The Boy Next Door

Chapter Three

Throwing my bag on the stairs, I entered the kitchen and grabbed the sunny delight from the fridge.

"Hi sweets, how was your first fresher day?" Mum said as she walked into the kitchen. She huffed, grabbing the bottle from my hand. "What have I said about drinking from the bottle."

I wiped my mouth and retorted, "It was shit as always; thanks for asking." Blaming her for giving me an awful start to the day. If she had let me out at the weekend, I wouldn't have felt so sour, and that's all there was to it.

She stopped and scowled, "Ashley, watch your language." I said nothing.

Her big round stare scanned my pissed-off expression as I ruffled through my pocket and met the detention slip in my hand. Mum sighed, "Another one? What for this time? Only you could manage this when you're not actually in school." She snatched it from my grasp with a pen at the ready, having become used to the pink letter returning home with me.

"Laughing," I sneered before trailing myself towards the stairs.

Zoe excitedly rushed down the stairs and past me, still dressed in her bright blue chequered uniform. "Mum, Mum, can I go next door and see the new boy? He was in my class today," she squealed, skipping around the kitchen.

"Yes, sweetheart, I spoke to his mum earlier. Just knock on the door and be polite. I'll call you when it's dinner time."

"You must be joking," I let out with a frown.

"What?" Mum said, furrowing her brows.

Oh my f in god, I thought. I had never been around a boy's house. It wasn't only my peers, but my nine-year-old sister had more of a social life than me.

Shaking my head at them, I grabbed my bag and walked up the stairs muttering, "Forget it."

I entered my poster-filled room and went straight to the window, wondering who this new boy was. Observing the street, no one looked to be moving in, and I heard no cluttering. Then Zoe's annoying little voice came from my left, echoing right through me.

Opening the window, I pushed it wide, taking my feet from the floor and gripping the windowsill to look out into the garden that backed onto the side of my front garden. There she was, playing with some blond boy. I watched her for a minute, laughing, screeching and dancing around, wishing I could go back to being that young.

Zoe wasn't going to struggle with her school reputation unless Mum had anything to do with it. And by the looks of things, it was only me who was banned from having any kind of fun.

I leaned on my elbows, fiddling with my earrings, looking on until the patio door slid open. My eyes lifted, and my jaw dropped. My heart was suddenly in my mouth. I felt the pink pigments form in my cheeks and the heat in my chest rise as I gazed at a boy, the most compelling I had ever seen. His hair was dark blond, straight, and messy, with his fringe falling to the right. His skin was tanned, his smile contagious, and I was beaming at him like some foolish, love-sick schoolgirl.

He pushed his brother over jokingly and said hello to my sister as he picked up a football, wiping it on his shirt before dropping it to his foot. Zoe being near him had me dying a little inside, and I wanted to go straight round there to meet him, but I was all sorts of chicken.

I watched him perform an incredible number of kick-ups, not to mention his bronze, toned legs in his baggy football shorts. My eyes didn't leave his Man United kit; the red shade had me drawn to it, and so had he. I wanted to stay and watch, but I needed to tell Lauren, Sophie, Katie, or Hannah. Anyone.

Reaching over to my bag on my bed, I placed it on the windowsill, keeping my eyes on him. Quickly taking out my phone, it fumbled in my hand and knocked a photo frame out of the window.

"Shit," I gasped, peering at the mess and then back to his garden. The boy paused, looked up and scanned my window, making me quickly duck back into my bedroom.

My heart pounded hard in my chest, and my adrenaline ran high. Experiencing the quickest crush I had ever had on the boy next door, a boy I didn't even know. I laughed at how foolish I felt, at how ridiculous I was being.

After composing myself, I crawled away from the window and ran down the stairs, opening the front door to claim my broken photo.

"Holy crap," I said. My new neighbour was standing on the driveway with my possession in his hand.

Oh god, he was beyond gorgeous.

He was perfect.

He had little brown freckles dotting his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. His dark and alluring brown eyes were like a pool of melted chocolate. Nike trainers and a cap added to his charismatic style, and his floating aroma pinged my nostrils so intently I could taste him. Standing before me like a dream, he curiously smiled as I lost my tongue.

"Is this yours?" he asked in a smooth voice, looking at the photo and then at me. He licked his small thin lips as he gazed at me, melting my insides and taking my breath away as I stood flustered.

"Yes. Yes, it is," I stuttered, blushing with an embarrassed laugh, struggling to combine my words. "It fell out of the window."

He passed me the wooden frame with the photo of my dad and me. "Here you go. Do you want me to clear the glass?"

"Thanks," I said, taking it shyly. "No, it's fine; I'll do it."

Nodding, he stepped back. "I'm Olly. I just moved in next door."

"Ashley," I gulped. "My sister is over there. She has made friends with your brother." I tucked my hair behind my ear, realising that this was, by far, the longest conversation I had ever had with a boy, and for once, it was going well.

"Cool, I start school tomorrow. Do you go to Bailey High? My mum has insisted I go to keep me busy over the next few weeks, though it's pointless if you ask me," Olly said, surprising me. He looked older and seemed much more mature than the boys I knew.

"Yeah, I do," I said, looking down at my embroidered polo clinging to my body. "And you're right; it is pointless."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then." He smiled, and my heart skipped a beat. Emotions of happiness flew right through me, igniting me in ways I didn't know were possible.

With no words, I just nodded, taking my lower lip between my teeth as he walked to the edge of the driveway. Olly waved before disappearing around the corner. I was stunned and shell-shocked for a long second before my chest relaxed.

It wasn't until I heard his voice again over the fence that I noticed I was still standing on my driveway as if stuck to the tarmac. I shook my thoughts aside with a giggle, went into the garage, grabbed a dush pan and brush, and cleared the glass before going back inside, running straight to my bedroom.

Laying on my double bed, I clung to the photo frame in one hand with my phone in the other. I looked at the screen, about to text Lauren, but then didn't.

I decided not to tell anyone about my new neighbour: a delicious-smelling, gorgeous, sporty boy who, no doubt, by nine a.m., would have forgotten all about me.