Chapter 1: Chapter:1 -New Neighbour
The sun shone brightly as Lowy stepped off the bus. Summer vacation started barely a week ago. Full of sweat I begin walking the several blocks to my house, tired but upbeat after my first day of work.
I found out that I had gotten my very first job the afternoon of my graduation, it saved me from the frustration and anxiety I received after finding out about my cheating girlfriend. My old friend Fray was her ex boyfriend and they didn't even felt the courtesy to inform me when they did got back together.
Well she was a bitch herself, that's why earlier she cheated on fray with me. Looking at the bright sun with sweat beading out of his forehead he sighed,
" I guess a cheaters always a cheater ".
Mr. Rickerson, who owned a small icecream business across town, was looking for an assistant. My interview was only a few days prior to graduation and honestly, I thought I had screwed it up. Failing two time consecutively my school exams i was quite aged for a graduate so i had no hopes.
Stammering my way through, barely able to meet old Mr. Rick's scowling eyes. But he must have sensed my can-do attitude and believed me when I told him I had a good work ethic because he called during my graduation lunch to offer me the job.
Mr. Rick was hard to impress, but I'm sure he noticed how much effort I put in on my first day, despite never ceasing to scowl. Business owners do love to exploit hard working youths.
I turned the corner onto my street, lost in reverie of my impressive first day of work, and noticed a moving truck outside the house next door to mine. Old Mr. Heck has been trying to find a new tenant for a couple months.
" So he has finally found someone to rent the house to "
Walking up my roadstead, I tried to get a glimpse into the house next door to see what the new neighbors were like. The previous tenant was a beautiful woman Miss Cyndia. She was a hard working single mom, at times i used to go and guard her house when she had overtime work, her daughter knew I had ulterior motives still I never got a chance to have a serious conversation with her. If it had been the past me he would have seduced her right away and made her my sex slave.
' But alas time changes people'
murmured as he went on his way.
..
The houses in my neighborhood were long and narrow. There wasn't much of a space between them, as a result of which people knew each other well. Our driveway ran perpendicular to the driveway next door, separated only by a chain link fence.
Slowing down, I tried to have a look onto the open front door when a voice calls out to me; one that I instantly recognized.
"Lowy grenn, the bitch himself!"
Halting by that abrupt voice, Lowy turned and saw Gren Harrington striding toward him from around the back of the house. He had a bright face completely different from back first three years of high school. Lowy used to make a constant mocking, having him tripped in the halls for no reason, smacks to the back of the head, quick punches to the groin and stomach in P.E he never saw him smile so brightly.
"The fuck are you doing here, fag?" Lowy asked him, approaching the fence.
" Yo, who do you think you'e talking to " as gren came toward him, his big musculature and strong built completely overshadowed lowy.
Looking up at him, lowy shuddered and didn't made eye contact for long.
" So you have grown up huh, lets forget the past now shall we. We are all grown ups now."
He paused before adding
" So you are the new tenant here " Lowy said in low voice.
"No fucking way! Looks like we're neighbors now."
Lowy body begins to feel like it's being pulled down. It was because of gren leaving school and school administration taking action that he got held back in his high school.
Gren snorted, looking at my clothes. " what the fuck is wrong with your clothes "
Lowy face flustered with embarrassment.
"It's my work uniform,"
He was wearing a word and colorfull attire with icecreams drawn on it. It looked like it was a upside down rainbow.
"Oh my bad, I thought you just decided to advertise how gay you are," gren said and begins to laugh.
"I'm not fucking gay, asshole," lowy shout furiously. He tried grabbing gren's collar but instead lost hold of his grip to gren.
Lowy looked at his large arms and frowned. ' So much strength '
"Whatever you have to tell yourself man." Gren tched and laughed as he loosened his grip.
Lowy stared at him, about to cut the conversation off so he can escape inside when his mom's car pulls into the driveway.
Both of their heads turn as she parks the car and exits. Sauntering toward us, I hear Gren mutter, "Holy shit," under his breath in wonder.
Lowy glanced toward him as he takes in the sight of my mom, clearly impressed with what he sees, and a scowl crosses his face.
He was used to men checking out his mom. She's a very attractive woman, possessing a curvaceous figure and large breasts. Once he overheard a couple of kids who live down the street refer to her as a MILF as they biked by the house. But seeing this jerk ogling her turns his stomach sour.
"Hello, sweetheart," his mom greets him as she reached. She leans over to quickly peck his cheek, then tilts her head towards Gren.
"Who's this now?"
Gren interjects before he can answer.
" An old friend of Lowy and your new neighbor."
He flashes her a charming, boyish smile. Looking at his grin lowy felt sickened, he loved the depressed face he used to make when being bullied.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you then. I'm Julie, Kyle's mom."
She sticks her hand out over the fence and he grasps it, delivering a quick shake,
" Well i am Gren pachis. it's a pleasure meeting you."
"Pachis, hmm? That's an interesting last name."
"It's Greek," he tells her. "Means 'big' and 'thick'." His smile grows just a bit more.
"Clearly not very apt though," she laughs, gesturing toward his lean muscular body.
"Oh it is, but only where it counts."
A beat passes as what he said hangs in the air before he raises his arms and gives a mock show of flexing his muscles. His tattooed arms and big muscles drenched with sweat gave off a weird smell.
Julie clearly liked his attitude.
They start laughing, breaking the tension caused by his potentially lewd comment. Watching them causes anger and jealousy to well up inside lowy.
"So, you and Lowy know each other then?" she asks him, laughter still in her voice.
"Oh, he and I go way back," he answers with fake enthusiasm. "We went to high school together. Good times, right bud?" He reaches over and thumps him a little too hard on the back. A surprised grunt slips from lowy's mouth as he see him smirk.
" Heh Why did you left the high school huh best bud?. I bet you aren't even graduated " Lowy said with a somewhat angered voice.
"Oh," she says, taken aback.
"Actually, I started doing an extracurricular activities like gymming and boxing. After two years of practicing I have now started teaching yoga for a living "
" Wow thats really amazing. you looked the right age to be that recent of a high school graduate."
"I could say the same about you,"
He replied making a slick smile, placing his hands on the fence, Gren locked his elbows as he leans closer to her.
"You look too young to be the mom of a recent high school graduate. I almost mistook you for his sister at first."
Lowy snorted and his mom casts him a dirty look.
"I just turned 36 not too long ago. I was just about lowy's age when I had him." Julie chuckled.
"Well, you're definitely the best looking mom I've seen."
Again, he gives her that charming smile that made lowy want to punch him in his smug face.
She smiles back bashfully, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear. "You're too much."
Lowy rolled his eyes before looking a bit closer at him.
' Is he flexing his muscles? '
The snug, white tank top already shows off his toned arms and chest. Not to mention the color contrasts sharply with his olive skin tone, making them stand out even more. But of course he'd try and show off as much as possible.
As Gren continues chatting with his mom, an uneasy feeling settles into lowy's stomach, watching how well they seem to get along.
Suddenly a woman's voice rings out from inside the house. " Gren, get in here and help me with the mattresses!"
"Shit, I should go help her. It was nice meeting you though,
Julie."
He paused before saying with a somewhat enthusiastic voice,
" Hopefully I'll see you around?"
"Absolutely, it was nice meeting you too, Gren ," juile returns a warm smile of her own before heading toward the house with lowy.
Lowy followed her to the back door, glancing behind him when he didn't hear Gren walking away and saw him still standing by the fence. He has his hands in his pockets and his eyes roam over julie's body in admiration. We make eye contact, licking his lips. he gives him a smirk before flipping off. His mom unlocks the back door and pushes her way inside. He quickly followed, but Gren continues to stand there smirking, until he shut the door behind.
*******
' Dammn it what the hell happened he has completely changed. If it wasn't for his anew strong built I would have made sure to kick his ass for good '
It was late in the morning a few days later. Lowy climbed out of his bed and stretch.
This was his first day off since beginning of the new job and he had chosen to sleep in. It was his own personal reward for all the hard work he was doing. But the noises his empty stomach was making finally forced lowy out of bed.
Opening the door, the smell of chocolate hits him immediately as he followed it down to the kitchen. His mom was washing dishes in the sink. A big plate of fudge brownies sit on the counter next to her.
' Mom's an excellent cook. They still look warm '
but she's an even better baker. His mouth begins to water.
"Morning," lowy mumble, maneuvering toward the counter.
"Good morning, sweetheart."
He reached to pluck a brown off the plate when her voice interrupted his ongoing action.
"Uh-uh, those aren't for you!"
"Then who are they for?"
"Gren and his family."
"What? Why?" He asked in disbelief. "They only just moved in."
"That's exactly why, Son. I thought we could bring them over as sort of a 'welcome to the neighborhood' gesture." Julie said as she wiped her hands of her apron.
"You didn't make anything for the Matthias when they moved in a couple years ago."
"That's because Helen matthias is a cow. Gren was very lovely when I met him the other day and I'm sure his parents are too."
Lowy's stomach again felt sick as he heard the word ' lovely '.
For it was sure lovely to beat the shit out of him when he was skinny gren. But now his mom seemed to have grown fond of him.
Julie noticed his frown and lets out an exasperated sigh.
"Don't be like this Son. Can you please just go get changed so we can bring these over to them soon?"
" Do what you have to do. " lowy yelled then added " I want to eat something right now "
"Fine, there's stuff for a sandwich in the fridge. Just don't take too long."
After eating and changing clothes, they leave out the back to head next door. Julie was dressed casually but he can see that she's done her hair and make-up.
' She didn't do all that just for the Pachis, did she? '
In the yard, both of them could see the detached garage at the end of the Pachis' driveway was open. It had been turned into a workout room and Gren was in there doing bench presses while music blared from a speaker. Walking down the driveway, lowy noticed his mom glancing back into the open garage. Her gaze lingers on the figure inside a little too long, which leaves him feeling anxious.
They approached the Pachis' front door and ring the bell. About a minute passes before we rang it again, but no one answers.
"Well, guess no one's home," lowy said, turning to go back.
"Don't be silly, Son. We just saw Gren in the garage. Maybe his parents are preoccupied with something."
"So, let's just come back another time. Or better yet, let's not come back at all and keep the brownies for us to enjoy."
"That's not very nice, sweetheart," she scolds. "Let's just pop around back and give these to Gren. I don't want them going stale."
She climbs down the stairs and starts up their driveway. He reluctantly followed behind, grumbling to himself but she ignored him.
The music from inside the garage gets louder the closer both of them approach. Gren has moved on from bench presses and now sits shirtless doing bicep curls. Concentrating on counting each rep, he doesn't notice them until his gaze followed them staring at him
He glances up and smiles wide.
"Well, look who it is!"
Placing the dumbbell down, he taps his phone, cutting off the music. Lowy's ears ring in the silence. He tucked his finger inside his ear as calm himself.
"Sorry about that, I like loud music when I'm working out," Gren chuckled standing up. A sheen of sweat coats his upper body and his dark shoulder length hair is tied back in a low knot.
"Oh, that's ok," julie replies.
"You have good taste in music. I used to listen to HellBird all the time in high school."
"No shit?" Gren raises his eyebrows in surprise.
"Oh yeah, I went to see them in concert my senior year. It was a wild night but a lot of fun." Julie said with a cheerful smile as though remembering her youth.
"Damn, never would have pegged you as a fan of theirs."
"Well don't be so quick to make assumptions. People will surprise you." She chuckled.
"I wonder how else you'll surprise me." Gren gave her a cocky grin and she smiles back.
They hold eye contact for a moment before julie looks down at the brownies, as if suddenly remembering why she was there.
"Anyway, I wanted to bring you these," she steps forward to hand him the plate. "Well, you and your family."
Lowy looked around feeling sick.
"Thank you so much, Julie." Gren reaches out to grab the plate, his hand brushing hers as he takes it. "These look amazing!"
"They're just a little welcome to the neighborhood present."
With the brownies handed off, lowy thought he can finally leave when Gren invited them inside.
"Would either of you like a drink while I put these away?" Gren said as he cleaned up his sweat with a wet towel.
"I'd love something to drink," julie answered instantly even before lowy could reject his offer.
Gren led them to the back porch and into his kitchen. There were still some boxes stacked around, and scattered utensils litter the table.
"Excuse the mess," he apologized bending his wide back a little.
"We haven't had a chance to completely unpack yet. I was more focused on setting up the equipment in the garage than anything else."
He places the plate onto the counter. "Didn't want to miss out on the pump any longer than I had to."
Lowy made a dirty look while his mom nodded as though she understood.
"It's fine, and I can understand why someone so in shape as you wouldn't want to miss out on 'the pump'," she laughs and he shoots her a grin as he moves to grab some glasses.
Out of the corner of his eye, lowy catch his mom discreetly checking Gren out as he pours them both some lemonade he snags from the fridge. Her eyes quickly traverse his muscular body before looking back up to his face when he turns toward her.
He hands mom her glass then holds up his own. "To new neighbors," he toasts.
"To new neighbors," she repeats, clinking his glass with hers before they both take a drink.
Lowy didn't liked their overfriendly behavior so he drank without saying anything.
"So are your parents home?" Julie asked asks him as she looked around. "I'd love to meet them."
"Actually it's just me and my Mom, and she's at work right now. My cousin was home yesterday but she has left too."
"Wow, on a Sunday?"
" Yeah, she owns a meat shop. " Gren poured her another glass.
"That's amazing. You must eat quite lot of good meat everyday" Julie accepted the drink with a pretty smile.
A sly grin crosses his face. "Yep having such a shop is really good. Besides, I got really good at handling tender meat."
Lowy could have splutter out his drink. But julie offered him a mischievous smile before placing her thumb and index finger on her chin in phony consideration.
"Hm, I don't know," she says, faux doubt heavy in her voice. She quickly scans him up and down. "You just seem too big to adequately handle something delicate like that."
His smile grows, clearly pleased at her teasing nature.
"Oh you have no idea what I can do with these hands. They do excellent work and no one leaves unsatisfied with what I've given them."
Panic fills lowy chest as their conversation begins to cross into flirting and he interject before his mom has a chance to respond.
"Hey, when is Mike supposed to be coming home again?"
Mom reluctantly turns toward me. "I told you, his flight gets in tomorrow night at 8."
Gren opens his mouth to ask another question but she continues speaking. "And before you ask, he'll be home three days before he has to fly out to "
"My fiancé," she offers in explanation, turning back to Gren. "He travels often for work."
He begins taking the plastic wrap off the plate of brownies. "When's the big day?"
"It hasn't been set, we've been engaged for about a month but he travels so much we haven't had a chance to sit down and make any plans."
"You must get lonely with him being away so often." He said in a suggestive tone.
"It can be frustrating sometimes but, honestly, I'm kind of used to it. I do administrative work from home, so I'm by myself most days."
"Really?" Gren takes a bite of a brownie as he appears to consider this bit of information carefully, making lowy's stomach clench in apprehension.
"Yeah, but He promises he won't be traveling as much when we're married."
"And he'll keep his promise," I add. "Because Mike's a really good guy."
"Yeah, I guess he is." Julie nods her head in agreement.
That was the truth too. She had a long history of dating shitty men, going back to lowy's dad who took off the moment he found out she was pregnant. Mike was the first guy in a long time who she actually liked.
"Well, I'm sure once you guys get hitched he'll make good on his promise,"
Gren says as he finishes chewing. "Can't imagine he'd want to be away so often once he's got you locked down. I know I wouldn't."
A slow smile spreads across his face.
What the hell is with him? How can he keep flirting with her? We're literally talking about her fiancé.
"Guess I'll find out," she smiles back. "You like the brownies?"
"They're perfect! Would you like one?"
"No thank you, I'm watching my figure. I'm glad you're enjoying them though."
"What do you mean you're watching your figure? You look pretty damn good to me." Gren said as he ran his eyes up and down julie's body.
"Stop," she says, blushing. "I'm not nearly as in shape as you are."
"You're telling me you don't work out at all?" He couldn't believe her or made her believe he couldn't.
"I take a spin class, but that's it. I don't hit the gym intensely like you do." Julie looked at her slightly slender yet elegant waist.
"I could train you if you want?" he offers. Pointing his finger at his humongous chest.
I gives yoga classes to many woman and I coach them personally too.
"Oh no," Julie says, holding up her hands. "That'd be way too much for me. I could never keep up with you."
"Ok then, we'll just have to figure out another way to burn some calories together." He winks at her.
Lowy's face flustered with anger as he stood up and yelled.
"Mom, can we go already? You said you'd drive me to the mall." He meant to sound forceful but it comes out as more of a whine.
" Lowy don't be rude. I said I'd take you today and I will."
"But they close soon!"
"If you had your license you could drive yourself, couldn't you?"
He made a face at her.
"It's cool, I should go finish my sets anyway. I have to be down at the shop in a few hours."
"Alright, well I hope you and your mom enjoy the brownies." She almost sounds disappointed. "And again, welcome to the neighborhood."
"Thanks, we're really happy to be here." He gives her a final smile as she walks out the door. As lowy was following her, a sharp blow catches him in the side.
He faltered, making a gruff noise trying to balance himself. Julie looks back at him and Gren clamp a hand on his shoulder.
"Whoa, steady there pal."
"Careful sweety," she says, looking forward again.
Gren squeezes his shoulder tightly, using as much pressure as his large arm will allow. For a brief second, his shoulder screams in intense agony before he released him with a shove. Lowy stumble forward in shock, shoulder throbbing. The pain, while extreme, was so brief that he hadn't even had a chance to scream. Lowy nervously look back and Gren stoods in the doorway, arms crossed against his sculpted chest as a dark scowl marres his face.
" The fuck is wrong with him. How could he be so strong in just few years "
He turned away and felt his still aching shoulder,remembering what this new him is capable of.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone