Chapter Text
Neteyam sat in the car, staring outside the window into the dark night. His little brother Lo'ak sat next to him, listening to music over his headphones. It was so loud that the car was filled with the annoying ruffle of Lo'ak's music. Neteyam turned his head around to see his sisters on the backseat finally asleep. Tuk, the youngest Sully family member cried at the beginning of the drive. Nobody wanted to leave their old place and friends. He sighed in relief at the sight of his sixteen year old sister Kiri, who cried for hours on the phone, leaving her boyfriend Miles behind. Turning back and glimpsing at the front seats, Neteyam found his mother asleep as well. His father Jake was driving and humming softly to the sound of the song on the radio.
"Everything alright back there?", Jake asked whispering, looking into the back mirror. Neteyam breathed out a silent "yes" and continued to look back out of the window.
The streets and unfamiliar signs passed by and all Neteyam could think of was home. He loved their little house, sharing a room with three of his siblings. The tiny front yard, which Kiri turned into a mini jungle of all different kinds of plants and of course their friends.
Miles Socorro had been a friend of the Sully's for years now. He lived down the street and went to the same school as Neteyam. He and his two years younger brother Lo'ak befriended the boy quickly and spent all their free time together. They mostly played outside in the forest nearby, building treehouses and practicing their battle skills with sticks. Neteyam wished desperately for time to stop and being a child again but since Jake had found a new job in a lab near the coast, the children had to grow up fast.
He was almost never home, so their mother Neytiri took care of everything. She missed her husband too much and so did Neteyam and his siblings. Especially the two boys had a hard time growing up without their father being present all the time. They looked so much up to him and Neteyam decided in his early years that he wanted to become a biologist as well.
Therefore, he concentrated hardly on his school work to earn enough credits to apply to one of the best universities in the country. Lo'ak on the other hand couldn't keep himself out of trouble and used to get into fights easily. Miles wasn't much helping because he tended to have an attitude and a temper as well. The mixture of these two boys meant always trouble, which only Neteyam seemed to calm.
A few years later, Miles confessed that he was in love with Kiri for a long time and she reciprocated the feelings. They've been together for almost three years now and therefore it was a breakdown for Kiri, when Jake and Neytiri told them they were going to move away.
—————
Neteyam didn't realize that he dozed off into sleep, so he winced at the rough touch of Lo'ak's hand, trying to shake him awake.
"Bro, we're almost there, get up!", Lo'ak screamed into Neteyam's ear. "Shh Lo'ak! Your sisters are still sleeping! It took them hours to fall asleep!", Neytiri hisses at her youngest son. Neteyam tried to open his sleepy eyes carefully, the sunlight shone directly into his face. He rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands and gave Lo'ak a tense look. His brother just rolls his eyes and looks excitedly out of the window like a little kid.
Neteyam turned his head around and a road of similar looking brick houses extend in front of the car. It looks very comfortable and family friendly, with all the blushing trees and nice front yards ahead. Jake turns left and pulls into a dead end road, where a huge mansion extends. "Woah massive house!", Lo'ak astounded and Jake just chuckled in his driver's seat. "Yeah, sadly it's not ours. It's the mayor's residence and they're living next to us so we need to be on our best behavior!", the father explained and pulls over to a rather smaller house- compared to the mayor's mansion. By the words 'best behavior', Lo'ak sighed and Neteyam slapped his brothers shoulder. "Leave me!", he hissed and Neteyam just laughed quietly at his brother's reaction.
————
Soon, all of the Sully's helped unloading the car and carried their belongings into their new house. It was much larger than their old one and every sibling got their own room. When they first entered the house, Jake and Neytiri left their children to decide who gets which room. To their surprise, the moving company unloaded the truck before the Sully's arrived so the family had less work to do.
Neteyam didn't mind at all, he just was somehow glad that his room would be much tidier and more hygienic without Lo'ak. But he thought a bit about how in the world they could afford something like this.
The younger ones ran upstairs to catch the best room, so the oldest of the kids, was left with the last room of the upper hallway. He still had to share an in between bathroom with Lo'ak but he appreciated the silence and privacy he would have in his new room.
There was a large window at the other side of the room, facing one of the neighbor's windows. Neteyam moved closer and tried to open it. It went open really smoothly and he took a deep breath. The fresh morning air flashed the teenager and he suddenly felt more awake than before.
He could see a dark curtain being pulled away from the neighbor's window, a tall young boy with his hair tied up to a bun facing Neteyam in shock.
It was a bit embarrassing for Neteyam to stare into that boy's face and violating his privacy. But he waved happily at the boy, turned around and went back downstairs to grab the rest of his stuff.
"Already finished, sweetheart?", Neytiri asked her oldest son while carrying a box which said 'cups and plates'. "No not quite yet...I think I might have just seen one of our new neighbors upstairs, maybe at my age!", Neteyam exclaimed rather absent than excited.
Jake entered the kitchen and reached out for Neytiri's box.
"Thank you honey!", she thanked her husband and reached back to her son. "That sounds nice, maybe he or she goes to your school as well."
"It was a boy...", Neteyam murmured, lifting up a box with his name on it. "That must be Tonowari's son!", Jake exclaimed happily. "Such a nice young man!", he continued. "Mhmm..", Neteyam mumbled and went back upstairs with his box to unpack.
On the stairs, he almost bumped into an excited Lo'ak.
"Bro, you won't believe what our neighbors have!", he told his older brother and grabbed him by his hand to drag him into his room.
From Lo'ak's window one could see a huge swimming pool and a hot tub next to it. Both boys were clearly astounded by the sight because they've never seen so much luxury in someone's garden before.
It was right at that moment when a girl with long curly hair dived into the pool next door. She had a slim waist and a tan, which was accentuated by neon pink swimsuit.
Neteyam heard a loud gulping sound from the person beside him and looked amusedly into Lo'ak's face. He chuckled at the sight of his brother crushing on the girl next door and shook his head, leaving his brother staring out the window.
He went back to his room, noticing that the boy from next door had disappeared. Neteyam was relieved that he was gone so he could unpack his things quickly and tidy everything up as soon as possible.
After maybe hours, he suddenly felt his stomach rumble, feeling the urge to go down and grab something to eat. But before exiting his room, he quickly checked his phone, being surprised about some new messages in the family group chat.
The Sully's (Mother ❤️, Dad, Kiri, mighty warrior 2.0)
(Dad): Stores are closed here on weekends, got an invitation from the mayor. Dinner's at his place tonight 👍🏼
(Mother ❤️): Thanks for letting me know ma Jake! We can't go there with empty hands 🙄
(Mighty warrior 2.0): Seriously??!! Wtf
(Kiri): Lo'ak behave! Don't embarrass us!
(Neteyam): When will we leave?
(Mother❤️): Dad said at 6
(Dad): 👍🏼
(Mighty warrior 2.0): 🙄😡 I'm starving!
(Neteyam): 👌🏾
——————-
Neteyam took one last glance at the mirror, checking if his outfit would suit him. He quickly nodded to himself and headed down to his family. His mother already stood there, fully prepared for leaving and holding Tuk on her hips.
"You look nice, sweetheart!", she complimented her son, who immediately smiled at his mother back. Soon, all the Sully's gathered around in the entry hall and were ready to leave their new house for dinner.
To Neteyam, it still felt a bit strange, being invited by the mayor who happened to live next door. At his old hometown this would definitely never happened and especially not for dinner! 'What a strange town!' Neteyam thought to himself, crossing the pathway up to Mayor Metkayina's house.