"Let me help you with that?" I heard Nick, my cousin ask after I got out of the car but pretended not to hear, after all, I do have my earphones, even if there was no music playing.

He carried two of the bags, he probably thought I didn't hear him. He was about my age, just a year older, eight months older actually.

I wasn't excited about coming here to stay with my aunt, not that I didn't like her or she wasn't a good aunt, she is amazing, I just don't like this overly happy and cheerful part of her, always smiling even when she had issues. I mean problems are meant to be problems! You can't just ignore them and be happy when you have a problem, you should cry!! or get angry but definitely not smile.

Whenever my mum has problems, she drinks. A lot of times, people would say awful things about her, just because she's addicted to drinking. It's not her fucking fault she's addicted to alcohol, life gave her too many problems and she decided to solve them her own way, which is alcohol.

That's why even though my her friends and our neighbours back home say it's her fault for drinking that I have to stay with my aunt from now on, I'm not mad, because it's not her fault. My mum has to go through state counseling for a year or more if she doesn't change.

"Julie!" Nick called me after unplugging my earphones from my ears."Been calling you, my mum says you should come in, so I can show you your room."

"Oh," I said and started to go Inside following him.

"Here, I put your bags In the closet over there on the left." He said hurrying to leave, but I called him back.

"Uhm Nick?"He turned back."I thought my room was gonna be your mum's office, her home office?"I thought I should ask because this didn't look like an office, there was a cloth closet and a bed and it looked pretty big for an office.

"Oh, this is her office, you see when mum saw this house for the first time, she thought everything was perfect except that it had three rooms instead of two, but bought it anyway, so she turned one of the rooms into her workspace."

"Explains a lot," I said.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Can I leave now?" He asked and it felt like he was tired of standing here with me.

"Yeah." I smiled even if I found it hurtful of him.

He left as quickly as I said yeah, I could hear him run down the stairs and when I was about to shut the door, he came back with as much speed as when he left.

"I just realized how I sounded asking to leave like that, the thing is, I have somewhere to be right now, it's really important that's why I asked that."

"No, it's cool." I chuckled like I didn't just take offense to it right now. "I mean, you don't have to explain yourself or anything."

"I do, my mum says I have to be nice to you.....not like I wouldn't be nice to you if she didn't say that, I'm just taking measures here." He said and I laughed, it was funny the way he was explaining himself.

It was more funny that my aunt was right behind him, listening to him go on. He sensed she was there, turning back, and he smiled at her.

"Mum, I have to go now, bye." He kissed her cheeks before hurrying down the stairs again.

"Hold on Nick!" She called.

"Whatttt." He turned back looking a bit frustrated about being called back.

"I was thinking maybe you wouldn't mind giving your cousin here, a tour around the neighborhood." She smiled.

"Oh mum, come on, now?" You could hear the frustration in his voice.

"Yes, tomorrow she has to register at the school, she would be way too busy for tours tomorrow."

"Maybe we can do that this Saturday." He said tapping his fingers on the rail impatiently.

"What? Are you ashamed to introduce her to your friends?" I heard my aunt say, what did she mean? I didn't say anything through their little exchange just now because I had no problem with her idea of me seeing how things looked around here.

I also wouldn't mind, if Nick insisted I couldn't come with him, I was full-on ready to just unpack and go to bed, when I was done.

"Nouuu? Jeez, mum." He also sounded surprised at what she just said. "You know what, fine. I'll give her a tour." He sighed.

"Thank you, baby." She blew him a kiss, which I found weird, not until he looked away rolling his eyes, smiling.

Maybe it won't be bad staying here. It could actually be better than I thought. I grabbed my jacket and we headed out.

When he closed the door, he turned to me looking undecided about telling me something.

"What?" I had to ask.

"Well...look, Julie, I have this bet that I've gotta win, my mum doesn't know about it. It's at a friend's basement, we play video games and we bet on each other and that's where I have been hurrying to get to."

"Oh." That was what I said again, I didn't know how exactly to react to what he just said.

"I promise to help you know around another day, you pick the day you want but can I just go there, I didn't know how to say no to my mum."

"Okay, no probs then." I understood. I wanted to bend the door lock and go back inside but he stopped me.

"No You don't get it, my mum can't know I didn't show you around anymore." He said.

"okay? So where do I go or stay while you go gaming with your friends? I don't know anyone or anywhere yet."

"You could come with me?" He shrugged.

"I don't know.....I..." I'm not sure I want to go to where he's going.

"Hey Nick, let's go, you ready?" Someone came from behind. It was a boy, a friend of Nick, most likely.

"Dude, you remember what I told you? about the possibility that my cousin would come stay with me and my mum?" Nick said to the boy who I just noticed looked slightly taller than my cousin.

"Oh yeah, she?" The boy asked if I was the cousin Nick was talking of and Nick nodded.

"Hi, I'm Julie."

"Nice to meet you Julie, I'm Uche." He smiled, his hands tucked into his jeans. I would never say this but he had a beautiful smile.

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Heyy, it's your author geni. Please note that everything written here is nothing but fiction.

Please vote as you read, and comment also. I am very open to constructive criticism.❤️✨