Jeff was the first one to enter their new house.
He was excited to start a new Life, despite how difficult it was going to be to leave his very small friends group behind.
He wasn't going to miss the bullies, that was for sure, and he truly hoped that his new school had a decent policy about bullies and other kind of discriminations.
He was 14, and he was stupidly hopeful, after all.
Him and his brother Liu, who was 15, both ran upstairs, excited to finally have separate bedrooms.
They had a very deep bond, and everyone knew in their hometown that where there was one of them, there was going to be the other too. Despite that, they were happy to finally have more privacy and more room for their things and hobbies, especially Liu, who loved doing big Lego constructions that used to occupy both his and Jeff's desks, pissing the younger off more than once.
Jeff choose the bedroom with a big glass wall. Enormous red curtains were on both side of the glass wall, and the sun was settling down, gifting the bedroom with the last bit of light it could give.
There was an big bed, with a naked mattress his dad had put up before the party, some shelves, and a dark wooden floor that perfectly balanced the white walls of the bedroom.
Jeff laid down on the bed after putting on it all the blankets and pillows it needed, and closed his eyes.
He was tired, moving wasn't an easy thing to do, even if him and Liu had stayed to their paternal grandparents while their parents moved their things in the new home. Everything was still in their boxes, and the kids were more than eager to take everything out.
"A job for tomorrow me, tho" the boy thought.
Suddenly, a weight fell upon him.
«Wha- Liu! Get off of me, you jerk!» Jeffrey grumbled, but he couldn't stop himself from starting a tickling fight with his brother, like they used to do when they were little kids.
«No- that's unfair- Jeff, I'm warning you, stop or else-» Liu shouted between a laughing fit and another.
«Or what?» Jeff laughed, now on top of his brother, tickling him mercilessly.
«Jeff, Liu, come down here, boys!» Margaret called.
The two kept poking at each other's sides while going downstairs. Jeff's long black hair was a mess, Liu's brow hair was short and messy too.
Jeff shouted a laugh when Liu blocked him against the wall to be able to tickle him properly before running off, reaching Margaret.
She looked at her sons, blue eyes stern: «Oh, babies, aren't you two too old to play like this?»
Her gaze softened when she returned to look at the woman at the front door.
She was always like that.
Always scolding them for acting like the kids they were, always looking like a saint in front of the public eye.
The title of "perfect family" had been earned like that, after all.
«This is Barbara» Margaret said, introducing her sons to the woman. «She's out neighbor. Barbara, those are Liu and Jeff. My husband isn't here right now, but you'll meet him when we'll drop the kids off at the birthday party, don't worry!»
«What birthday party?» Jeff asked.
«See this little one?» Barbara said, pointing at a child hiding behind her chubby body, hands gripping her floreal dress. «He's my son Billy, and in a week I'll throw him a birthday party. You two are invited, it'll be the perfect occasion to meet the other kids of the neighborhood!»
«That's such a lovely idea, Barbara, thank you so much!» Margaret smiled, adjusting her brown hair in a high chignon.
Jeff's blue eyes met Liu's green ones.
"Oh, please, no" the both of them thought.
Peter Woods came home just a few minutes after Barbara and Billy had returned to their own home, and after a while the whole family sat at the dinner table, praying before eating the take-away Chinese food Peter bought home, since their fridge was pretty empty.
When Margaret informed Peter about the birthday party, Liu spoke up in the behalf of both himself and Jeff: «Can we not go to that party, please?»
«Yeah, we're not- what, 7? We're too old to play with toys and stuff like that.»
«You acted like toddlers right before meeting Barbara» Margaret said. «You're going.»
«Dad? Please? Can we not go?» Jeff asked.
Peter, with his green eyes fixated on his food, scratched his black hair with a hand before answering: «You're going, and you need to make a good first impression.»
The two boys huffed, knowing full well that they weren't going to win this over.
Good first impression were too important for their parents, and they never had a say on that. They could only act as the perfect kids of a perfect family, and hope that the party wasn't going to be too boring.
A few days later, Jeff stretched his arms, still hiding in the comfort of his blankets.
The house was quiet, the birds were chirping outside of his window... and Liu opened the door, looking as tired as him, and took the blankets away.
«Why. Liu, tell me why» Jeff muttered. He wasn't a morning person and he was often in a bad mood before eating breakfast.
Liu gave him the finger and silently went downstairs.
Jeff rolled his eyes, and got up.
He wore his favorite outfit: an old white hoodie, black converse and black jeans. He was going to go to his and Liu's first day at their new school, and he wanted the comfort of some beloved clothes, since his shyness could lead to social anxiety, if he felt over stimulated.
But of course, his parents couldn't let him have that.
«Jeff, go take that hoodie off, wear the white flannel instead» Margaret said.
«But- but mom! It's just school!»
«Good impressions matter, son. Don't you agree, Peter?» Dad muttered an agreement, eyes on the TV. He never really talked with his wife, important things aside, after all. «See? Dad agrees too. Go change, honey.»
He did so, his mood worsening my the moment.
He sat at the table beside his brother, and they started eating breakfast... until mom commented on how much weight he was going to gain for eating that much.
He rolled his eyes, and he sighed.
The perfect kid eats just what he needs to survive, and in the Woods's house eating was just something you did to keep living.
The Woods brothers finally got out of the house, and they went to the bus stop at least 30 minutes in advance.
«I think Jane would like you, especially dressed like a church baby boy» Liu joked, trying to lighten up Jeff's mood while they sat down on the sidewalk.
«She's one of our neighbors. She should be your age, or maybe mine, I don't know» Liu answered. «Oh, here she is!» he said, pointing at a girl looking at them from her bedroom's window. Liu and the girls exchanged a wave of their hands.
The brothers' conversation was interrupted by a skateboard almost hitting Liu on the head, and the laughters of three other boys.
«Oh, hey, guys, sorry for that!» the skater said.
Liu recognized the boy, and also the two sidekicks he had by his sides, and all three of them were wearing clothes with a mimetic fantasy and were on a skateboard.
The boy who spoke was Randy, he had dark brown hair, strong features, a slightly crooked nose, and his eyes hid behind sunglasses. On his left there was Keith, the shorter of them, with blue eyes and red hair. The last one was Troy, brown hair and eyes, a little bit on the plus size.
The last two were the kids of Randy's dad's closest coworkers, and Randy's dad was the richest motherfucker in town, so the boys always felt superior to anyone, and it didn't matter how bad the troubles those three 16 years old got into were, their dads were always going to save their ass.
Pride was thick in Randy's voice: «You must be Jeff and Liu, nice to meet you» Randy said, without even caring about introducing his sidekicks. «Since you're new here, I just wanted to introduce myself.»
[chapter II - The Cruelty]
