The Boy Next Door

Saturday. The day of Derek and I's date. The day I've waited so long for. Everything has to be perfect.

I plugged in my flat iron, turned the music up to eleven, and put on the dress Lexi got me for Christmas. I remembered laughing when I opened the box she wrapped in. Does she really expect me to wear this?, I thought. I flashed her a smile and politely thanked her. When I got home that night, I stashed the dress in the back of my closet, thinking there would never be a need to wear it.

But that was months ago. Everything was different last Christmas. For one, Lexi wasn't pregnant. Her and Shane were the model high school couple. All the girls wanted to a boyfriend like Shane and all the boys wanted to fool around with a girl like Lexi. She used to take that as a compliment, even though I told her numerous times it wasn't.

Now, here I am, examining the flow of the skirt and how the red color makes my skin look amazing. When I had seen the dress before, it was a frilly piece of fabric, but now I feel like it's some magical cloth that gives girls confidence and beauty. If that makes any sense.

I straightened my hair and applied my make up. I was completely ready to go. When I looked at the clock I realized I still had forty five minutes to spare. I hadn't been nervous before, but the feeling was beginning to soak in. What if Derek realizes he doesn't like me? What if I spill food on myself? What if I spill food on him?? My mind started to fill with horrifying thoughts.

My phone buzzed with a text from Matt. Hey. U busy? I need 2 talk 2 u

My heart started going crazy. What could he have possibly wanted to talk about? What's up? I replied.

Seconds later my phone buzzed again. B there n a sec

Next thing I knew, my doorbell rang and there was a knock at the door three times. Matt's secret code to come outside and take a walk with him. By the time I had grabbed my coat and made it out the door, he was already half way to the sidewalk.

"Hey! Wait up!" I called.

Matt turned around and, boy, did he look like hell! His hair was going in different directions, his clothes were wrinkled, and it wouldn't have hurt for him to shave. To anyone else, he probably would have looked like a drunk homeless guy, but to me, he was still beautiful. Once I got closer to him, I could see in his eyes that he was upset about something. He looked me up and down and started to blush. "You goin some where? All ya had to do was tell me you were busy and I wou-"

I cut him off. "What's wrong?"

There was a blank expression on his face. I knew it meant he was thinking about what to say. The same expression he had when he broke up with me. Like he was trying to arrange all his thoughts so they would make sense and he was sure they wouldn't offend me. Not like a few weeks ago, when he told me everything he liked about me and then Sophie showed up.

He stood there for a long time just staring at me. I started to get impatient. Derek would drive up soon and it wouldn't be a pretty picture if Matt was here. Yet, I didn't really care. If Matt wanted to just stand in my driveway, then so be it. I had to say something though. There was definitely something bothering him. I took a deep breathe and was about to open my mouth to say something, when his lips came crashing into mine.

I couldn't move. I was in such shock, I just stood there, while Matt kissed me. I had been waiting for that moment for as long as I could remember. I mean, yeah we kissed when we went out, but we were going out. Now I had a boyfriend and he had a girlfriend, yet there we were standing. Sharing a kiss.

That's when I started to kiss back.