Journey into love

Chapter Eight

Song of the chapter: Lucky- Exo.

  Chloe and I headed to the bus-stop on Monday afternoon and sat, waiting for her mom to come pick us up. I was going to check out their new house. She had texted her earlier that we were waiting. Jace had been so busy with his team, that he barely had time to spare for us. That's what Chloe had been ranting about, during lunch.

      "And so, he walked up to me this morning and said to me, 'Do you have a ride to school?'" Obviously, she was talking about her new neighbor. Anytime she asked about mine, I steered off the subject. She didn't care much, though because she was too engrossed in her topics of discussion.

      I rolled my eyes at her for being to dramatic. She got up, looking awestruck and acted out her response.

      She brought her left hand up to her chest, her right hand over her mouth, which she kept hung open, with wide eyes. This resulted into way too much laughter for me to hold in.

      "You look ridiculous, Chlo." I choked out, admist laughter. She joined in too.

      "Sit and stop being so embarrassing." I scolded again. "Nick Jonas is definitely hotter, though." Only her expression was enough to send me laughing to the point of tears again.

      "Your mouse shouldn't find you fangirling over another guy." I teased.

      "Mickey is not the jealous type." She replied. Her nickname for him was Mickey. I told her that it was absurd. His name was Micheal and she nicknamed him after a Disney character. That was why I called him 'mouse'.

      "Besides, you haven't met him. Stop calling him a mouse too." Oh no! I knew what was coming next when I saw her eyes widen as realisation hit her.

      "You haven't met him!" She repeated again. This time, louder. "You should meet him. I can't believe I haven't introduced you both."

      That's because there isn't any reason to." I stated as a matter of fact. "Besides, I already met him when you guys were eating your faces off." A slight blush crept up her cheeks at my mention of that night at the club.

      She didn't seem to mind, though. She began to ramble on about all the extra qullities that 'mouse' came with. I let her talk, without disrupting her. I guessed that if she stopped talking now, she'd start interrogating me about what happened yesterday and she'd find it fishy that I was changing subjects again. I knew though, that it was only temporary and that she'd finally find a way to get it out of me.

      After what seemed like forever, Mrs Cooper pulled up in front of us. We hopped into the back seat. Chloe gave her mom a peck on her cheeks and I did the same too. It could've been weird, doing that to any other friend's parent. She asked us how school went today and we told her it was fine. We could've drove in silence if Chloe didn't start talking again. This time, about random stuff.

**                     **                    **

      Mrs Cooper pulled into their driveway. The house looked just a little bigger than the one they were previously staying in. A little fence surrounded the building. The house on the right wasn't much bigger. I could hear a dog barking from there. We got out of the car and headed inside. From my peripheral view, I saw a car also pull into their neighbor's driveway.

      Inside the house, I looked around. Not so much work had been done concerning arranging the boxed stuff downstairs. I followed Chloe upstairs and she showed me her new room. Unlike the rest of the house, her room was neatly arranged. Her stuff was already put in drawers and the closet. From her window, I could see the neighbors' house clearly. The room facing hers was also visible from here, just like how my room and hers were facing each other, before.

      I sat on the window seat and she sat in front of me. "You arranged these all by yourself?" I questioned.

      "Yeah, I did and if you've looked through my window and you're still wondering why I got my room so fixed up early, you're the dumbest person I know!" She exclaimed, laughing.

      I looked out the window and it still wasn't making any sense. "Who was the dumbest person you knew before me?" I asked.

      "You." She said, with a serious look. I furrowed my eyebrows. "So, I topped the leaderboard again?" I asked again, putting up a serious face too.

      "Obviously." She replied. We stared at each other for a while, still looking serious. I didn't even realise we'd gotten into a staring contest until Chloe's eyes began to water.

      A tear slid down.

      And another.

      She blinked.

      I blinked and then, we bursted into laughter. I was rolling on the floor, with water in my eyes. Chloe joined me on the floor too until we couldn't laugh anymore and we began to gasp for breath.

      "Okay, so tell me why I'm dumb." I demanded, sitting back up. "That room," she pointed towards her neighbor's window. "Belongs to my hot neighbor." She continued. "And you can see clearly what goes on in there. Like how our rooms were, when we were neighbors. He can also see what goes on in my room when I lift my curtains."

      "Oh." I laughed again. She was trying to keep appearances, though she wasn't one to do that. "You could always put down your curtains. He won't see if your room is disorganised." She stared at me and rolled her eyes.

      "Seriously? I've lived next door to you for so long and you haven't figured that I rarely let the curtains down?"

      I raised my hands up in mock surrender. "Crucify me. I'm not trying to be a bloody creep that stares at your room all day and night."

      We stopped to imagine that and we laughed again. It was fun to be around Chloe. Funny how just a look at each other would send us laughing.

      It was evening when I left Chloe's. She followed me out the door. I'd told Mrs Cooper that I could take a bus home because she was busy. She'd insisted but I assured her that it was fine.

      At the same time we got out the door, the neighbors' door came open too and four boys stepped out. One with brown hair, another with blonde hair, one with red hair and the last one had black hair. They all looked to be about the same height. Two of the boys stood, facing each other, the one with the blonde hair and the other with black hair. The other two, lingered around, their backs to us.

      Chloe's phone rang then and she held up a finger, picking up the call. From the way she was smiling, I guessed it was mouse that was calling.

      As I moved forward, the two boys walked down the path too, the others, still occupied with their conversation. One of them looked somehow familiar but the other one with the black hair, I could never mistake. They looked in my direction, but I wasn't sure if they were looking at me.

      What was Jace doing here?

      I turned my body, fully facing them now, even though they were few metres away. Jace looked up at me and caught my eyes. He immediately turned the other way but there was no denying that he saw me.

      With an annoyed look on my face, I started to walk over. I'd almost gotten to where he was, with his back turned to me and then, a voice stopped me in my tracks.

      "What the hell? Are you stalking me now?" I looked forward and it was none other than my new neighbor, Mr arrogant.

A/N:
Haha. I'm a sucker for cliffhangers. It's just so exciting to end a chapter in suspense.😈😂 Beware! Many more chapters to come will end like this.
Please, your votes and comments are needed.

QOTC: What do you think of Chloe's character? Let me know your thoughts!
Btw, I think Chloe and Annie's relationship is adorable. Who agrees with me?😅

Lots of love,
Hanie.😘