The girl nextdoor

New beginnings

“Come on down, let’s get going!” My dad yelled up to me as his old van started up in the driveway. “Coming,” I yelled back through the window of my old room. I looked around slowly, silently saying goodbye to the house that I had grown up in. I was 16, but leaving the house I grew up in still hurt. My fingers grazed the walls as I passed them, touching them for the last time.
“Logan! Come on!” My dad persisted.
I walked out of the garage door, closing and locking it behind me as my father blared the car horn. He always got antsy when he was excited.
“I can’t wait for you to see the new house,” he said as I sat down in the packed car.
“Yeah, me too,” I said unenthusiastically.
“Oh, come on Logan,” he said pulling out of the driveway.
The whole car ride was silent. My eyes were fixed on the town as it whizzed by us. Soon the old buildings turned to trees and blue skies as we neared the house. It was only an hour and a half drive away, but it felt so much further than that. We pulled into the driveway of what looked to be one house split down the middle into two separate units. Ours was the one on the right.
“Looks like we beat the movers,” My mom said opening the front door, “your room is at the top of the stairs.”
I looked around the new house, studying it’s old, white walls and each room. Through the door was the entrance hallway that had the stairs going up. To my right was a doorway that led to a small living room with our TV and couch. Across the living room was the doorway that led to the kitchen which was painted a bright, vibrant white with marble counters and a brand new fridge and to the left was a dining room.
“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked, looking around.
“Didn’t you see it next to the living room?” my dad replied.
“Evidently not,” I muttered to myself going back to the stairs.
At the top of the steep steps was a small hallway with four doors, three on the right and one at the end. The first door was a small office space, after that a bathroom that connected to the master bedroom. The last door at the end of the hallway was to my room.
“How come there aren’t any more rooms to the left?” I asked.
“Because that’s where the neighbor’s house begins.” She replied, “Oh, and I wanted to stop by and introduce ourselves later,”
“Ok,” I said, as if I had a choice
I opened the door to my new room and noticed first how spacious it was. Nearly twice as big as my old room, and it had a bathroom to the left with a shower and everything! I peeked around it, opening up the huge, walk-in closet. Looking up, I saw a square cut out in the ceiling with a small little string hanging down.
“Logan, the movers are here!” my dad screamed up from the front door.
“Coming!” I yelled back
I hurried down the stairs making my way down to the front door where my dad was pulling in a small drawer for the living room. “Come on, get your stuff, we have the rest,” he told me. I walked out into the bright sun as the movers unloaded their truck of my belongings.
Box by box I brought my things in to my new room as my father and the movers brought in the big things like couches, desks, kitchen supplies, etc. I piled all of my boxes into one corner of my room as the movers brought up my desk, nightstand, shelves and pool table. When my room was complete, I started putting away everything. It took me nearly three hours to hang and put away all of my clothes, set up my computer and everything in my bathroom. When I was done, I walked downstairs and helped my dad put away everything else in the house.
“Thanks Logan,” he said after we finished, “I’ll put my own stuff away, why don’t you go introduce yourself to the neighbors?”
“Ok,” I said with a long sigh.
I walked over to the front hallway and put on my shoes quickly. The door creaked as I opened it, stepping out into the warm sunlight.
“Oh hey!” said a female voice, “You must be the new neighbor,” she said.
“Hi,” I said politely, “Yeah, we just moved in, I’m Logan by the way,”
“I’m Mrs. Howell,” she said holding out a hand for me to shake. “Finny and I were just coming over to welcome you to the neighborhood,” she said as I gave her a firm handshake.
Finny peaked her head out of the doorway to their house and, immediately, I noticed how cute she was. She looked about my age with dark hair that hung down in a ponytail just a little ways past her shoulders. She was wearing a loose-fitting yellow tank top that just barely laid on her perky breasts and showed a lot of skin and bra.
“Hi,” I said holding out my hand for hers.
“Hi,” she replied shyly shaking my hand.
“Well, anyway, welcome! If you need anything, you know where to find us,” Mrs. Howell said as I let go of Finny’s soft hands.
“Ok, have a nice day,” I said, going back into my house.
I heard their door close and footsteps going up as I walked back to my room. On the other side of the wall I heard a small creaking and then foot steps up in to the attic. My curiosity took over and I went in to my closet where the square in the ceiling was. I pulled on the string and the ladder came down very slowly.
“Hello?” I heard Finny whisper.
“Hi,” I whispered back as I climbed the ladder.
I looked around and saw a nice little set up of bean bags and a desk lamp. Finny had plopped herself down in one of the beanbags and was reading some book.
“Shit, you won’t tell anyone, right?” she asked putting down her book.
“What?” I asked, “What is this place?”
“I come here sometimes to get away,” she said shyly, “Just please don’t tell anyone,”
Suddenly, I heard a small boom coming from my kitchen.
“Logan! I’m going to need your help!” my mom called up.
“Got to go,” I leaped and headed back down my ladder.
“Please don’t tell,” I heard her say as I closed my ladder.
Down in the kitchen, my mom had just dropped a small box of silverware which had scattered everywhere. We picked all of them up and washed them one by one since the dishwasher wasn’t working. “Thanks,” my mom said, patting my shoulder as I walked back to my room. When I opened my door, Finny was sitting in my bed, waiting for me.
“Seriously,” she paused
“Logan,” I said.
“Seriously Logan, don’t tell,” she finished, “It’s my only place to get away, have some privacy,”
“You don’t need to worry.” I said laughing to myself, “I’m not telling and I won’t go up there,”
“Well, I didn’t say you couldn’t go up there,” she said winking as she walking back up my ladder.
I closed the ladder and the closet behind her and went back to my desk. Underneath my laptop was a small sticky note with a number on it. Taking my phone out, I typed in the digits and sent “Hello?”. It didn’t take long for a reply.
“I was wondering how long that would take,” they sent, “It’s Finny by the way,”
“Hello Finny,” I texted back.
“Come up,” she said.
I walked over to my closet and opened up the ladder, walking up to her small little area and sitting down in one of her comfortable bean bags. We/ talked and laughed for hours, sharing stories, talking about friends and school and our interests, just the normal stuff.
In the weeks that followed, Finny and I made it a ritual to go up in to that attic and just talk for hours on end. Eventually, she started showing me around town. We went to the mall with some of her friends, the theater, the park, and everywhere in between. One night in the attic, she said, “I think I like you,”
“Woah, you’re just beginning to know me,” I replied, trying not to offend her.
“Dumb ass, I meant in a friendly kind of way,” she said.
“Oh,” I said a little embarrassed.
Suddenly, Mrs. Carter called for her. Finny rushed down her ladder with a quick goodbye and closed her ladder and closet. I walked back down my ladder and into my room, closing it behind me.
Later that night, around nine o’clock, I heard more footsteps in the attic. They went over to my ladder and I heard a few knocks on it, then it came creaking down very slowly, followed by more footsteps. My closet door opened and Finny peered her head out, making sure it was ok to come in.
“Hey,” she whispered as I paused the movie on my laptop.
“Hey yourself,” I said turning in my chair to face her.
She walked through to my bed in her cookie monster pajamas with a tight fitting V-neck on that accentuated her perky breasts.
“What are you doing?” She asked, laying down on my bed.
“I’m just watching a movie. What about you?” I asked.
“Buggin’ you,” she said poking my shoulder.
I playfully poked her back on her forehead and soon it turned in to a poke war back and forth. She started poking me in my kidney’s and I started poking her in her stomach. We both squirmed and tried to suppress our laughs. I walked over to my bed trying to escape, but she joined me, poking me viscously.
We locked eyes, laughing uncontrollably as we continued to poke each other. She glanced quickly at my lips, licking her own as she leaned in towards me. For a second, our lips gently touched in a short, sweet kiss. I pulled away, but her head moved closer, kissing me again for longer.
“I’m sorry,” she said after a short pause, “I’ve got to go.”
Finny got up and quickly hurried in to my closet again. “Finny, wait,” I said as she made her way up in to the attic. There were swift footsteps across the ceiling that went over to her bean bags, but they stopped there. I walked over to the ladder and climbed up into the attic where Finny was sitting in one of her bean bags, looking at the wall.
“I want to be alone,” she said.
“Finny, I-,” I said before she cut me off.
“Please Logan, this always happens, I move things too quickly and then everything falls apart,” she said turning away from me.