Rivals

Chapter Two: The Perfect Challenge

"If you're really my whole world
Why the fuck would I write a song about any other girl?"
- A.S.A.G, Ori Rose 

"Make it quick, everyone's waiting."

"Okay, okay. Geez." How many times did he have to say that?

I hastened my pace into my house and heard the sound of his car driving away and into his house's parking lot.

Quickly putting down my heavy school bag in my room, I jumped into the shower and took a real quick one before pulling on a breezy plain dress and heading out. All within 10 minutes. Nice.

I saw every little thing as a challenge for myself. It made life just a lil' bit more exciting. And since Noah told me to be quick, I made sure to be the quickest I could be to prove to him I've conquered the challenge.

I gotta admit that it's usually me who initiates all the challenges between us, and Noah just agrees to take them on - all these years of rivalry, of competing for every single little thing. I can't help my competitive nature, not when it's relating to Noah. It usually goes like this: Me: There's (XX) happening. Up for the challenge? Him: Of course, anytime. Him again: Ready to be second-place, again?

It's not unusual that Noah's mum would invite us over for dinner. She loved doing that. Our parents have been kinda like the best of friends ever since Noah's family moved in. It's not surprising, considering Noah had quite possibly the sweetest parents ever. Noah's mum was the type of neighbour everyone would love to have - the kind who would knock at your door on a random day and give you a box of freshly-baked cookies she'd just made that morning. Her husband was an endearing, jolly-looking old man who laughs at every thing his wife says and supports her in everything she does. My parents were amazing, too - the most supportive parents I could ask for; and so you put two amazing, friendly pairs of parents together and you get this solid neighbour-friendship.

It's funny how their children - me and Noah - were the complete opposite of this friendly neighbour relationship. I had no idea how the lovely Evans couple could have a son like that - the kind who runs around breaking girls' hearts and gives people titles like "second-place".

"I only took 10 minutes," I declared proudly when Noah swung the door open. Beat that, Noah.

"Hm." He appeared unimpressed. "I only took seven."

"That's because you're at your own house."

"I factored in the time I took to park my car, too."

I rolled my eyes. He just always wanted to brag. I could hear a distant "They're at it again" and faint chuckles from the adults in the dining room, and shoved past Noah and made my way towards the room.

"Lexi! Getting prettier each time I see you," Mrs Evans beamed when I entered. "It feels like I haven't seen you in a while."

That's because I spent most of my time locked up in my house, living and breathing textbooks and anything I could possibly do to win her son, and yet still fail miserably every time. Not that I was gonna admit that.

"Hi Mrs Evans, and Mr Evans," I greeted them with a bright smile and a nod. "Thank you so much for having us over tonight."

"No problem, sweetie," they both said. "We love having you here," Mrs Evans chirped, then waved her hands dramatically in the direction of her husband and son. "I can get so bored living with just these two men at home, you know?" She rolled her eyes, earning the laughter of her loving husband while her son just shook his head. I giggled.