It was early April when I returned to the house I had spent my entire life in, up until the previous September. I had gone to college on the other side of the country and had been incredibly homesick for the small town I grew up in, a place I had hated until I had to leave. I missed my friends, my neighbours, my parents especially, and I was incredibly excited to see everyone when I got back home. Unfortunately, I was the first of my friends to finish my final exams at school, so I was back in town two weeks before most of my friends would be back. I didn't mind, though β I was okay with catching up with some of my neighbours, my parents, and just generally relaxing until they got back. Most of the neighbours acted as though I had never left in the first place β they just treated me the same way as always.
That is, except for Mr. Parkman, our next door neighbour. He had come over just after my dad and I had gotten home from the airport. I had brought my suitcase upstairs and was just changing into a fresh outfit when I heard him downstairs, talking to my dad just the way he used to. I grinned and finished changing quickly, eager to run downstairs and say hi. The Parkman's had moved in when I was a little kid, and I used to go over and stay at their house whenever my parents needed to go out. Mrs. Parkman was the kind of lady who loved to bake and do crafts, whereas Mr. Parkman liked to read and show me how to carve wood and things like that. I was a bit of a tomboy, and Mrs. Parkman was constantly after me to help her make cookies but I always seemed to find myself with Mr. Parkman in the den, trying to make little animals out of wood. Mrs. Parkman would come in and yell at him for letting me near sharp objects, but I never once cut myself, and even she had to admit I was very careful. I never understood why the Parkman's didn't have children. They would have made great parents.
So I was pretty excited to see the Parkman's after so long. I rushed down to the kitchen, where my parents and Mr. Parkman were standing around the counter, talking about the weather or something equally as pointless, quite obviously waiting for me.
"Oh, there you are, Haley," my mom said, interrupting my dad in the middle of his sentence. She grinned as he rolled his eyes.
"About time, it's been months..." Mr. Parkman said as he turned around. His expression changed as he looked at me, just for a moment, just long enough for me to notice before he covered it up. "Months and months!" He laughed, though it seemed slightly strained.
"It's nice to see you again, Mr. Parkman," I said, pretending not to notice the slight change in his demeanour. I was curious about it, but brushed it off as I stood with them in the kitchen, catching up and telling Mr. Parkman all about my first year at college.
"Sounds like you had a lot of fun," Mr. Parkman said. I nodded eagerly. "Now, for the serious question: how many boyfriends do you have?"
I giggled, blushing a bit. "None, actually," I answered.
Mr. Parkman raised his eyebrows, giving me a look that made me shiver. Neither of my parents noticed, as they were both looking at me, relieved with my answer. I met Mr. Parkman's eyes, silent for a moment, before he broke it and laughed. "No boyfriends? That's got to be impossible, a pretty girl like you!"
I laughed too, blushing, and wondering why I kept thinking Mr. Parkman was looking at me differently. Both times had been short moments, hardly long enough to even mention. I was starting to wonder if I had just imagined it β after all, I was pretty tired, and I hadn't seen Mr. Parkman in a long time. Maybe I was just over thinking things.
"No, no boyfriends," I finally said.
The conversation moved on, ending with my parents inviting the Parkman's over for dinner and drinks later, since Mrs. Parkman really wanted to see me but wasn't home that afternoon. We said good-bye to Mr. Parkman and I went back upstairs, intent on lying down for a little while β I had been travelling all day, and nothing exhausts me more than a long flight and two hour drive from the airport home.
I sat down on my bed when I got back into my room, undoing the buttons on my blouse β I was hoping to wear it again for dinner, and I knew that it would wrinkle if I wore it while lying down. I stood up to lay it on top of my desk chair and had turned back around to lie down when I looked out the window.
Now, there used to be a large tree outside my window, between our house and the Parkman's. For some reason, the tree had been cut down, and I could now see straight into Mr. Parkman's den. I froze for a moment, realised I was clad in only my lacy white bra, and moved quickly to the side of my window so I wasn't totally exposed.
Mr. Parkman was in the den, sitting in a big cozy chair that had been there since I was a kid. Whenever I went over, he would let me sit there, but I always knew that it was his favourite chair. I wasn't too sure what he was doing, but I suddenly had the thought that maybe Mr. Parkman had acted so strange in the kitchen because he realised he could see into my bedroom. The thought made me nervous, but also sent a little shiver of excitement through my body.