Boy Next Door

I sat on my bed looking at all of my suitcases that are now filled with all of my clothes. I lugged my luggage down the stairs one by one and shoved them into the trunk of my car. My dog, Balto, followed me the entire time. Even though dogs can’t frown, I could tell he was sad that I was leaving. After putting all of my things in my car I walked back into my kitchen. My sister stood there with a frown on her face. Maddie and I were always really close, even though we are four years apart. I decided that I would say goodbye to her last. I walked over to my dad who had a normal expression on his face. He was sad that I was leaving, but not in tears like my mother.

“Bye baby girl,” he whispered in my ear as we hugged.

“Bye daddy. I’ll miss you,” I replied.

“I’ll miss you, too. Good-luck this year,” he said. I gave him a smile as we separated. I looked over at my mom who had tears running down her cheeks.

“Mom, it’s not like I’m never going to see you again. I’ll be back in a month for Madison’s wedding,” I said, trying to cheer her up.

“I know that. I’m just going to miss you. That’s all,” she replied. The rest of that goodbye was just like mine with my father. I gave my mother another quick hug before I turned to Maddie.

“I’m going to miss you,” I said.

“I’m going to miss you, too,” she said as she wrapped me in a hug. “Good luck with becoming a photographer. Maybe you can recommend one to do my wedding for me,” she chuckled.

“Maybe not. He only one I know is my teacher and I’m like a million times better,” I laughed.

“Now, go get that boy of yours,” she whispered in my ear as she wrapped me in another hug. I laughed at her comment. All of us just stood there for a few moments not saying anything.

“Okay!” Maddie said, knocking us all out of our trances. “Dannie has a long car ride back to NYU and I have to go pick out her bridesmaid’s dress.”

“Of course you would do that right after I leave,” I sighed as I started walking towards my car. I was given another round of hugs by each of my family members before I hopped in my car and headed back to NYU.

*~*~*~*~*

I looked at my clock as I pulled into the parking garage of my apartment complex. I sighed; it was already 8:30. I grabbed one of my bags and pulled it towards the elevator bank. I pushed the button and patiently waited for one of the doors to open. After a few moments, the door to my left opened. I walked inside and watched the doors gracefully close. I pressed the button for the seventh floor and leaned against the side of the elevator. The doors opened up and I grabbed my suitcase and walked down the hallway towards my apartment.

I walked down the hall towards the big windows at the end of the hallway right next to my apartment. I looked out the window and let a smile creep its way onto my lips. Coming back to the city after being home for a while always did that to me. It was such a good change of lifestyle. At home everything is so relaxed, but here, everything is so fast paced. I let out a sigh as I turned to face the door of my apartment. Most of it was the same. It was the same white door with the same gold numbers, except it had a note on it.

If you want help bringing up all of your suitcases, just let me know.
-Marc =)

I smiled at the note and decided that I would most likely take him up on his offer. I grabbed my keys out of my pocket. I fiddled around with the keys until I found the right one. I stuck the key in the lock and opened the door to my apartment. Everything was just as it was when I left. I unpacked the one bag I brought up which happened to be the one with my bras and panties. After I finished putting that stuff away, I turned around to go get Marc to help me get my bags. I continuously banged on his door until he answered. He had an annoyed look on is face when he opened the door, probably from me banging on it. I flashed him an innocent smile and he immediately cheered up.

“Dannie!” he screamed as he picked me up and twirled me around. I let out a little scream from his unexpected actions. “I missed you!”

“I missed you, too,” I chuckled as he set me down.

“I’m guessing you want help with your bags,” he said.

“Yes, I would.”

“Okay. If you want I have an extra chicken Caesar sandwich from the sandwich shop down the street,” he said gesturing towards the table in his kitchen.

“Actually, that sounds really good.”

“You go eat and I’ll bring up your bags.”

“Okey dokey,” I said as I skipped into his apartment. I plopped myself down on one of his kitchen chairs and ate the sandwich in peace. He was being really nice tonight. Should I tell him tonight? No, I just came home. I’ll give it some time before I tell him. Marc came back into the apartment just as I finished my sandwich. He smiled at me and grabbed a bottle of water for himself. I thanked him and told him that I needed to unpack my bags. He understood and let me leave.

Just as I closed the door I heard him call out, “Paybacks a bitch!” Confused, I walked straight into my bedroom. I let a gasp escape my mouth, understanding what Marc meant. All of my clothes were dumped onto the floor and carelessly thrown around my room. Marc had finally gotten even with me for that. Defeated, I started to put all my clothes away.

I finished around 11 and decided that I would just go to sleep instead of watching TV. I crawled into my bed and instantly fell asleep with thoughts of Marc filling my head. I definitely have a problem.

*~*~*~*~*

I woke up the next morning to the sound of American Idiot blaring from my phone. I picked it up and looked at the caller ID. I smiled when I saw the name.

“Hi Marc,” I answered as cheerfully as I could. He told me that all of the guys were going out for breakfast at one of the diners for breakfast in an hour. I told him that I’d be there. I threw the sheets off me and went to go take a shower. I turned the water on and got in right away, not waiting for the water to heat up.

I got out of the shower and quickly dried my hair. I looked at my reflection in the mirror, deciding whether or not I should put on make-up. I put on mascara and eyeliner and decided that I looked fine with just that. I walked over to my full length mirror and looked over my outfit one more time; a white tee-shirt from Hollister with a peace sign in the middle, blue and white plaid shorts, and neon blue converse, my unhealthy obsession. I nodded my head in approval of my outfit, grabbed my cracked phone and wallet, and walked over to Marc’s apartment.

I opened the door to my apartment and saw Marc standing there about to knock on my door. I gave him a small smile and he gave me one, too.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked. I nodded as we linked arms and skipped down the hallway shouting “Follow he yellow brick road!” We always did that when we were walking together.

About 10 minutes later we showed up at the diner, but not the one I worked at. We had to park about a block away from the diner. On our walk there we skipped shouting follow the yellow brick road, again. We walked into the diner and saw the guys right away. I unlinked my arm from Marc’s and ran right into Brandon’s arms. If I didn’t know better, I would say that Marc got a little jealous.

“BRANDON!” I yelled. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” he chuckled. “I hope you didn’t get in to much trouble while I was gone.”

“I tried.”

“Okay, okay. Now where’s my hello?” Matt asked.

“MATT!” I yelled with just as much enthusiasm as I did before. I ran into his arms and sighed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked me worriedly. I looked up at him like he was ridiculous.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing is wrong,” I said with a smile on my face.

“Good.” I glanced over at Mike and saw him talking to Marc and kept seeing them occasionally taking glances over at me

I sat down and started looking at the menu. In a few minutes a waitress came by to take our orders for drinks. The guys ordered coffees, but not me. No, I ordered chocolate milk. The woman gave me an odd look. “What? A 20 year old can’t order chocolate milk! What kind of society do we live in where twenty year olds can’t order chocolate milk without getting odd stares from other people?” I yelled at her. She walked away with an annoyed look on her face. She came back with my chocolate milk almost immediately.

“There, are you happy now?” she asked in a rude tone as she slammed the glass down on the table, spilling chocolate milk all over my shirt.

“You did not just do that,” I said, getting out of my chair. She was taller than me, but I was stronger, I could tell. I brought my arm back and was about to punch the woman when I was tackled to the ground.

“Dannie, you don’t want to do that. Trust me,” Brandon said, trying to be my voice of reason. I got up off the ground and walked out of the restaurant. I sat down on the ground and leaned against the side of the building, not caring how dirty the ground probably was. After a few minutes of trying to blow off some steam someone sat down next to me. I looked at the man sitting next to me. It was none other than… Marc Staal! He looked out onto the street, just like I was before he sat down next to me.

“What was that all about?” he laughed, trying to lighten my mood.

“That woman is such a bitch!” I said as angrily as I could.

“Oh come on. It’s a little mean to say that about someone you don’t know.”

“Oh no. I know her alright. She was my criminology teacher my sophomore year in college. She tried to get me expelled from NYU.”

“Why would she do that? You are the nicest person I have ever met!” he asked, genuinely confused.

“I’m not to sure. She was just one of those people that just decided to hate me,” I shrugged.

“I know what that’s like,” he said. “So how did she almost get you expelled?”

“Well I handed in a report that definitely deserved an A on how crime can be related to social inequality in relation to race. Well she decided to type it up and post it on a website so it looked like I copied it.”

“What a bitch!” Marc exclaimed, agreeing with me.

“I know right!”

“Definitely. Now come on. I want pancakes,” she said while helping me get up.

“There is no way I’m going back in there!” I said pointing to the diner. “She is going to spit in my food.”

“Well I know a place where no one will give you odd looks when you order chocolate milk and won’t spit in your food,” he suggested.

“Where?”

“My place,” he suggested.

“Okay. I’ll go get the guys.” I said, quickly running into the diner, then right back out. The guys came right behind me. Marc looked a little disappointed when I came back with the guys, but I shrugged it off.

Breakfast was fun. We all talked about stories from our summer vacations. The best was when Matt told us he went to this new bar that turned out to be a gay bar.

I looked at the clock and realized I was getting late and I had to go to soccer practice soon. I excused myself and started walking towards the door. I heard someone say that they had to leave, too.

“Dannie!” I heard Mike softly call out from behind me.

“What?” I asked turning around to face him. He looked like he was going to ask me something very important.

“Did you tell him yet?”

“No,” I sighed. “I just came home yesterday Mike. Give me some time to settle in first. I’m most likely going to tell him next week. Why do you care so much?”

“No reason,” he said nervously as he ran down the hall and into the elevator. That boy definitely knows something I don’t.