Just Down the Street (In Progress)
written by ☆kiola-the-iola☆
Sierra Rose Hunter McDunn's life sounds like a comedy show- rich dad, pushover mother, parents who are trying to set her up with a senior and only let her be best friends with Harriet Abbey because they think her family is crazy rich, too. She has resigned herself to a life she'll hate when she meets a family in her neighborhood. Specifically, one brother named Phoenix. She's never felt this way about a boy- she's practically engaged to Beau Preston, you see. But Phoenix changes the way she thinks until she realizes that maybe, her dream of marrying for love- and being an AirForce pilot- isn't out of reach...
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
3
Reads
687
Chapter One
Chapter 1
My family's never been big on neighbors. We McDunns just don't mix with people we didn't know unless we had to, you know? The only people I saw were my friends from school and the youth group I snuck out to. And, of course, my dad's business partners that expected me to curtsy.
It's November, a couple days after my fourteenth birthday. I decide to walk outside, get to know the neighborhood we just moved to. I dodge my mother so that she won’t make me change out of my leggings. We now live in Kenilworth, Illinois, a little town outside Chicago. I stick my AirPods in, turning on the Wicked soundtrack and letting Elphaba defy gravity for me (because I prefer to keep my feet planted on the ground.) I walk down the lane a few feet before I get to a cul-de-sac where some little boy is shooting hoops. He's sinking most of them, too. I'm not that bad at basketball; I made the A team this year, but I'm not the reason our team won or something. Of course, we were only three weeks into the season before they ran out of money for the program. Everyone knows the vice principal is a thief, but no one does anything about it. Though my father could if he wanted to.
Anyway, I'm watching this kid make basket after basket when he turns and sees me standing there.
"Hello!" he calls. I look over my shoulder before responding. Father would not have wanted me consorting with anyone less 'important' as he would say. He is nowhere in sight, and so I call back,
"Hello!" He smiles and ambles over.
"I'm Boston Jackson. I'm nine!" I want to laugh at his name. I mean, who names their kid Boston? He sees the smirk on my face.
"Oh, it could be worse," he says. "I have seven brothers: Austin King Jackson, 17; Memphis Prince Jackson, 16; Phoenix Regal Jackson, 14; Denver Earl and Dallas Emperor Jackson, 12; Houston Highness Jackson, 10; me: Boston Duke Jackson; 9, and Chicago Royal Jackson, 6. I'm pretty sure 'Memphis Prince' is worse." I laugh, nodding my head in agreement.
"I'm Sierra McDunn, fourteen. Or, I should say, Sierra Rose Hunter McDunn. Your parents aren't the only ones who like weird names. My brothers, 17 and 10, are named Rick Ferdinand Lloyd McDunn and Greg Anderson Coby McDunn." Boston laughs and then, signaling for me to wait, runs into his house. In less than a minute, he walks out leading his seven brothers to meet me. They all look the same, just different sizes. The oldest one sticks his hand out and says,
"I'm Austin. I'm a senior in highschool." I shake his hand and smile, unsure of what to do. I mean, I never meet new people.
"Ummm, hello," I say. I almost curtsy, but remember just in time that he isn't one of my dad's super important and big headed business partners.
One by one, the eight boys introduce themselves, each with their own quirks. The last brother, Phoenix, is my age. He squeezes my hand with a smile. He is by far the cutest boy I've ever seen, and I've seen some pretty cute boys. My old town, Northfield, another Chicago suburb, had a swimming pool, and all the teenage boys would go there to show off to my friends and I. Usually, I went with school friends, but sometimes I'd go with my best friend, Harriet Abbey, who I met at that youth group I told you about. That was, of course, before she moved to Colorado. Her big move to Greeley was in August of two years before. Her move then to Texas was last August, four months before this.
Talking about Harriet brings me to another cute guy that Phoenix overshadowed. Last March, Harriet's family got into a terrible car crash. The only reason Harriet is still alive is because she wasn't in the car. Her mom, dad, and two sisters, Luka and Kandace, all died. At the funeral, I had to help her through the eulogies because she kept crying. After that, Harriet moved to Texas to live with her dad's sister and her family. Harriet dated this baseball player named Martin for a while. He was really cute! He was with her when I facetimed once. Red hair, sturdy build… of course, he ended up being a complete fake. All he wanted was to add Harriet to his trophy shelf. She broke up with him in October after completely destroying him in the school hallway. Apparently it was a legendary fight.
And there’s Beau, of course.
Anyway, back to our story. Phoenix's eyes sparkle as he squeezes my hand and says,
"Finally, a cute, teenage girl moved into the neighborhood." I blush, saying,
“It’s Sierra.”
"I know," he laughs. My cheeks go red.
"Right." Phoenix waves it off. Then Dallas and Denver say, in unison,
"Wanna play some b-ball?" I agree after some hesitation.
We play for a long time. Phoenix is really good, but he's also not a ball hog. He passes to me even when I'm going to miss.
Eventually, I see a pristine sedan driving up the road.
"That's my dad!" I say in terror, rolling beneath Austin's truck. The boys look on in confusion until I emerge and explain my dad to them. Phoenix grabs a cloth to wash off my face, but there's no way to recreate the fancy twist my mother put in my hair this morning.
“They’re going to know I wasn’t just on a walk!” I say in terror. “I’m never going to be able to hang out with you guys again!” Boston links his arm through mine.
“You’ll be fine. Just act nonchalant and ask you mom to redo it. I saw someone else in the car with your dad.” I freeze.
“Oh, my gosh. We’re having Beau Preston’s family over tonight!”
“Who?” Memphis squints in confusion. I shake my head.
“A big business leader’s son. The whole family is coming over. My parents think that he’s the only boy eligible for me. If my father was here, he'd say that you guys aren’t good enough to be talking to me.” I wince, “Sorry. Anyway, they’re trying to set me up with Beau. Lucas Preston, Beau’s father, was obviously in the car! I have to get back and change so I can help get the dining room ready.” I grab my phone from their porch table and scramble out to the sidewalk.
“Bye!” I call over my shoulder. Then I run as fast as I can towards our big house at the end of the road.
.....
I skid into the kitchen, where I almost bump into our housekeeper, Beatree. She shakes her head at my hair disapprovingly, which is flying everywhere.
“Had a fight with a bush. The bush won,” I gasp.
“Next time, steer clear of the bushes. They like to bite,” my mother’s voice says. I turn around, a smile stretching onto my face. My mother is a little easier to get along with than my father. Of course, she still is a high society social butterfly.
“How do I look, Darling?” She asks as she spins around, her periwinkle dress twirling.
“Beautiful,” I say. “Father will love it. Can you help me get ready?”
My mother ushers me upstairs. She looks in my closet, pulling out my pink suit jacket and skirt. She then twists my hair up even fancier than this morning. It pulls at my scalp, but I don’t complain as she slides a rose quartz comb up to my bun. As I sit at my vanity looking for the comb’s matching necklace and earring set, I ask mother,
“Do you really think Beau is the right guy for me?” She laughs,
“Of course, Darling! What’s wrong? I thought you agreed with your father!” My brain immediately blares ‘danger zone’! I nod,
“Of course, Mother. Father knows best.”
“Your father knows best,” my mom repeats. I am putting my rose quartz earrings in (long, dangly things that pull at my earlobes) when my mother says,
“Oh, no!”
“What? What, Mother?” She grabs my left hand and points to my bare ring finger.
“Your promise ring!”
She’s talking about the promise ring that Beau gave me. You thought they only did that in movies? Well, you’re wrong.
You ask why I accepted the ring if I don’t like Beau. Well, here’s the thing. I hate letting my parents down. I have to get top of my class each year at my private prep academy. I have to make sure that they never find out about my secret youth group (they think I met Harriet at a dance; that she was some classy guy's date). And I have to like Beau. They’d be so disappointed if they found out that I don’t like Beau, that I don’t want to spend my life knitting and hosting parties like my mom, and that I want to be a pilot in the AirForce instead. Oh, and that I might think that our “lowly” neighbor Phoenix is hot.
The ring must have come off when I was playing basketball.
“It must have come off on my walk. I’ll go find it!”
“Okay, but be quick!” my mother says. “And don’t be late!”
I hurry out onto the street. I rush to the Jackson’s house. They’re all still playing. I try not to blush as I walk up, weighed down by a suit, pink high heels, and jewels. Phoenix turns to see me. He raises his eyebrows but reaches in his pocket, pulling out my white gold ring.
“You came for this?” he asks. I nod, rushing to grab it from him.
“Thank you,” I say. He nods, staring at me carefully.
“How do you balance in those shoes?” he asks finally. I laugh.
“I’ve been practicing my whole life. I’m a pro by now.” Houston joins Phoenix, looking at my jewelry, bug-eyed.
“That’s a lot of quartz.” I nod, fingering an earring.
“Now you get to see the everyday me.” Phoenix shakes his head,
“I’m sorry.” I shrug,
“Like I said, I’ve been doing this my whole life. I’m good at the cursed, little rich game.” Phoenix’s eyes go dark.
“So that’s what it is? The cursed rich game?” I look at him in confusion.
“Y-yeah. That’s what I jokingly call it.”
“Being rich isn’t a curse,” little Chicago says. “We don’t have any money.” Phoenix hushes him, but I’ve heard enough. I motion to my outfit.
“You want to live my life? All I want to do is fly a fighter jet, and my parents are telling me to sit around hosting parties in honor of a guy I’m not in love with.”
“At last you aren’t hungry,” Austin rumbles. The brothers form a circle around me, affirming that their parents don’t make enough to feed all of them. I notice for the first time how rundown their house is.
“I’m truly sorry,” I say. “I have to get back before Beau gets here.” I wrap my arms around myself and walk away. I immediately remember the one hundred dollar bill sitting on my desk because I haven't put it in my wallet yet. My monthly allowance.
Maybe they’re right. Maybe my life is actually amazing, and I just can’t see it. Maybe I should be happy to be promised to Beau, who’s dad is even richer than mine. Maybe my dream of being an AirForce pilot is not worth it if my parents have planned such a good life for me.
Maybe I’ve had it good the entire time, and I’m just a selfish brat.
It's November, a couple days after my fourteenth birthday. I decide to walk outside, get to know the neighborhood we just moved to. I dodge my mother so that she won’t make me change out of my leggings. We now live in Kenilworth, Illinois, a little town outside Chicago. I stick my AirPods in, turning on the Wicked soundtrack and letting Elphaba defy gravity for me (because I prefer to keep my feet planted on the ground.) I walk down the lane a few feet before I get to a cul-de-sac where some little boy is shooting hoops. He's sinking most of them, too. I'm not that bad at basketball; I made the A team this year, but I'm not the reason our team won or something. Of course, we were only three weeks into the season before they ran out of money for the program. Everyone knows the vice principal is a thief, but no one does anything about it. Though my father could if he wanted to.
Anyway, I'm watching this kid make basket after basket when he turns and sees me standing there.
"Hello!" he calls. I look over my shoulder before responding. Father would not have wanted me consorting with anyone less 'important' as he would say. He is nowhere in sight, and so I call back,
"Hello!" He smiles and ambles over.
"I'm Boston Jackson. I'm nine!" I want to laugh at his name. I mean, who names their kid Boston? He sees the smirk on my face.
"Oh, it could be worse," he says. "I have seven brothers: Austin King Jackson, 17; Memphis Prince Jackson, 16; Phoenix Regal Jackson, 14; Denver Earl and Dallas Emperor Jackson, 12; Houston Highness Jackson, 10; me: Boston Duke Jackson; 9, and Chicago Royal Jackson, 6. I'm pretty sure 'Memphis Prince' is worse." I laugh, nodding my head in agreement.
"I'm Sierra McDunn, fourteen. Or, I should say, Sierra Rose Hunter McDunn. Your parents aren't the only ones who like weird names. My brothers, 17 and 10, are named Rick Ferdinand Lloyd McDunn and Greg Anderson Coby McDunn." Boston laughs and then, signaling for me to wait, runs into his house. In less than a minute, he walks out leading his seven brothers to meet me. They all look the same, just different sizes. The oldest one sticks his hand out and says,
"I'm Austin. I'm a senior in highschool." I shake his hand and smile, unsure of what to do. I mean, I never meet new people.
"Ummm, hello," I say. I almost curtsy, but remember just in time that he isn't one of my dad's super important and big headed business partners.
One by one, the eight boys introduce themselves, each with their own quirks. The last brother, Phoenix, is my age. He squeezes my hand with a smile. He is by far the cutest boy I've ever seen, and I've seen some pretty cute boys. My old town, Northfield, another Chicago suburb, had a swimming pool, and all the teenage boys would go there to show off to my friends and I. Usually, I went with school friends, but sometimes I'd go with my best friend, Harriet Abbey, who I met at that youth group I told you about. That was, of course, before she moved to Colorado. Her big move to Greeley was in August of two years before. Her move then to Texas was last August, four months before this.
Talking about Harriet brings me to another cute guy that Phoenix overshadowed. Last March, Harriet's family got into a terrible car crash. The only reason Harriet is still alive is because she wasn't in the car. Her mom, dad, and two sisters, Luka and Kandace, all died. At the funeral, I had to help her through the eulogies because she kept crying. After that, Harriet moved to Texas to live with her dad's sister and her family. Harriet dated this baseball player named Martin for a while. He was really cute! He was with her when I facetimed once. Red hair, sturdy build… of course, he ended up being a complete fake. All he wanted was to add Harriet to his trophy shelf. She broke up with him in October after completely destroying him in the school hallway. Apparently it was a legendary fight.
And there’s Beau, of course.
Anyway, back to our story. Phoenix's eyes sparkle as he squeezes my hand and says,
"Finally, a cute, teenage girl moved into the neighborhood." I blush, saying,
“It’s Sierra.”
"I know," he laughs. My cheeks go red.
"Right." Phoenix waves it off. Then Dallas and Denver say, in unison,
"Wanna play some b-ball?" I agree after some hesitation.
We play for a long time. Phoenix is really good, but he's also not a ball hog. He passes to me even when I'm going to miss.
Eventually, I see a pristine sedan driving up the road.
"That's my dad!" I say in terror, rolling beneath Austin's truck. The boys look on in confusion until I emerge and explain my dad to them. Phoenix grabs a cloth to wash off my face, but there's no way to recreate the fancy twist my mother put in my hair this morning.
“They’re going to know I wasn’t just on a walk!” I say in terror. “I’m never going to be able to hang out with you guys again!” Boston links his arm through mine.
“You’ll be fine. Just act nonchalant and ask you mom to redo it. I saw someone else in the car with your dad.” I freeze.
“Oh, my gosh. We’re having Beau Preston’s family over tonight!”
“Who?” Memphis squints in confusion. I shake my head.
“A big business leader’s son. The whole family is coming over. My parents think that he’s the only boy eligible for me. If my father was here, he'd say that you guys aren’t good enough to be talking to me.” I wince, “Sorry. Anyway, they’re trying to set me up with Beau. Lucas Preston, Beau’s father, was obviously in the car! I have to get back and change so I can help get the dining room ready.” I grab my phone from their porch table and scramble out to the sidewalk.
“Bye!” I call over my shoulder. Then I run as fast as I can towards our big house at the end of the road.
.....
I skid into the kitchen, where I almost bump into our housekeeper, Beatree. She shakes her head at my hair disapprovingly, which is flying everywhere.
“Had a fight with a bush. The bush won,” I gasp.
“Next time, steer clear of the bushes. They like to bite,” my mother’s voice says. I turn around, a smile stretching onto my face. My mother is a little easier to get along with than my father. Of course, she still is a high society social butterfly.
“How do I look, Darling?” She asks as she spins around, her periwinkle dress twirling.
“Beautiful,” I say. “Father will love it. Can you help me get ready?”
My mother ushers me upstairs. She looks in my closet, pulling out my pink suit jacket and skirt. She then twists my hair up even fancier than this morning. It pulls at my scalp, but I don’t complain as she slides a rose quartz comb up to my bun. As I sit at my vanity looking for the comb’s matching necklace and earring set, I ask mother,
“Do you really think Beau is the right guy for me?” She laughs,
“Of course, Darling! What’s wrong? I thought you agreed with your father!” My brain immediately blares ‘danger zone’! I nod,
“Of course, Mother. Father knows best.”
“Your father knows best,” my mom repeats. I am putting my rose quartz earrings in (long, dangly things that pull at my earlobes) when my mother says,
“Oh, no!”
“What? What, Mother?” She grabs my left hand and points to my bare ring finger.
“Your promise ring!”
She’s talking about the promise ring that Beau gave me. You thought they only did that in movies? Well, you’re wrong.
You ask why I accepted the ring if I don’t like Beau. Well, here’s the thing. I hate letting my parents down. I have to get top of my class each year at my private prep academy. I have to make sure that they never find out about my secret youth group (they think I met Harriet at a dance; that she was some classy guy's date). And I have to like Beau. They’d be so disappointed if they found out that I don’t like Beau, that I don’t want to spend my life knitting and hosting parties like my mom, and that I want to be a pilot in the AirForce instead. Oh, and that I might think that our “lowly” neighbor Phoenix is hot.
The ring must have come off when I was playing basketball.
“It must have come off on my walk. I’ll go find it!”
“Okay, but be quick!” my mother says. “And don’t be late!”
I hurry out onto the street. I rush to the Jackson’s house. They’re all still playing. I try not to blush as I walk up, weighed down by a suit, pink high heels, and jewels. Phoenix turns to see me. He raises his eyebrows but reaches in his pocket, pulling out my white gold ring.
“You came for this?” he asks. I nod, rushing to grab it from him.
“Thank you,” I say. He nods, staring at me carefully.
“How do you balance in those shoes?” he asks finally. I laugh.
“I’ve been practicing my whole life. I’m a pro by now.” Houston joins Phoenix, looking at my jewelry, bug-eyed.
“That’s a lot of quartz.” I nod, fingering an earring.
“Now you get to see the everyday me.” Phoenix shakes his head,
“I’m sorry.” I shrug,
“Like I said, I’ve been doing this my whole life. I’m good at the cursed, little rich game.” Phoenix’s eyes go dark.
“So that’s what it is? The cursed rich game?” I look at him in confusion.
“Y-yeah. That’s what I jokingly call it.”
“Being rich isn’t a curse,” little Chicago says. “We don’t have any money.” Phoenix hushes him, but I’ve heard enough. I motion to my outfit.
“You want to live my life? All I want to do is fly a fighter jet, and my parents are telling me to sit around hosting parties in honor of a guy I’m not in love with.”
“At last you aren’t hungry,” Austin rumbles. The brothers form a circle around me, affirming that their parents don’t make enough to feed all of them. I notice for the first time how rundown their house is.
“I’m truly sorry,” I say. “I have to get back before Beau gets here.” I wrap my arms around myself and walk away. I immediately remember the one hundred dollar bill sitting on my desk because I haven't put it in my wallet yet. My monthly allowance.
Maybe they’re right. Maybe my life is actually amazing, and I just can’t see it. Maybe I should be happy to be promised to Beau, who’s dad is even richer than mine. Maybe my dream of being an AirForce pilot is not worth it if my parents have planned such a good life for me.
Maybe I’ve had it good the entire time, and I’m just a selfish brat.
