Nightmare Neighbor

CHAPTER 11 - Maddie

After another late night, I went to sleep with a finished outline, ready to leave the crappy mood behind. It was a good plan, pretty easy to carry on, except the stupid blender woke me up again. My raging annoyance wouldn't let me go back to sleep.

I dragged my butt out of bed and made a beeline for the kitchen, requiring a hefty dose of caffeine to survive another early morning. Since finishing college, I rarely got up before ten. I preferred working at night when the world outside was nice and quiet, so I stayed up until the wee hours most days. However, I also needed a healthy amount of sleep to avoid burnout; therefore, I slept in.

It took two cups of coffee and a bowl of sugary cereal for my body to start functioning properly. After taking a long bath to calm my nerves, I settled on the sofa, determined to focus on writing until Libby arrived in a few hours. No words were coming. I stared at the screen, willing my brain to work, feeling shittier by the second. I was an imposter—a joke. I couldn't even get... Nope, not going down that road.

I occupied myself with cleaning to push away the temptation to wallow in self-pity. After I checked that Alek's car was gone, I put on some music, picking only the happy, catchy song in hopes it would cheer me up. It worked better than I expected. Before long, I sang along, dancing around the living room while I cleaned, letting out all the anxiety that had stewed inside me for the past couple of weeks. Months, even. After about an hour, the apartment was spotless, and my heart was racing, but my mind settled down.

I grabbed my laptop again. This time, the story showed itself to me loud and clear. I wrote until my phone rang, announcing my sister's arrival.

Libby waited on the sidewalk, leaning against the red Audi she got for her twenty-first birthday last year. That thing was brighter than the sun. They were a perfect match because my sister was... Well, she was a shining star on her way to greatness. At least, she used to be. Darkness swallowed her whole for a while after her car accident, making her quit singing and abandon her dreams. Her light was slowly coming back, but I doubted she would ever be the same. We were both broken, in a sense.

I gave her a once over, frowning at her dark clothes. She wouldn't be caught dead wearing black before, saying it didn't go with her complexion, but it was her go-to color since the accident. The smile once permanently plastered across her face became but a faded memory.

"You're late," I said as I jogged toward her. I wasn't mad, not really. First, I got so lost in work I barely noticed. Second, I could never be angry with Libby, not for long, anyway. She was my baby sister. Four years younger, two inches taller, with bigger boobs and a smaller waist, her hair a few shades lighter and reaching well past her shoulder blades. Her jawline was more prominent, lips fuller, and eyebrows more arched; however, we had the same eyes—both in shape and color.

Her jaw dropped. "Your hair!"

My cheeks warmed up. I didn't hate my new haircut, but I hadn't gotten used to it yet. Half of my hair's length was gone, leaving me with a longish bob. "You like it?"

She grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around. "You look incredible. What got you to cut it?"

"Meredith."

"You owe that woman a huge thank you."

"She forbade me to say thanks to her. I'm allowed to show my gratitude in written form only."

"I take it your next book is coming along well? Did you beat your writer's block?"

"I don't have writer's block."

Libby smirked. "Sure you don't. You're just not in the right mood to write."

"Exactly."

"Did you do anything to improve said mood?"