatful if you would cease with the bad language and moaning immediately!" She sounded quite stern.

"Sorry mum". He placed the carton back into the fridge and made his way over to me, holding out his hand. "Hi, I'm Max Miller. Welcome to my new home and welcome to my sh*t new life".

"MAX!"

He sighed. "Sorryyyy..."

I laughed a little bit, sounding nervous. "Erm...Hi. I'm Anna Coleman, I live across the road and I'm just recovering from a throat infection". I took his hand and shook it. I seriously was mesmerized. Max's voice was soft and smooth but also deep at the same time. His face was even more perfect close up and I was absolutely godsmacked by the sheer sight of Max Miller.

"Ahaha! You're the girl I saw earlier, yeah? You were ill? Is that why you looked so terrible? Phew! I thought I was gonna spend the rest of my years at home living opposite some troll thing!" His laugh sounded exquisite. I had to concentrate really hard on listening to what he was saying and to stop myself from gawking at him.

"Max! You can't talk like that! Remember your manners and respect!".

Max rolled his eyes behind his mother's back and I laughed.

I had a feeling that this day would be one of the most memorable days of my life.