"this is sam"

Biting my lip was the best reassurance I could give myself in this situation. Mother stood next to me, holding a tray of warm freshly-made cookies. In front of us was an unfamiliar mahogany door with a golden doorknob. The numbers 68 painted in gold in the middle near the top of the door.

"Smile, Iris, we don't want your sad frown to scare away the new neighbours." My mother scolded and I forcefully twitched my lips upwards, but not revealing my teeth.

Cooper had been right, Taylor's brother's best friend and his family had arrived two days after that conversation with May. I hadn't seen them yet and I was about to now with my mother. Father would've have been the third person here but he was in Paris now. He left a week ago and would be coming back in another week. He tried to make these not an often occurrence but his father, which would be my grandfather needed him in the central building.

"Mum, what do I say?" I whispered urgently, clutching on to the hem of my grey hoodie.

She sighed. "You don't have to say anything. Just smile and try to be friendly."

I nodded and focused on my new black vans.

A few seconds later, the door swung open to reveal a tall slender woman in her late forties. Her hair was pulled back in a loose bun which was kept stable by a large hair clip, but a few strands had escaped but framed her warm face nicely.

"Good morning!" The woman smiled, baring her polished white teeth.

"Good morning, Mrs Drakos. My name is Charlotte Martin, we're your neighbours," my mother introduced herself, so fluently and confidently that I had to question myself if I was really my mother's daughter. I probably got more of my dad's genes. "This is my daughter, Iris."

I looked up from my shoes to greet the woman with a forced smile.

"Please call me Emma," Mrs Drakos said before turning and smiling at me. "She's very beautiful. How old are you sweetie? I think I've got a son around your age."

"Seventeen," I answered, surprisingly without stutters. "Eighteen soon."

"How wonderful! My son is the same age then, he'll likely be going to your school."

I nodded as that information was not really come as a shock since Cooper informed me about this weeks ago.

"Come on in, you can meet him and my other daughter."

I clamped my hands together and followed after my mother as we walked into the house. The house was very spacious but probably due to the lack of unpacked furniture which was left around scattered boxes. Mrs Drakos, or Emma, lead us to a large room with two large sofas, so I assumed it's the living room.

"Thank you so much for the warm welcome and the delicious cookies. I'll go call the other two and grab a few plates for the cookies too," Emma informed, giving us a bright smile and warm wave before leaving.

"See." Mother shot me a knowing look, "It wasn't that bad. You didn't stutter either."

I bit my lip which likely already had six other teeth marks from the last three minutes. "I still have to meet her son! And her two daughters."

She furrowed her brows, "What two daughters? She only mentioned one."

"Cooper told me before."

Mother shook her head. "That nosey boy. And to think he's getting married!"

"I know." I shook my head too, mimicking my mother but only with an extra genuine smile.

I was fine with meeting Emma, but to meet her daughters and sons was a no, especially since her son was my age. Hanging around Carson, Jett and May have boosted my self-confidence only a notch which can't really help when I'm meeting someone, who is also a teenage boy.

I heard soft voices gradually increasing in sound due to the fact that they were coming closer. I didn't dare look behind me and waited silently, pulling my knees harder together and squeezing the life out of my hands.

"Charlotte Martin and her daughter, Iris, are our new neighbours and we're kind enough to give us a happy greeting," Emma introduced and then she pointed towards a tall boy who stood nearly two heads over her. "This is Sam."

"He's tall and handsome," Mother whispered through a clenched smile and I bit my lip harder.

Then I focused my attention on to a young girl who was hugging Emma's leg and hiding behind it.

"And that's Suri," Emma concluded, gently guiding the young girl forwards.

Mother stood up and went to shake hands and greet the new strangers while I stood up, only standing behind her, similar to what Suri had done.

I wrung my sweaty hands together while I snuck a glance at Sam. It took my eyes a while to actually reach his head due to his towering 6'3 height; I think Carson was the same height. The first feature that I saw was his matted locks curled slightly and barely covered his forehead because it was cut short and matched the colours of rich dark chocolate. Carson's hair was a lighter colour I think, perhaps more of a bronze shade with delicate honey strands and seemed softer.

My eyes trailed downwards to his thick and perfectly arched brows which curved over his magnificent brown eyes. They were the colour of sour coffee and sweet caramel with milk swirls and specks dancing around effortlessly. Carson's eyes were more like melted chocolate, something that can be both sweet and bitter with many flavours in between. His lips were a blossom pink and were held up in a cheerful smile which showed his straight and undeniable white teeth, similar to Carson but he smirked less. He wore a pale blue collared shirt which had the 'polo' symbol stitched in the top right and loose dark washed jeans, almost covering his navy blue converse.

My eyes followed a straight path up to his face again to see his chocolate eyes gazing back at me and I realised I had been staring for an extremely long time.

I also realised that I had been shamefully comparing Sam to Carson. I mentally groaned as my cheeks bloomed a new colour of red. All the evidence was there and only I was a detective who chose to ignore all the signs in front and come up with a lie for a theory. My mind knew that I liked Carson but I would never admit it. May was right; she had listed out all the 'symptoms' and I had all of them and now my blushing and stuttering were coming back.

I immediately moved my eyes in another direction and landed on Suri. She looked like an exact version of her older brother, only younger, girlier and innocent. But the most prominent feature were her blue eyes. Blue is known to be the coldest colour and yet this young girl's eyes were covered not in a layer of icy snow but warmth and happiness. Like little snowflakes, small specks fell in the corner and slight middle. Her hair was the same, but it grew down to her shoulders and she had a small fringe that covered her left eye. She had the same arched brows, but thinner and the same tall nose.

The only difference was that she barely made it past her brother's knees, which left me a twinge of happiness to find that someone else was as short as I was, but I had to factor in that her brother was inhumanely tall. Suri wore a white dress with green polka dots dispersed all over and a thick silk ribbon was tied into a bow at the front, just a few centimetres above her tiny waist and on her small feet were white ballet flats that she twiddled with endlessly. I smiled back at her when I saw her wide glowing eyes examining me as well.

I was an introvert so I stood there awkwardly while my mother chatted with Sam. I was too busy thinking about my love troubles to hear what they were saying until someone calling my name jolted me awake.

"Iris!"

My head turned so swiftly I thought my neck was going to snap. I then realised everyone's eyes were now on me, so I answered quietly, "Y-Yes?"

My mother smiled the brightest smile I'd ever seen, "This is Sam, he'll be attending your school next semester. I suggested that you guys walk to school together and you can take Suri along too. Suri's school just another minute's walk past your school."

I just nodded but I was panicking inside. I have to talk to Sam and Suri every day? My mother's question or more like statement reminded me of the time Carson offered to drive me to school. It was quite a while ago, perhaps a month. But I denied the offer, saying that I needed my daily exercise (even though it was a two-minute walk) and if I were to get out of Carson's car, everyone would stare and suspect things.

"I know you only just met but is it all right if you go help Sam sort out his books?" Emma asked, placing a hand on her son's shoulder.

I nodded slowly, biting my lip, shooting my mother a glance.

I thought this was just a quick welcome. I had plans, believe it or not. I didn't know that when you had friends, you actually saw them very often. We planned to meet at the ice cream parlour in half an hour and if this Sam is unorganised then I'll be here forever.

Mother seemed to understand what my glance had meant and she smiled at Emma, probably to apologise and say I couldn't help but she shocked me by doing the complete opposite. "After you help him, he can tag along with your friends too? You said you were meeting up with them soon, hmm? He doesn't have to wait until school starts to make friends, I'm sure May will be happy to direct him to a few nice boys. How about that?"

I bit on my lip harder, to a point where I would burst a blood vessel and my lip would bleed. I couldn't argue because that would be completely rude and impolite so I just nodded, my only solution was to message May and tell her that we had an extra person.

I mean, there's no harm in bringing an extra right?

a/n: vote and comment x