Boy Next Door

“Excuse me? Can you repeat that?” He asked very confused. I stood there, mentally banging my head against wall. Why did I just tell him that? That was definitely not on my list of things to do tonight.

“I like Marc,” I sighed. He started laughing and I started getting really pissed off. “I’m serious!” I yelled.

“Oh no. I know you’re serious. I also knew you liked Marc way before you did,” he said. I looked up at him with an incredulous look on my face.

“How?”

“I can read you like a book.”

“Okay, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that. Since when have you known that I like him?” I asked curiously.

“Remember the night I drove you home from your soccer game?”

“Yes,” I said, recalling the event.

“Well when Marc took his shirt off your face just practically said that you felt like you were in an awkward situation. Then in the car I could tell you were thinking about him,” he explained. I sat down on the steps. I rested my head in my hands and took a few deep breaths. “No! No,no,no,no,no! Please don’t cry Dannie. I promise I won’t tell the other guys!” he said worriedly. I started laughing, making it look like I was crying. “Please don’t cry,” he whined, rubbing my back trying to soothe me.

“I’m not crying you idiot,” I said. He looked at me angrily.

“You’re so mean,” he said as he lightly shoved me. I brushed off his comment and went back onto the serious subject.

“What should I do?” I asked desperately.

“I think you should tell him,” he said as he put his arm around me in a friendly way. I leaned my head on his should, again, in a friendly way.

“But what if he doesn’t like me? Then it would be all awkward between us,” I said. I let out a frustrated sigh.

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” he said smugly. He sounded like he knew something I didn’t know. I asked him what that was supposed to mean and he just told me he had to go. I let out another frustrated sigh and went upstairs and went to bed.

I woke up the next morning in a particularly happy mood. I shot out of my bed and grabbed a random sweatshirt out of my closet. Only after I put it on did I realize that it was one of Marc’s old Sudbury Wolves sweatshirts that he reluctantly let me ‘borrow.’ I laughed as I looked back on that day.

“Marc! I’m cold! Give me a sweatshirt!” I said as I barged into his apartment.

“Did you really just walk across the hall just to get a sweatshirt?” he asked me.

“No. I rode my magic flying unicorn across the hall,” I said sarcastically.

“Oh really? What’s her name?”

“Actually, it’s a guy and his name is Roberto. He’s really cool. He has an afro and a handlebar moustache. And his hooves have claws like wolverine and laser eyes. He also only eats exotic fruits.” I said like a five-year old describing her imaginary friend.

“I’d like to meet him someday.”

“I bet you would. Now can I please just borrow one of your sweatshirts? All of mine are in the wash,” I pleaded.

“No,” he said sternly. I looked up at him and gave him my best puppy dog face. “You cannot break me.”

“Fine,” I said walking past him and straight into his bedroom. I went to his closet and quickly took all of his clothes off their hangers and tossed them on the floor. I grabbed one of his sweatshirts that was on his bed, threw it on, and walked back out to the main living area. “Next time, you’ll just give me a sweatshirt,” I said evilly as I walked out of his apartment and back into my own. I think he’s still mad at me about that.

I walked, well, more like skipped, out of my room and towards the carpeted staircase. As I took my last hop before I walked down the stairs, I slipped. I fell right on my ass and slid down the entire staircase and onto the tile floor of my kitchen. “Owwwwww! I definitely just bruised my ass!” I whined once I hit the floor. I heard snickering from the other room. “It’s not funny Maddie!” I yelled.

“Madison’s not here. She’s gone,” the mysterious voice said.

“Wow Lauren. You are so bad at disguising your voice,” I said while laughing.

“Dammit!” she huffed as she walked into the kitchen and crossed her arms over her chest. “I was hoping I could scare you.”

“Well, you can’t. Now tell me about your date last night. I promised Mike I wouldn’t ask him. So I have to ask you.” Her face lit up as soon as I mentioned Mike’s name.

“Well, I did exactly what you said. I was myself throughout the entire date,” she said leaving out the details. I gave her a face that said ‘go on, give me the details.’ She did as I requested. “Well went to the outdoor shopping center in Toronto and just started walking and talking and stuff. Then we went to the pizza place and his girlfriend showed up. She didn’t believe that I was his girlfriend so I did the only thing I could think of to make her believe me. I kissed him,” she gushed.

“Way to go Lauren,” I squealed as I gave her a hi-five. I walked past her and over to the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

“Okay, well I have to go pick up some stuff at the store for my mom,” she sighed. I watched as she headed towards the door in a very slow manner. I know, people just walk slowly sometimes, but this was slower than slow. “Well I’m off to the store. After telling my best friend something huge without her telling me anything in return,” she said dramatically. I could tell she wanted to know something. What it was, I couldn’t tell you.

“What’s up with you today?” I asked, annoyed at how she was acting.

“Oh nothing. It’s just that I told you something very important so I thought you should tell me something important in return,” she said in the same tone.

“Just tell me what’s going on. If you don’t tell me, just remember that I can make your freshman year horrible,” I said starting to get angry. She stood there staring at me, pondering whether she wanted to tell me what was on her mind.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU LIKE MARC STAAL!” she yelled at me after a few minutes. My jaw dropped and I felt like I had seen a ghost. How did she find out? Mike and Madison are the only people I told.

“How… How did you know?” I asked. She slammed her hand against her head, realizing she shouldn’t have said that.

“Mike told me last night,” she sighed, realizing she wasn’t going to get away with not telling me how she found out.

“I have to remember to kill that boy when I get home,” I mumbled as I walked outside to the backyard porch. Lauren took that as an opportunity to leave before I got angry at her.

I walked outside to the porch in the backyard and sat on the steps. I looked out into the backyard and saw the old soccer net I used to use when I was a child. Those were the times. Things were so much simpler back then. There was no stress of trying to keep your grades up to keep a scholarship, no stress of everyone relying on you to save the game, and no guys. I let out a sigh and decided to go for a walk down to the lake instead.

I walked down to the lake at the end of the block. It was a Monday afternoon so no one was out on their boats. I walked out to the end of the dock, took my flip-flops off and stuck my feet in the water. As much as I tried to stay away from the subject, I kept thinking about Marc. Does he like me? I doubt it. But what about what Mike said? What was that supposed to mean? I have to tell him. I mean, the other guys will still like me no matter what. Right? Why is life so confusing?