The Only Exception

“Oh my god, Carrey Martin tried talking to me. She is fucking disgusting.”

“Shut the fuck up, Susan. You are such a bitch!” Ray shouts, getting himself a slap over the head from said girl. With one hand on her hip she scowls.

“I wasn’t talking to you, Raymond. So shut that shit hole on your face you call a mouth.” Susan huffs and goes back to talking with Mary about Carrey and how she’s an anorexic little bitch, which gets an eye roll from the guys and I.

“What’s with girls and talking about each other?” Bobby yawns, scratching at his head and leaning it against his desk. “They wonder why they have more enemies than friends.”

“It must be a woman thing. I’ll never understand,” I say around a shake of the head. Even if girls wrote a book on themselves I bet I’d still never fully comprehend what goes on through their minds. They are such strange, strange creatures.

“Oh yeah! Roy!”

I grimace at the sound of my name coming from her lips. Glancing over my shoulder, I give Susan a curious look. She’s grinning widely and there’s that look in her eyes and I grunt. Rolling my eyes, I wait for her to scurry to the desk in front of me, nearly kicking Ray out of his spot.

“Hey! I’m sitting here y’know.”

But Ray’s arguing is ignored by the two girls who are now in front of me. Both of them giggle but Susan is the first to ask. “I heard you got a new neighbor last week.”

“I did,” I say it more like a question than anything because in all honesty I have no idea what the girls could possibly want. Knowing them it’s probably something that’ll get me into trouble.

“I finally saw him at the grocery mart,” Mary says, earning a dreamy sigh from Susan and suddenly I know what they want. Groaning, I throw my head back at the words I knew were coming. “He was so hot!”

“What’s his name? How old is he anyways? He looked so young! Do you know if he’s single?” Susan squeaks with excitement, shivering with excitement in her seat and I can just see the green taking Ray over. He huffs and crosses his arms in obvious distaste.

“What the hell! You girls are all the same, judging off looks instead of personality. You vain whores!”

“Like men are any better!” Susan hollers and here they go, getting into yet another fight. Those two just need to get together already because they’re really starting to get on my nerves. “We women have to be vain these days because men never look past looks!”

“Yes we do! It’s women who don’t care about personality. They just want a sexy little toy to drag around.”

“Bull shit. Guys just want girls with big tits, curves and a nice ass.”

And the argument goes on and on until Bobby finally hits them both with the nearest object, shutting them up immediately. I sigh in relief but sadly Mary goes right back to her questioning of my new neighbor. Both her and Susan are disappointed to know that I know nothing about him. And I’m disappointed as well, it’s been over a week and I still don’t know anything. It’s kind of exciting because this is the first time someone has lasted this long. It’s almost like…a puzzle, trying to find all the pieces and put them together to find out what exactly the picture is.

I smile at the thought. For once there is someone in this town that I know nothing about and although I’d like to keep it that way I don’t think I can because…he’s just so intriguing. It’s hard to resist.

~

And this is what is so intriguing about him.

He leans against the banister, his back facing me and arms laying lazily across the chipping white paint of the porch. He throws his head back, bringing his hand up to take the cigarette from his mouth and flick the ashes to the ground. And I watch the way his lips open to exhale the gray-white smoke that swirls around him and escapes to the sky.

He closes his eyes and he seems to be thinking again. But I can’t see his face when he leans forward, pushing himself off the banister and moving across the porch. He begins to pace, his cigarette forgotten between his lips. Both arms are behind his back and he’s picking at the sleeves of his shirt while glaring at the ground, not caring that the ashes of his cigarette are landing on the porch.

And he comes to a full stop and begins tapping his foot. He runs his fingers through his hair, shaking it angrily and finally putting out his cigarette by running it across the bottom of his shoe. He crushes what’s left of it between his hand and then goes back into his home.

I bite my lip and wonder. He always leaves me wondering.

Every time I see him he seems to be thinking about something and whatever it is doesn’t seem good. He seems to have this look in his eyes when he’s pacing. It’s as if he’s frightened, excited, and angry all at the same time but what is it that could cause all three emotions for such a young boy?

Is he even young? He looks it but some people look younger than they are. Shaking my head, I climb out my window and slip to the ground below. Just as I’m about to go down the street I notice the light flick on into the kitchen and there he is, standing before his fridge like he expects it to open and the food to cook itself.

I bite my lip and contemplate if I should take this chance or not. Would it be weird? Does he even want me to cook him dinner? He could have just said that before so he wouldn’t sound rude.

I chuckle and decide that now would be better than never. I check for cars before crossing the street and head up the steps. Before I can knock I make up some type of excuse for coming over in case he asks. Nodding, I pound on the door and it opens seconds later to show a rather curious…stranger.

I smile kindly at him and ask, “I was…just wondering if you’d like to eat dinner together. My parents aren’t home so…I’m kind of bored.”

Which is true. They aren’t home. They’re at the bar with their buddies, getting wasted and ruining their lives and although I’m not bored and I’m not use to eating with other people I still say it because I really do want to eat dinner with him. Maybe I can finally learn his name?

The man smirks and I feel myself go weak at the knees. No being should have a smirk that seductive.

“Sure, come on in,” he says, opening the door so I can enter. I nod and walk past him and I finally get to see the inside of my once sanctuary and now his home. And he has done a lot to the place.

The rooms, that I can see, are all re-painted and I smile at the slightly messy rooms. It looks like a teenager has lived here but at the same time it‘s still…clean. Get it? I doubt it but I push that aside and follow him to the kitchen, which is warm. The shades of brown, red, and yellow make it seem very cozy and I smile.

“I don’t have much to choose from,” he says, opening the fridge and leaning over. He seems to glare into it as if he thinks that will fix anything and I laugh. Brushing hair from his eyes, he turns to me and asks, “Want to go to the diner? I’ll pay.”

I perk up at the suggestion because it means that he’s ok with me coming over. I was kind of worried that he really wanted nothing to do with me. Smiling, I nod. “Sounds good."