Michael POV

It was just a normal Sunday afternoon and I was out in the front yard playing catch with Janet and a moving van parks outside the house next to us and I look over to see who our new neighbours are and I see a couple steps out and start carrying boxes into the house.

"Michael!" Janet whines "sorry dunk" I giggle turning back to her an continue playing catch. "C'mon!..out of the van" the man yells, coming back outside the house and I quickly turn my attention back to the new family. when the man goes back inside with more boxes A really cute girl gets out. she has medium length blonde wavy hair and is wearing black shorts and a white vest top which hugs her in all the right places. I bite my lower lip looking over at her as she's stood outside the van doing something on her phone. "Michael! Throw the ball" Janet whines again and I purposely throw the ball over Janet's head towards the direction of the girl and she stops what she's doing on her phone and looks over "c'mon that's not fair! You threw to high!" Janet pouts, folding her arms and I run past her and over to the girl. "Hey, sorry about that" I smile "It's ok" she smiles back and hands me the ball

"I'm...."

"Michael!" Janet yells from our garden "your supposed to throw the ball back!"

"nice to meet you Michael" ,She giggles shaking my hand "Im...."

"Ocean!" Her mother yells from inside the house "Those boxes aren't going to bring themselves in!"

"nice to meet you Ocean" I smile.

We stand talking for a moment and her mother comes outside "Ocean! I thought I told you to....oh...hello" she pauses seeing me and Ocean smiles introducing us "this is Michael, he lives next door"

"nice to meet you" I smile and put hand out to shake her hand and my father comes outside smiling "you must be the Thompson's. I'm Joseph, I hope my son wasn't bothering you" he says as they shake hands "I'm Jessica, nice to meet an no he wasn't bothering us" they talk for a moment then Joesph and I leave them to continue with what they were doing.

I smile at Ocean as we're leaving and I see her blush slightly which looks adorable.

****

We're sitting having dinner and I can't get Ocean out of my head I only spoke to her for a few minutes, but she seems really cool and funny plus she's really pretty. "So what were the neighbours like?" My mother asks interrupting my thoughts "um...they seem nice, they have a daughter called Ocean, an she'll be starting our school tomorrow and..."

"Michael's got a girlfriend" Janet sings, giggling "NO I DON'T!" I snap feeling myself blushing slightly and Joseph frowns at Janet and she quickly shuts up "I heard their Jehovah's Witnesses like us!" My mother smiles and Joseph nods "yup, nice wholesome family with good religious morals much better than that other family" he scrunches his face and mother purses her lips an nods "those poor children being raised by a pair of..." She shakes her head and Joseph gives a disgusted look. "A pair of fags!" He frowns and everyone nods, not wanting to disagree with him and Janet looks at me confused and I shake my head hinting for her not to ask which she gets an doesn't say anything.

It never bothered me or my sibling that our  old neighbours were gay and their two sons seemed really cool, but my parents are really old fashioned about stuff like that.

"Ocean.. That's a very pretty name" LaToya says trying to change the topic and I smile and nod agreeing "yeah, I told her she could walk to school with us tomorrow since it's her first day and all"

"that was nice of you!" My mother smiles " It's always hard moving to a new town"

****

After dinner I go upstairs and see Randy crying holding something "Joseph gonna kill me"

"why what happened?" I ask   putting my arm around him and I look down and see he's holding a broken ornament "I was playing with Janet an I ran into the table an it fell" he sobs and I hear Joseph coming upstairs "you go to your room and close the door, I'll take care of it" I say in a hushed tone and he shakes his head nervously  "it's ok, just go" I whisper and he gets up and runs to his room

When Joseph finally gets up the stairs he looks straight at what I'm holding "who did this?" He asks me calmly. Even though his face is emotionless and his tone of voice is neutral, I know by the look in his eyes what's about to happen. I've seen this look so many times and there's no way I'm gonna let my younger brother go though this again. So I do exactly what my older brothers used to do when ever I've gotten in trouble "I knocked into the table and it broke" I gulp and start shaking as he comes closer not saying anything as he starts removing his belt, walking closer to me.

***
Ocean's POV

I'm taking a bath and I can hear screaming and yelling from the house next door, I try to ignore it and turned the radio up, but I could still hear them. When I'm done I put my PJs on and head downstairs "I'm gonna go to bed now" I smile slightly, feeling uncomfortable still from the noise coming from the Jackson's. my parents both hug me and say their goodnights.

I leave the room and listen into my parents. "That poor boy" my mother sighs "I'm sure he's fine. my father used to do the same with me and my brothers. if you don't punish them while their young they'll be running wild an getting into God knows what when their older" my dad shrugs "I guess. It must be hard for them raising all those children. do you think we should go over?" My mother asks and my father laughs under his breath "hunny! Their fine! The boys just getting a whooping. he obviously did something he shouldn't. best leave them to it"

I listen to them for a few more moments then go upstairs. By the time I get to my room the noise has stopped. I close my bedroom door an go to the window to close it an see Michael limping towards his window about to close it, but stops when he sees me about to do the same and he leans out slightly "Hi" he smiles faintly and I smile back at him the same way "I hope we didn't wake you"

"I was just on my way to bed. are you ok?" I ask and he looks down an nods "I'm fine" he mumbles then looks back up and smiles "You still wanna walk to school tomorrow?" he asks and I nod.

We both stand leaning out of our windows talking quietly for awhile (our houses are really close so we're able to hear each other) then say our goodnights. I close my curtains and switch off the light. It usually takes me a long time to fall asleep but the move has completely wiped me out and I pass out shortly after my head touches the pillow

****

A/N Hey guys. sorry if this chapter is a little boring and short, but it's mainly just to introduce the main characters.