"Yeah, Brandon. I'll see you guys in a bit." Jon hung up the phone and grabbed his book bag. He was about to go meet Karyn at their friend Brandon's house. He had been out sick today, so they were going to share their history notes. Jon was going to tell both him and Karyn about the stone, but now he wasn't sure if that was such a good idea. Brandon was never very good at keeping secrets, anyway.
At the bottom of the stairs, Jon waved to his father, who was sitting in the recliner watching a baseball game. "Oh, come ON! That was a strike! I swear to god, these umpires are just..." He looked up and saw Jon. "Hey kiddo."
"Hey dad. You meet the new neighbors yet?"
"Yeah, just got back. Nice folks, cute kid too. I think your mom was going to have them over for dinner later this week- so be ready for that."
Jon sighed and rolled his eyes. "Great. Well, I'm off to Brandon's. I'll be back for dinner."
"Alright. Tell that kid he's gotta get his strength back if he wants to pitch the team into the finals this year."
"Will do," Jon said as he went out the door. He wasn't really jealous, but sometimes it felt like Jon's dad liked Brandon just a bit more. Almost like he was the more athletic son he'd never had. Although it was nice having a friend like Brandon. Sure, he was a jock, but he was on the baseball team - and didn't quite run in the same circles as Biff and Sarah. Brandon was happy to hang out and talk about Star Trek and Doctor Who when he wasn't at practice.
As Jon stepped out and onto the sidewalk, he stopped suddenly. There, standing right in front of him, was the new neighbor girl: Stacy Riley.
"Hi Jon." she smiled. "Do you wanna come over and play dollies with me?"
Jon just laughed. "Sorry kid, I think I'm a bit old for that. Besides, I'm on my way someplace else."
"Well, maybe we can play house, then. You can be the daddy."
"Nnnoo, really. I've gotta get going. Besides, you should play with kids your own age." With that, he sidestepped her and continued down the sidewalk.
"You'll be sooorrryy!" she called out in a sing-song voice, but Jon kept on going. There really was something odd about this kid. He picked up the pace a bit, and he could swear he felt her icy stare on him until he rounded the corner. But for some reason, he didn't dare look back...
