the boy next door

Monday, November 12th

He knocked and didn't even wait for her to say 'come in', he just walked in. "If I'm waiting for you, I can just wait in here and keep you company", he announced to her. She was about to protest but she knew it wouldn't matter. He was either staying here or annoying her through the wall. He went to lie on her bed and before he could even open his mouth, she said, "As long as I can continue studying, you can stay here. Only then." Her best friend Alex, the only one who could put up with her, had just left so that had taken up time. He considered this for a bit and then shrugged. "Seems fair", he answered. She saw him pick up the book she was currently reading from her bedside table before she turned back to her work. This arrangement worked for a whole fourteen minutes before he interrupted her focus.

"There's something you need to do before we continue with the third movie", he declared. Not turning from her work she asked, "And what's that?" She heard him shift. "You need to take the sorting quiz." Now she did turn. "The what?" His mouth fell open. "Have you not been paying attention? You can get sorted in one of the houses with the official quiz. You know; Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff." She raised her eyebrows. People actually did that? She always thought the hardcore fans just self-diagnosed themselves into the house they wanted to be in. "You just need to answer some questions. Of course, I already have a suspicion which house you'll be in, but I need confirmation." He got up and took her laptop from her desk. "Yeah sure, go ahead", she muttered.

Some of these questions were ridiculous to her. But with others, she had to really think it through. She answered the final question and she saw him grinning at the screen. "Just as I suspected...", he mumbled. "A Ravenclaw." She could see he was pretty proud of himself for figuring that out. Not that it was hard. She already knew with ninety per cent certainty while answering the various questions. Yet, she wasn't going to ruin his proud moment by telling him. She had briefly considered Slytherin, but from what she had seen in the films, she did not like that option. "So which house are you in?", she asked him to get the attention away from herself. His grin got even bigger. "I'm a proud Hufflepuff." That indeed he was.

***

This time, she fell asleep in the middle of the biggest revelation of the movie. He let her sleep against him till the end again. He then carried her to her room, a bit smoother this time, and tucked her in. He began to feel guilty. If it weren't for him, she would get two more hours of sleep. If this kept happening, if she kept falling asleep, he would have to cancel movie night. He wished he didn't have to. He liked spending time with her. But he would not be the reason she was sleep deprived.