The Boy Next Door

“Check it out; you got yourself some new neighbours!” Clara pointed out the front window, gesturing towards the two large vans and the black SUV parked on the front lawn.

“Probably another stuck up rich couple with some equally snobbish kids,” Ella snorted, passing her best friend her diet coke and pulling her away from the window. The girl moaned and pouted.

“But I want to see what they look like!” Her face contorted into her best lost puppy daze, but Ella wasn’t fooling for it.

“I’ll take some pictures for you later, ya perv!” Ella rolled her eyes, tugging her friend up the staircase and into the long back room that was her room. Her parents had knocked down the wall between two rooms to make it one huge one, a moving in present when they arrived here six years before. When your parents had money to waste, they could make almost anything happen.

“You’re the one who will be taking pictures, so don’t call me the perv!” Clara pointed, falling onto the large double bed that could accompany a full regiment. “I was just hoping some decent eye candy would move into the neighbourhood. Boys get put off by the iron gates, and this girl is starting to lose her mind without some form of boyish affection!”

Ella sighed when her friend reminded her of the gates that separated them from the rest of the city. Why not make it more obvious that the people behind it were filthy rich and deserved more protection that those over the other side. Ella didn’t agree with the separation, but then she also knew it protected her family and Ella from those who wanted things from them. Being rich wasn’t fun at all.

The neighbourhood they lived in, that separated them from the rest, wasn’t full of much. There was a private school Clara and she attended, where they were currently completing their final year of A Levels. That was pretty much it, unless you counted a few corner stores and a library that accompanied the school. Everything else was on the other side.

Pretty much all of the work was behind the gates, but it took personally assigned security codes and passes to secure a pass through them. Both Clara and Ella’s parent’s worked past the gates and into the inner city area. The girls pretty much always left the neighbourhood every weekend to go shopping, see a film in the cinema or just visit some hangouts that every legal teenager knew about.

“I’m guessing things with you and Wes aren’t going too great?” Ella asked, seating herself behind her desk.

“Wes is a dick!” Clara said through a mouthful of cookie dough.

“Took you long enough,” Ella smirked, dodging a pillow as it flew through the air towards her head. “Don’t hate the truth!”

“Okay, I’ll take that, but you know me girl, I’m blinded by a pretty face.” Clara pouted again, her raspberry pink lips puckered in a sour expression.

The girls chatted about their plans for the weekend, whilst trying to ignore the loud noises coming from removal vans next door. A lot of car doors banging against their frames, as well as the sliding noise of a new piece of furniture leaving the van were heard. Ella hoped all the commotion would die down by tonight, she had some test in the morning and needed her sleep.

“So what do we have planned for this weekend?” Ella asked, kicking her feet up onto her desk and finishing off the cold refreshment in her hand.

“I think a few people are heading to the bowling alley Friday night. Saturday, I have some stupid family dinner!” Clara sighed, playing with the varnish decorating her nails.

“Sounds fun,” Ella said, standing to her feet and taking a seat within the alcove of her bay window. She loved her bedroom because it had a view of their beautiful back garden. They owned a stretch of Greenland which held everything from a swimming pool, to an outhouse, which housed her relatives when they visited.

Before she pulled away from the window, Ella caught site of a figure walking outside into next doors garden. She couldn’t quite make out who were the moving men and who were the new residents; but the young boy definitely caught her eye. He was dressed in slacks so he could quite easily be a worker; a small part of Ell hoped he was a part of the new neighbours family because she had to admit Clara was on to something when she mentioned having some more talent in the neighbourhood.

“I’ll probably have a night in with Kye Saturday since he’s back from university for the weekend.” Ella broke her gaze from the window and looked at her friend who was still engrossed in her nails.

“Hmm,” Clara looked up and smiled, “Sounds better than the night my parents have planned. I’ll have to pop down and say hello to Kye on the Sunday- If only this place had more faces like his.” Clara had a love sick look in her eyes, which made Ella roll her eyes. Clara and almost the entire female population, who wasn’t blind, had a huge crush on Kye Watson.

Kye was three years older than Ella, and although he was in his third year of university, the siblings were close. They bickered, which was inevitable since they both had hot heads and were as stubborn as they came; but Kye was the best and Ella could always rely on him for a comforting hug or some brotherly advice. It also felt good to have a brother than would murder anyone who did her wrong- she liked having that protection around her!

“He definitely got his looks from your dad…” Clara carried on chatting about Kye, but soon Ella had to stop her before the girl got too carried away with the crush she had on the Watson men.

“That’s my dad, C!” Ella grimaced. She knew her dad and brother were handsome men, but Clara spoke about them like they were a piece of meat. Clara loved boys and boys loved her. Boys loved Ella too, but she was too picky to settle on just the first boy who looked her way.

As of now, she has had only one relationship that lasted just short of a year—the boy, Jayden Doe, was a bore and she soon lost interest. Then there was Oscar Riley and Thomas Jacobs, both who had come close, but they soon proved to be only good for a quick hook up. Oscar was the only boy who had earned her attention for longer than most, but she never let him further than her bed. But weekly hook-ups got boring and now Ella was looking for something exciting to enter her life. Oscar was yet to get the hint.

“Anyway, I better head home. Make sure you give us a call when you figure out who the new lodgers next door are, will ya?!” Clara jumped off the bed and hugged her best friend.

“Of course,” Ella smiled, following her friend down the stairs and to the front door. She stood on the front porch as her friend started the ignition of her car and reversed from the driveway. Ella gave a quick wave before the car disappeared out of site.

Just as she was about to re-enter her home, a deep voice called out. Turning on her heel, she realised the voice was aimed at her and coming from a young boy at the short fence that separated their front lawns. Deciding she could get some information on the new neighbours, she approached the boy with a friendly smile.

“Hey,” He greeted, adjusting the Ray Bans that were covering his eyes. A beanie sat on his head and Ella realised she had a similar one upstairs. “I thought I should introduce myself since we’ll be neighbours and all.” His smile was wide and gorgeous. Ella couldn’t help smiling a little bigger when she realised this guy would be moving in next door to her. He was handsome with his slim figure and tall frame and smooth tanned skin.

“Well I’m Ella Watson; I live here with my parents. I’m guessing you’re the mystery man who’s moving in?” Ella’s eyebrow lifted as the corner of her mouth did.

“I am that mystery man,” He chuckled, paying with the brown curls that were protruding from the front of his beanie. He removed his sunglasses, showing off some beautiful green eyes, “The name is Harry Styles!”

Ella’s eyes bulged from their sockets as the realisation hit her.

“Holy crap!”