The Boy Next Door.

1. New Town; New Neighbors

Cassy:

I am nervous. This is my first day at my new school. At the beginning of December, we left Cape Town, my home, for the last 3 years. My parents decided that they wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. I understand their decision even if I don't like it. After my dad had his heart attack, the doctor told him he needed to slow down. I just wish it didn't happen in my last year of school.

Since I grew up in Mossel Bay,
the Garden Route is familiar to me, but George isn't. Situated at the foot of the Outeniqua mountains, George has grown into quite a large town. Not only is the Garden Route one of the most popular holiday destinations in South Africa, but apparently, everybody in South Africa also wants to make George their new home.

I was lucky to get into Outeniqua High or Kwaggas, as they are known in town. It's a semi private school with almost 2000 learners.

I'm an introvert, and making new friends doesn't come easy for me. For the last three years, I've had two really good friends, Jonathan and Chelsey. To the outside world, we were nerds, which made it harder to fit in, and because of that, we did everything together. We were each other's lifelines.

I was hoping to at least make one friend before school starts. My dad opted to buy rather than rent and bought us a house in Heatherpark, an upmarket area in George. The houses on our street are mostly double story houses with swimming pools and beautiful gardens. The people on our left are elderly people with no children, but the people on our right have a son my age.

Mr and Mrs Owens came over to welcome us the day after we moved in. They seemed nice enough. In their late forties, they are both tanned slim people, probably thanks to their jobs. They are both semi retired archeologists, and when Mr Owens recently accepted a post as lecturer at the Nelson Mandela University in George, his wife opted to become a stay at home mum.

According to Mrs Owens, they used to travel all over the world to different excavation sites, and her mother would then look after Jared, their son. Her mother started having problems with her heart a few years ago, and that's when they decided to stop traveling.

As for their son, I'm not sure we're going to become friends, maybe not even acquaintances. I saw him
for the first time the day we moved into our new home. He gave me one look and walked away without even greeting, a blond bimbo hanging on his arm.

He's tall, easily 190cm with shoulder-length brown hair. The day I first saw him, he had it tied back in a man bun. He was wearing black jeans with black boots and a white tank top. He isn't skinny like tall guys often are, but quite muscular. His upper right arm was covered in a tribal tattoo, and I also saw what could be the wings of a bird sticking out from under his tank top on his back.

I know at my new school we don't have to wear uniforms, but I honestly don't know how he gets away with his tattoos and long hair. On top of that, he rides a black and green Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX. I know his kind. I saw a lot of them and their toys at my old school. They use their cars and bikes as status symbols. Their parents have money, so they think they can get away with murder and unfortunately, they usually do.

People like him made my life miserable at my previous school, and I've come to truly dislike his type. Always causing trouble and making fun of people like me. Money isn't going to buy me a place in this world, so I have to work hard in order to make something of myself. My parents aren't poor, but I know my dad's heart attack and his medical bills took a toll on their finances. I take my studies seriously, and I don't appreciate it when people like him use their financial privileges to make life difficult for others who are less fortunate.

Besides the parade of bimbos, I've seen two guys and two girls who seem to be regular visitors. They've never made any effort to meet me, but to be completely honest, I don't even know if they actually know I live next door to their friend. The one girl stands out from the rest. So far, I think her hair has been dyed at least three different colors since I first saw her. She dresses like a goth and being a closet goth myself, I could maybe even have been friends with her if she wasn't hanging out with the likes of Jared.

He also seems to be a bit of a man whore judging by the parade of beautiful bimbos constantly coming and going. In the month we've lived next to them I've seen him make out with at least four different girls.

That's another thing that irritates me about him. His lack of inhibitions. My room is at the back of the house and I can see their swimming pool from there. Some of the stuff he and his bimbos have been doing there had me blushing from head to toe. Believe it or not I'm still a virgin and at this rate I'll know all there is to know about sex, before I even have sex. Granted he's extremely attractive, so its no wonder he's so popular with the girls.

His room is opposite mine. Just my damn luck. I love music and the alternative music he seems to prefer, is also a favorite of mine, but just not the whole time and not after 10pm. I swear he waits for me to go to bed before he decides to turn the volume up. It's almost like he takes pleasure in irritating me.

This one time I was lounging next to the pool, trying to read a book, but he was playing his music so loud that I literally couldn't hear myself think. The music was coming from the poolside and I used a plastic chair to stand on so I could see over the fence. I was only going to ask him to put it softer. Unfortunately for me he was busy with a girl and he looked up just as my head appeared above the fence and saw me.

He started to walk over and since he already saw me, I decided to go ahead and ask him to put his music softer. Thanks to his length he was at eye level when he came to stand opposite me. For a second he just looked at me with the greenest eyes I have ever seen. He was even more attractive than I originally thought and I had to make an effort not to let him see how he affected me. Looking at him, I gave him my best indifferent look. That close I could see that besides the silver earring he had in his left ear, he also had a stud through his right eyebrow and a small nose ring through his left nostril. The piercings making him even more attractive to me.

Then he leaned closer and said, "You don't have to spy on me. If you want some, just come right over. There's plenty of me to go around."

I was so mortified by what he said that I took a step back, forgetting that I'm standing on a chair and fell very ungraciously flat on my back.

Sticking his head over the fence he looked at me and said, "Looks like I've knocked your feet from under you."

He then winked and walked away laughing.

I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life. After that, every time he saw me he would make some lewd remark. Needless to say I tried my best to stay out of his way for the rest of the holiday.

Jared:

I was going to do the neighborly thing and introduce myself to our new neighbors, but after the look I got from the mother I figured fuck that. I've never had time for snobs and she looks like the ultimate snob with her fancy pantcy clothes.

The daughter looks like your typical Miss Goodey Two Shoes. From a far she looked like a plain Jane, but when I caught her spying on me the one day I decided it's time I meet my neighbor.

Coming face to face with her, she literally took my breath away. Her dark brown hair was hanging loose, and the sweet smell of roses was teasing my nostrils as the wind gently tucked on her hair. Piercing blue eyes against a backdrop of the softest looking olive skin was watching me intently. For a second, I couldn't remember why I was standing there looking over our neighbor's fence. She kind of blew me away. She's a short little thing, and if I could see under the baggy clothes she was wearing, she might actually have a really sexy body, but face it, my Granny dresses better than her.

When she saw my piercings, her small nose went up a notch and right there, and then I made it my mission to make her life miserable. What makes her any better than me? When I invited her over to come and join me and my, at that time current fuck buddy, she was so shocked, she literally fell off the chair she was standing on. The expression on her face when I looked over the fence, was priceless. For the rest of the summer I took a perverse pleasure in shocking the shit out of her every chance I got.