The Boy Next Door

Chapter Six

"Have a good day, sweetie. No detention slips today, please." She crossed her fingers with a hesitant smile.

I stretched out my jacket and used it to cover my hair. "Don't get your hopes up," I mumbled. "But I'll try." I shut the door and ran inside the school building.

Lauren, Sophie, Katie, and Hannah sat at our usual table in the hall. They were all looking towards the sports lads blushing and joking as they waved at them—their table in clear view as Lauren picked it back in the first year. It had just stuck after that, and we spent every morning, break, lunch and free period at it.

We enjoyed cheese and bean toasties or spaghetti hoops and waffles and played cards or squares at it. I had gotten relatively good at Cheat and Rummy over the years; sometimes, I was lucky to play against the boys. Give me a GCSE in card games, and I'd ace it.

My actual GCSEs, well, I'd be happy with my predicted C grades, and I probably didn't do much better with how the exams went.

"Morning," I said, joining them, shaking the rain off my jacket before hanging it over my chair.

"Hi, Ash," Lauren said as I sat down, joining my hands in front of me on the table.

"What are we all laughing at?" I asked.

"Have you seen the new boy?" Katie and Hannah gushed, turning to me with beaming smiles.

"He is so cute," Louise butted in. "I went over and said hello."

I giggled along with them, tucking my hair behind my ears, trying not to fluster. I hadn't quite figured out how I would tell them after keeping the secret for the past few days. How they would take the news that Olly was, in fact, my next-door neighbour, I didn't know.

The lads were rolling a football back and forth over the cafeteria table. Olly looked striking; his cap was sat backwards on his head with his hair brushed up inside. His whole face was on a show, and his laugh was infectious. But he hadn't looked at our table since I arrived; none of them had. The fun and games were over, and my stomach was in knots over the thought that Olly was part of their social group.

Just as my gut had told me, I would be invisible to him during school hours, exactly like the others, even with the chemistry between us. The unspoken connection I was suddenly questioning I was imagining.

The bell rang, and everyone disbanded, jumping from the chairs and off the tables. I stood and grabbed my bag, slipping on the puddle below me, and before I knew it, I was flat on my back with my backpack on top of me.

Laughter rang through my ears as I looked up at the ceiling stroking the back of my head. I sighed, mortified, wishing the floor would swallow me whole and take me to wonderland to save me from getting up and seeing everyone staring at me.

I put my palms out onto the floor and sat up, peering into the faces of the jokers around me. None of my friends came over to help me; they were chuckling, pointing and imitating me.

The walls felt like they were closing in as everyone around grew bigger, and I became smaller. It was like being in a scary funhouse of clowns, seeing my pathetic reflection in their amused stares. But just as I lost all hope in regaining any sort of reputation I had, something astonishing happened.

Olly was standing above me, offering me his hand. His expression was troubled as he looked down at me while I didn't move. I couldn't. Oh my god, that was all I could think.

With a gulp and a heavy exhale, I managed a small smile and took his hand, gripping it tightly and stood up, embracing my first touch of his smooth, gentle grasp. I brushed myself off as he picked up my bag and handed it to me. He then raised his hand towards my face brushing my hair behind my ear. My cheeks were hot and rosy instantly.

"Thank you," I stuttered, and Olly swallowed harshly with a wry smile.

"You're welcome," he said.

Every time I saw him, something hit me, something extraordinary. His smile was as if invisible arms hugged me tightly, telling me everything would be okay, and right then, I believed him. For that moment, time stood still, and pure bliss wrapped around me. And it wasn't until he walked away that I realised everyone was watching, and I had Lauren and Sophie surrounding me.

"Are you okay, Ash?" Sophie asked.

"Do you know Olly?" Lauren said, looking outside the window at him, then back at me.

"I have spoken to him once or twice," I told them, shrugging my shoulders as I put my bag on my shoulder. "Thanks for the help, by the way," I said before heading to class.

*

"Tell us how you know Olly," Lauren repeated as she pouted in her compact mirror.

I swallowed my sip of Dr Pepper. "Why does it matter so much? It's no big deal." I sighed, refusing my lunch. "He only helped me up."

Hearing my peers sniggering across the room was enough to take my appetite even if I was hungry. I hadn't managed one lesson without being mocked, and the ache in my head was still pounding, reminding me of it. Instead of being invisible, I was the joke, and I couldn't decide which one was worse.

I hated high school.

Lauren shut her mirror with a slam and scorned, "It looked like you know him more than that from where I was standing."

I gazed across and stared right at her. Her bitchy scowl confronted me. Truth be told, it was getting on my nerves. "So what if I know him? I don't have to tell you everything."

"Well, yeah, you do. That's kind of what we do, isn't it?" Sophie added.

I flared my nostrils and puffed out my chest. "Um, I don't think it is. Since when do I ever have a say in anything? I just listen to you two all day."

Lauren leaned over and placed her hand on my arm. "Oh, Ash, it's not like you ever have anything interesting to say. We don't want to hear about your boring weekends at home, you understand that, but when you have juicy boy gossip, you're supposed to tell us."

I uncrossed my legs and sat up straight, brushing her hand away. "I don't consider Olly as gossip."

Sophie let out a gasp, holding her chest. "Any boy is gossip, or do you need reminding of the rules within our friendship group."

"Sophie, shut it a minute," Lauren cut in. For a moment, she stopped playing whatever game she was playing and said, "You didn't tell us because you like him, don't you?" She cackled. Sophie then joined.

"You knew you would have no chance once he met us," Sophie said. My throat was as dry as sandpaper. I didn't know how to escape the humiliation. I closed my eyes and remembered what Mrs Bond and Olly had said.

Taking a deep breath, I stood up, aggressively pushing my chair away. "So what if I know Olly. So what if I didn't tell you, he's my next-door neighbour, and there is nothing you can do to change that. Perhaps he's just a nice person, unlike you two," I snapped, clenching my teeth. "All of you are a bunch of selfish jerks. To hell with you."

I grabbed my bag, stormed out of the dining hall, and spent the remainder of the day ignoring snide comments and being blanked by my so-called friends.

When the bell rang, I was relieved that the day was over and it was now the weekend. Two days away from the nightmare of a place was what I counted down for every day of the week. Even if it consisted of staying in my bedroom, it was better than Bailey.

Not once had I had a reasonably good week at school. Not once.