the boy next door

Monday, November 5th

She could hear them through the wall, loud talking and laughing. She had heard them before, but then they were just talking at a normal sound level. Now they were yelling. She didn't know why and she didn't really want to know. She just wanted to sleep. It had been a long, tiring day. So after ten minutes of trying to fall asleep but not being able to due to the loud noise, she messaged her neighbour.

You:

Hey, could you be a little quieter?

Please?

- the girl next door

They hadn't really talked much before, aside from the occasional 'hello' when passing and 'thank you' when he held the door for her. She heard a muted ping on the other side of the wall. And soon after that, she got a response.

Unnamed contact:

Oh sorry! I'll try to keep them in check

but when they're watching Harry Potter,

they go all out

- the boy next door

You:

Harry Potter, huh? Never seen it.

The room filled with noise only seconds ago fell completely silent. She waited for a response but there never came one. She heard footsteps in the hallway while waiting. The three knocks on her door startled her. Who could be at her door at this hour? She got out of bed, put her glasses on so she could at least see who it was and went to open the door.

It was the boy next door.

"You're coming with me and you will watch Harry Potter with us, like it or not", he said. "But I-", she started but he interrupted her. "No protest", he stated, "take whatever you need. Expect for the snacks, we got that covered."

The prospect of watching a movie when she was this tired didn't really make her happy, but she got the feeling that if she refused, she wouldn't hear the end of it from him. So she quickly threw on a sweater and grabbed some woollen socks. If she was going to watch a movie this late, she would at least be comfortable. She closed the door behind her and walked behind him to his room next door.

Two guys and one girl turned their eyes to her when they walked in. There was a guy with a buzzcut sitting on the bed, back against the wall. The other two, a Hispanic guy with beautiful brown curls and brown eyes and a pretty blond, were sitting on the floor in front of the bed. He introduced her to them and them to her. Jeremy, Leo and Olive. They then went to sit on the empty spots on the bed while Leo rewound the movie.

He nudged her with his shoulder. "Better pay attention", he whispered, "because I'm quizzing you later. Oh and we're watching the other seven movies together."