The Angel Next Door

Chapter 2

8:15 am...

"Good morning. Sleep well?" My mom is way too chipper in the morning.

"Yeah. I guess."

"Wow. Very detailed answer."

"What? Do you want me to tell you how I drooled on my pillow and rolled off the bed twice?"

"Actually, kinda."

"You're weird."

"What's up slugger?" Dave walks in.

"Nothin'."

"Wow babe, you're kid's quite the wordsmith." I'm about to respond in a not-so-nice way, but I hold it back.

"When's the pool gonna be ready?"

"It'll be a few weeks." My mom hands me a glass of orange juice.

"Thanks." I start walking away.

"Hey! No food or drinks upstairs." I turn to face Dave, really tempted to throw the OJ in his face.

"So no water? What about vitamins? Technically they're food."

"Haha, smart aleck." He turns away from me and I flip him off.

My mom gives me a look that says "stop it!" and I just turn away, leaving my oj on the nearest table.

When I get to my room I am very tempted to slam the door, but somehow manage to not do so. I open my window and just step out onto the deck to get some fresh air for the moment. And yet again there's Asher. He seems to be playing some video games. So I reach into my room and grab a sock, ball it up, and throw it at his window. And he doesn't notice. Son of a bitch. So I grab a pen and throw it. This time he notices and walks over to his window.

"What you doing?"

"Just playing some Madden."

"Sounds fun." I stand up, run across the roof, and jump across the gap between our roofs, landing directly in front of him.

"Shit! Dude!" He looks freaked out and I just start laughing.

"It's all good. Now, are you gonna let me in and get destroyed in Madden? Or are we gonna just stand here like some weirdos from a 90s rom-com?"

"You're crazy." He steps back to let me in.

"I take that as a compliment."

"You shouldn't."

I sit on his bed while he grabs another controller.

"I can't believe you're even awake right now. Did you even sleep?"

"I don't sleep much."

"So you're super athletic and don't sleep. Are you sure you're not Spiderman?"

"Nope. Just a retired gymnast."

"Gymnast?"

"What? You didn't get gymnast off me?"

"Not at all."

"Good."

"How are you already retired?"

"Well I guess retired isn't the right word. Just the one my mom uses." I spot a photo on Asher's desk and walk over. "It's more that I got sick of it and left." The photo is of him and what I'm assuming are his mom, dad, and younger brother and sister. "This your fam?"

"Yeah. From our trip to the Bahamas last summer."

"Looks fun."

"You're parents seem nice. Saw them unpacking yesterday."