The two of them, both Alfred and Melanie, walked in silence for several minutes. Melanie’s face was set with determination as she briskly walked on, and Alfred trailed quietly in confusion, still piecing together what Melanie had said.

“You mean that I’m gonna stay with you? Alfred asked. “ At your house? With your family? With you? Did I say that twice?” He realized he was starting to ramble out of anxiety, and Alfred quickly stopped talking.

Melanie let out a hearty laugh and looked behind her to smile at him. “You’re so funny,” she said and she took his hand in hers. “Yes, you’ll be staying with me. And although it’s just me and my dad, yes, you’ll be staying with my family. Oh, and yes, you asked if you were staying with me twice.”

When Melanie had grabbed Alfred’s hand, his heart felt like it stopped. “No, no, we aren’t holding hands like that. More like she’s grabbing my wrist to make sure I keep up with her,” Alfred practically yelled at himself in his head.

As they weaved in and out of crowds, Melanie making sure Alfred didn’t get lost by gripping his hand as she led him out of downtown and towards the suburbs. They’d walked for about thirty minutes, then Alfred began to see where they were.

“This is the Chessboard suburbs,” he said, remembering the nickname given to the area because the building layouts and placements looked like a giant chess board from a bird’s eye view.

Melanie chuckled. “Yup, and I’ve always loved that nickname. It’s so funny and true at the same time. Now, come on, my house is this way.”

She led him down multiple streets, until she turned into the driveway of a small house. Not too small, but a nice, cozy size fit for two people. It was basically a big white square with a front porch and a dark green door. It had two windows on the front side, and two black metal chairs on the front porch, which was stained a brown-red color. There was no garage, but there was an area next to the house where the driveway ended that had a roof held up by poles for a car to park under it.

“What a quant, beautiful home. It’s small, but perfectly sized. And the wall, door, and porch colors all flow together nicely.” Alfred remarked as he looked at the house. Then Melanie led him up the porch as she pulled a key from her pocket.

“Well thanks. My dad isn’t home right now, still on his shift at the gas station. But don’t worry, he won’t mind you being here. And he’ll be home in a few hours so you can meet him. Until then, I’ll give the house tour. It’ll be short, but it’s still needed.” Melanie said as she took off her shoes, and Alfred did the same.

She showed him everything in the house, the living room, kitchen and dining room, which were all basically the same room due to no walls separating them.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

The kitchen was a sparkly white with a light wood, probably maple, for the floor. The dining room was small, with the same wood floor, it was just a table, four chairs, and a window behind the table showing the back yard. The living room was carpeted with a gray, springy carpet. There was a rocking chair against the far wall with a window showing the front yard and road, a large couch on the other side of the room, and a television on a tv stand. Alfred guessed the tv was probably between sixty and seventy inches. A glass table at knee height stood in the middle of the room with the tv remote and a glass of water on it.

Then Melanie led Alfred to the hallway on the other side of the kitchen from the entrance. Three doors there, two on the left, one on the right. The two on the left were the bathroom, a small, white tiled room looking the way you’d expect, toilet, shower, sink, washer, and dryer. Then there was Melanie’s dad’s room. Carpeted, with a queen sized bed, and a dark wooden nightstand, two bookshelves, and a metal desk and chair with wheels, a single unopened bottle of Bud Lite and a phone charger on the nightstand.

On the right side of the hall was Melanie’s room. When they stepped in, Melanie sat on the bed. It had the same gray carpet as the living room and her dad’s room, with the walls a sky blue. Her bed, also queen sized, had a dark red blanket, and she had several bookshelves with dozens of books and small trinkets on them. A desk sat in the corner with a backpack next to the chair, and a laptop on the desk.

“You have a wonderful house, everything about it is nice.” Alfred said, sitting next to Melanie. He looked around the room, finding it peaceful to look at things and not guess that she didn’t spend the highest possible amount of money to get it, to know that everything here could be found in a Walmart for rather cheap prices. It was a sense of tranquility.

“Oh, my frozen pizza! I almost forgot about it, it’s gonna melt and go bad.” Alfred said, standing back up.

“I already took care of that, it’s in the freezer. Don’t worry.” Melanie said. Feeling relieved, Alfred sat back down.

Melanie laid back on her bed so she was staring at the ceiling. “Thanks,” she said. “I like it too.” She smiled and looked over at Alfred, who was looking at her, blushed, then looked away when he saw she looked at him.

Then Melanie sat up, put one hand on Alfred’s shoulder, pushed him down to a lying position, then climbed on top of him, laughing gently the whole time.

“What are you doing? What… wh-… what is this? And what’s so funny?” Alfred asked, his face turning red as he couldn’t get up.

Melanie laughed again. “You are. You’re funny, and pretty interesting in all ways. You aren’t like anyone I’ve met. You don’t seem to have much in your life, yet you’re content with that. Everyone I know always wishes for more money, to have the popular things people like, to have a bigger house. Yet you were living in an abandoned apartment and you didn’t seem too bothered by it.”

As she said that, Melanie bent her head down closer to Alfred’s. She smiled again, then got up and walked to the door. Alfred felt his heart racing as his face still felt hot. Then a door closed out in the kitchen and a voice said “Hey, I’m home!”

Melanie smiled again, then stepped out of the room. “Come on, let’s introduce you to my dad, hmm?” She then walked out and Alfred stood up and followed.

Melanie’s father was a short man, with spiky black hair, light blue eyes, wore glasses, and had large hands. He wore a checkered button down shirt and khaki slacks. When he saw Melanie and Alfred, he asked with a warm smile “Hey Mel, who’s your friend?”

“Dad, this is Alfred Smith. He doesn’t really have any safe places to stay, so can he stay with us for a while?” Melanie asked while giving her dad a hug.

With a slightly worried look, her dad said, “Nowhere to go, huh? Quite the situation. Yeah, I don’t mind if he stays here.” He offered Alfred his hand for a handshake. “I’m Jacob Powell, Melanie’s father.”

“Alfred Smith, it’s an honor to meet you,” Alfred said, returning the handshake. He didn’t know why, but he felt that being there, with the two of them in that house, was the best thing that ever happened to him.