Chapter Text
❛ Take me back when our world
was one block wide ❜
- Mary's Song (Oh My My), Taylor Swift
If I tried my hardest to recall my first memory, it included Reese Wilkerson's big green eyes looking at mine with that faraway, starry gaze they always held.
Right before he punched me in the gut.
We were both only 3. It was the first time I had felt true pain, and also the time I threw my first ever punch—right to his face.
Ever since I could comprehend people and patterns, all I knew was the Wilkerson family and their chaotic way of life.
I had lived in the town of Star City, California for my entire life. My parents moved to a small but comfortable one-story house in a suburb there to settle down. After that, I was born as Tessa Smythe in 1986 on a chilly October night, and I hadn’t known another place since.
Although, I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like if the Wilkersons hadn't decided to move to house 12334, right next door to ours.
Even as a baby, I could hear the sounds of yelling and ruckus coming from the new neighbors, it was like my ears were tuned to the sound. They had a three year old son and a one year old baby boy at the time, and somehow, that little baby was even more destructive than his older brother.
Initially, my parents didn't want to get too close to the Wilkersons, always thought they were a bit too much for them—especially because of their crazy children. As all our surrounding neighbors moved out because of the new family, mine left it at common neighborly decencies. My father being a busy up-and-coming contractor didn't leave him much time to mingle. Although my mother and Lois Wilkerson did bond over having two kids the same age at one point, that was about it.
However, as soon as I could walk, they could not keep me away from the neighbors house. What can I say, it always sounded like fun over there!
Lois and Hal Wilkerson welcomed the little blonde girl they saw at their front door with open arms and I was almost immediately joining in on their two boys' shenanigans.
When Lois gave birth on her front yard to another boy, I didn't quite expect I could get along with someone so well. Malcolm was only a year younger than me, so when I became friends with the other two boys, he was only a newborn. But as soon as he learnt to sit up, we were practically inseparable. I had my first friends at about two years old, their names were Malcolm, Francis and Reese.
I spent next few years of my life constantly over at their house. Even with the constant commotion at their place, it felt more welcoming than the increasing tension and bickering between my parents.
I was even there when another member of the family joined, Dewey.
My parents got a divorce when I was just eight years old, and the Wilkerson household immediately became my home away from home—as close as our houses were. When my mother moved away and I was living alone with my busy father, Lois Wilkerson became my second mother. No matter how overbearing she was; no one showed as much care for me as she did.
I became sort of like that little cockroach who wouldn't go away, no matter how hard you tried to get rid of it. The boys and I had our numerous fights and arguments. I could have gone home so many times, but what would I have gone home to?
And no matter how dysfunctional their family was, they were the ones who stuck with me just like family should. They were my first and only friends, no matter the countless times we clashed or got in trouble together.
I remembered the day I tried to climb the tree in their front yard and fell off, breaking my arm; and how Reese and Malcolm helped me up to tell their mother to go to the hospital. The frightened look on their faces, and apprehension of their mothers reaction at the fact that they let me break my arm. The throbbing pain in my bones was not exactly soothed by them pulling me by that same arm or the frantic yelling around me. It was supposed to be an unpleasant memory, but somehow it wasn’t. The simple thought that they cared so much to do all that made it stick out to me as a nostalgic, happy one. I had many memories like that, muddled in my head with sounds of crying and images of some type of injury. Stuff like that happened all the time, and each time, I was never afraid.
I also remembered the day I walked to my first day of school along with Reese and didn't have to worry about who to sit with, because one of my best friends was right there with me. Or the countless times my father was busy with work and didn't have time to sit for breakfast or dinner, but I had the Wilkerson family to eat with every single day. An empty seat for me at their table for whenever I decided to join them. Or the days they invited me with them on their family vacations, had me over for Christmas, hosted my birthday parties... Yeah, they screamed, broke things, blamed me for most of it, but I kept coming back anyway.
I think it was safe enough to say that they were a big part of my life.
I had grown up a lot; I was turning 15 this October, to be exact, and not much had changed... asides from having approached womanhood. But that was fine too, because I had Lois to talk to about it.
I was also going to join high school later that year, but I wasn’t that nervous about it, because Reese was going to be alongside me just like he was on our first day of Kindergarten.
Now, it was a chilly March evening, and I had been sitting in my room—window open—journal splayed on my desk. I pushed myself off the table with a huff, and my rolling chair glided to the middle of the room. I looked at my guitar for a moment, considering practicing some new songs. But then, I looked out my window, over at the moonlit Wilkerson house. Did I mention that my room's window looked right into the boys' room? There used to be a fence there, but the boys broke it down a long time ago. Even my contractor father didn't bother fixing it, knowing that they would just break it down again. But it was convenient for me, 'cause just like I was doing now, I could immediately tell what they were up to just by taking a look. Their lights were off, hm. Considering the noises I could hear, they were probably all just hanging out in the living room.
I looked back and forth from my guitar and their house in debate. I picked the latter option, getting up from my chair and switching off the lights. I told my dad who was for once sitting in the living room and watching TV that I was going over to the Wilkerson's, and he just nodded to acknowledge me. This was standard routine for us, after all. He returned the 'bye' I gave him before I walked out the door, and into the Wilkersons.
I entered through the front door and walked to the living room. "Hey guys," I greeted, but as soon as I stepped foot into the room, I saw three of the boys fighting on the couch. Oh, well.
Dewey stopped for a second to acknowledge me, "Hey, Tess, you’re on my team," he said casually.
He handed me a pool noodle, and I immediately knew exactly what to do with it. We let out dramatic battle cries as we hit the two older boys with them.
"Boys!" Lois suddenly came out of the yard yelling, "Go to your room!"
Just another day.