She Fell For The Boy Next Door

“Alice! Yo, wait up!”
Alice Nichols turned around, watching a tall boy running after her. She smiled and kept walking. She heard a frustrated growl right before arms encircled her waist.
“Hi, Cale” Alice said dryly, clutching at his hands.
“How was school?” Cale asked, slightly hyper.
Alice rolled her eyes.
“We’re in nearly all the same classes” she reminded him.
“So? You look at things from a different perspective and through different eyes!” Cale told her.
He fell into step beside Alice, slinging an arm over her shoulders. He planted a kiss on her cheek and laughed when she blushed.
“Yours or mine, sugar?” Cale asked.
“Yours today, I love your house” Alice replied.
Cale nodded and they continued walking down the road until they reached his home. It was a giant red and white farmhouse with a wide front porch. Alice ran up the steps and straight through the open door.
“Hey, Emily!” she yelled, heading up the stairs to Cale’s bedroom.
“Hi, Alice, honey!” Cale’s mom shouted back.
Alice threw herself down on Cale’s double bed and buried her face in his pillow. Cale dropped his pack on the carpet and sat by her, his hand on her back.
“I’m with you very nearly all day, and still they manage to get to you?!” he asked, incredulous.
“They always get to me, Cale” Alice said, her words muffled in the pillow.
Cale shook her shoulder.
“Are you crying?” he wondered aloud.
“Maybe” came Alice’s response.
“Oh-kay” Cale grunted, and he slipped his hands under Alice and flipped her over onto her back.
Alice saw the mischievous glint in his eyes and cringed away from him.
“Nuh uh” she protested.
Cale started tickling her, his fingers hitting her in every one of her ticklish spots until she began screaming with laughter.
“Tell me you’re happy and I’m the best friend ever” Cale commanded her, smirking.
“I’m happy and, ah, ah, and you’re the best friend ever!!” Alice choked out.
She wiped the tears away from her eyes and sat up.
“You hungry?” Cale asked.
“Yeah, I guess” Alice replied.
Cale held out his hand and Alice took it, following him down to the kitchen. Emily had set out chocolate chip cookies, still warm from the oven, and a glass jug of home made lemonade.
Alice smiled happily and jumped up on a kitchen stool. She snatched a cookie and bit into it. Cale followed suit, devouring his cookie in two huge bites. Alice laughed and dug her elbow into his ribs.
“Pig” she teased.
“We know it, sweetheart” Emily chuckled, smiling at Alice.
Cale stuck his tongue out at his mother and Alice patted his head.
“Don’t pat me!” Cale objected.
“What if I want to pat you?” Alice retorted.
“Why?” Cale said obstinately.
“’Cause you’re so cute!” Alice told him, smiling falsely like some of the girls at their tiny high school.
Cale shook his head at her and hopped down, grabbing another biscuit and flopping onto the couch in the lounge.
Emily gestured at her son and nodded. Alice grinned and walked over to the sofa. Cale was lying flat on his back, so Alice casually sat on his stomach.
“Oof!” Cale gasped.
Alice glanced down at him.
“This is payback for tickling me, sunshine” she informed him.
Cale closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Alice shifted slightly and noticed that Cale’s stomach was much harder than it used to be. She smiled to herself but didn’t give any remark. The next day was a Saturday and Alice and Cale always had a sleepover at either of their houses; Alice didn’t have to go anywhere. She moved off of Cale and he pulled himself into a sitting position. He beckoned and Alice curled up next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. Cale raised his left hand and Alice threaded her fingers through his.
Emily watched the connection taking place, smiling.
“Best friends” she murmured.
Cale poked his head up above the back of the couch.
“You say something, mom?” he asked.
Emily shook her head.
“No, honey” she said.
Cale shrugged and settled down again.
He groaned loudly when My Super Sweet Sixteen came on the TV.
“Alice, do we have to??” he complained, covering his eyes dramatically.
Alice giggled quietly.
“Yup!” she answered, grinning.
Cale sighed and rested his head on the couch behind him. Alice swiftly kissed his cheek and snuggled into him again. She failed to see Cale staring at her; she’d forgotten that she had never done that before.
Emily shook her head fondly and wandered upstairs to call Alice’s mother, to report the new progress.

At 9.00, Alice and Cale traipsed up to his room together. Cale fetched Alice’s towel and threw her spare sleepover belongings at her. He never looked, for fear of seeing something he didn’t want to. Alice laughed at him for it, but he never did.
Alice walked into the bathroom adjoining Cale’s bedroom, turned the lock and had her shower. When she came out, Cale was lounging on his bed, banging his head to the beat of Escape The Fate. Alice laughed again and sat beside him, tousling his thick black hair.
“Your turn” she said, smiling as she ran a hand through her dripping hair.
Cale leapt up, grabbed his own towel and dashed for the bathroom.
Five minutes later, Alice heard her name called.
“Alice?”
“Yeah?” she called back.
“Could you please chuck in a pair of boxers? I forgot…”Cale asked her, his voice trailing off subconsciously at the end of his sentence.
“Sure!” Alice told him.
She hunted around in his top drawer before taking out a pair of black satin boxers. Alice knocked on the bathroom door. She heard the bolt slide out and a hand came around the door. She passed Cale his boxers and returned to her seat on the bed.
Cale exited the bathroom, his hair scruffy and wet. Water droplets clung to his skin and Alice couldn’t manage to tear her eyes away from his flat stomach.
‘When did he get abs??’ she thought, screaming to herself.
She jolted quickly when she felt two strong fingers beneath her chin, tilting her head upwards.
“Alice?” Cale inquired questioningly, curious.
“Uh…nothing” Alice replied hastily.
She looked up into his face, regretting it instantly. Cale Vreeland’s eyes were a searing emerald and they made their secretive way through to her soul.
“Put a shirt on, boy” she half snapped.
Cale looked confused.
“Why? I always sleep like this” he replied, folding his arms in a defiant stance.
“Just do it” Alice pressed.
Still confused, Cale went over to his dresser and pulled out a white T shirt, slipping it over his head.
“Better?” he asked, cocking his head to the right.
“Yes” Alice said, nodding.
‘No!’ she exclaimed in her head.
Cale shook his dark head in confusion and frustration.
“Were you staring at me?” he asked, eyebrows raised.
“No” Alice said stubbornly before climbing into her side of Cale’s giant bed.
Cale flipped the bedroom light switch off, plunging the room into inky blackness. He slipped underneath the duvet.
“Liar” Cale whispered.
Alice sighed, shutting her eyes.
In the middle of the night, Cale rolled over and flung his arm over Alice’s waist, his chin settling in the crook between her neck and shoulder. His hair fell over hers and his breathing evened out.