The Girl Next Door

Cam Lund dragged his bookbag through the fall leaves on his way home from school. The sun was setting earlier, now, and the orange made the trees golden. He stopped at the streetlight on Fanton Avenue and leaned against a nearby tree. The light turned green, and Cam crossed the street.
"Hey, Cam!! Wait up!!". Cam's best friend, Emmie Bruce, dashed across the road and stood panting by his side with her hands on her knees. Finally, she straightened up and grinned. "Thanks for waiting for me after school, jerk!!" She punched him in the arm to show she was kidding. They started walking again.
Cam poked Emmie in the back and said, "I would have waited if you hadn't been late again." And she laughed her childish laugh. For some unknown reason, he felt his face grow hot. "And anyways," he continued. "I have to get home early tonight for practice."
Emmie wrinkled her tiny ski-slope nose and said, "Football AGAIN?? You practice EVERY DAY!! We never hang out anymore!!" Cam shook his head, even though it was true.
"We hung out at the park yesterday. And we walk home together every afternoon. And tomorrow, I don't have practice. So we're going to the zoo." She clapped her hands and he laughed.
That night, Cam lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. He thought of his best friend...how much he cared about her. A lopsided grin spread across his face. He thought of her eyes...the prettiest eyes in the world. And her perfect smile...Cam began to blush. Then he thought of what had happened that afternoon, walking home from school...why had he blushed when she laughed?? It made no sense...after all, she was his best friend...that's all...he didn't LIKE her...did he?? Cam reached over to his nightstand drawer, opened it, and took out a photo of himself and Emmie jumping in a pile of leaves. In the picture, they were holding hands. Suddenly, he sat upright in his bed. He could hardly believe it...he was in love with Emmie!!
Cam sat in his bed, stunned. How could he love Emmie?? When did he start?? How could he love her?? He still held the photograph of the two of them in his hand, staring blankly at it. Emmie. Sweet, childish, little brown-eyed Emmie. His best friend. And he loved her.
He put his hand over his sea green eyes. This was a disaster...it would ruin everything!! He could never tell her. Running his hand through his short, black hair, he sighed. He needed to clear his head.
He got out of bed and went to the double glass doors leading to his balcony and stood in the cool autumn air. The balcony faced Emmie's. When he and Emmie were younger, she used to climb from her balcony to his and they would play together until they dozed off, and in the morning their parents would find them. But they were too old for that, now.
Cam breathed in the fresh air and leaned over the marble edge of the balcony. He thought of Emmie. Of everything he liked about her. Then he pictured the two of them together in his mind. The image was beautiful. The top of Emmie's head just reached his nose and her brilliant blue eyes were crinkled with laughter at the corners. She looked...like an angel. He found himself blushing once more, and quickly shook the picture out of his head.
So...this was how it was...he'd fallen for the girl who was not only his best friend, but also the girl next door. A light switched on in Emmie's bedroom window, and Cam retreated into his room.
Long after he'd closed his nightstand drawer on Emmie's picture and huddled up in his bed, he stayed awake. He wondered how he could have just realized how much he loved her. He wondered if she ever thought about him. He wondered about Emmie...she was like a mystery to him, even though they knew almost everything about each other. Of course, he would never admit to being in love with her. Not yet, anyways.
Cam must have dozed off because before he knew it, the sun was dancing across his face through the double glass doors. He wondered for a moment why he felt so tired...then he remembered it. He'd stayed up all night thinking. About being...in love...with Emmie. He sat up, then groaned and layed back down again. His head throbbed from lack of sleep. He lay there for a while, then finally stood and walked to his bathroom.
Standing in front of the mirror was a 14 year old boy with dark circles under his green eyes and dishiveled black hair. Cam yawned, and the boy in front of the mirror yawned, too. He really needed to stop staying up quite so late.
Shutting the front door of his house behind him, he walked down the front walk towards the intersection where Emmie was waiting with her bookbag and jacket slung across her arm. At the sight of his friend...the one he loved...he felt his face grow hot again. When she saw Cam, a grin spread across her face and she said the familiar greeting.
"Hi, stranger!!" Her voice was lovely...the way it carried and floated. Cam lifted his hand sleepily in response. He reached her side and they walked across the street together. She looked at him, worriedly.
"You look horrible!! Didn't you sleep at all??" Cam shook his head, and she continued. "Well, that was stupid!! Why not??"
He looked at the ground, then at Emmie, flushed a deep red, then looked back at the ground before stammering, "I...uh...um...had to...do a lot of homework.". She seemed to buy it, and rolled her eyes.
"Figures. Theyy pile the homework on just before Halloween. What are you going as??" she said. They had reached the middle school and began walking across the parking lot to join their other friends.
Emmie waved to Ean, a friend of both hers and Cam's, and he grinned and went over to them. "Hey guys!! What's up??"
Cam and Emmie groaned and said together, "Homework. Ugh." The three friends burst into laughter. For a minute, no one could say a word. But then Ean wiped a tear out of his eye and sanity regained control.
"I heard Mr. B is retiring next year. Can you believe it?? He doesn't look a day over 80!!" The trio once again collapsed into fits of laughter at Ean's remark.
A bell sounded and the crowd of middle school students flooded into the halls of Rydell Junior High...called Rydell Junior by everyone in the city.