The Boy Next Door

[5]

This sucks I am neighbors with Ace. Out of all the people in my school, he is the one that had to be living next to me. Him really, I do have bad luck after all.

The real question is, why did he want to drive me home? Why couldn't he have let me walk home, we don't know each other.

"MIA" Alexis shouted!

"Girl you were really out of it, is everything okay," Alexis asks.

We are currently in lunch. Ace wasn't there and neither was Blake, so it was just us girls. Alexis and Gracie were talking about something, that I don't recall which made me stare off into space for a moment.

"Just thinking, that's all," I say, but seriously why was he acting weird, and now why is he not at lunch? My guess is he is either smoking or making out with a girl in the janitor's closet.

"Well, what are you thinking about then? Is it a boy," Alexis says, and chuckles a bit from what she said.

"No, it's not," I say.

LIE

"Okay but if there ever is a boy you come to us first and we can tell you his background story, personality, and whole life story," Alexis says, and I can't tell if she is serious or lying.

"Yeah, got it," I say with a smile on my face.

"OH, did you get home okay from when you walked home? Sorry, I didn't text I was tired and busy all weekend," Alexis says.

"I did," I say, they can't know that ace took me home. One that would cause too many questions that I don't feel like answering and two I think it would ruin his reputation.

****

I was walking home because we still haven't gotten my car from the dealership yet. I struggle to get the keys out of my backpack. So I set the bag down and start searching for them, after what feels like forever, I find my keys and unlock the front door, but before I go inside, I see someone. A certain someone. So me being an idiot I walk over to Ace's driveway.

"Ace, where were you today," I ask.

"Didn't go," Ace says while throwing the ball into the hoop.

Wow, he does have the vaguest answers, but does he look hot?

"Why is that" I ask trying to get a little more detail from him.

He was sweating from playing basketball and had no shirt on. God those six-pack abs! They weren't the only thing about him that was attractive. He had muscles and not the big type muscles, just enough definition that you can tell he lifts the weight. He also had tattoos some in a different language and others were just pictures of some things that I couldn't identify what they were.

"Hey eyes up here," he says. He caught me staring, but isn't he used to it?

"Sorry my bad, but you haven't answered my question Ace," I say.

"I don't need to answer your question Mia, so go home and don't talk to me." Ace says harshly while walking over to get the basketball.

"You are right ace, sorry that I asked, sorry that I cared about where you were today," I say while walking with him.

I did care that he was not at school even though that is probably really bad. Me caring about the school's players is not a good start.

He clenched the ball tightly and it was almost seconds away from popping until he relived it. The words finally soaked in his brain for once.

"Well you shouldn't care Mia, so go home, now," he says while looking at me, more like staring at me directly in the eyes.

So I do what he says. I go home I take the things that I left by the door and bring them upstairs to my room. I can't help but wonder who hurt him. Why was he so mean towards me? Why would he not tell me what was going on?

I am going to find out and it might be bad, unhealthy, and ruin my chance of happiness, but someone has to do it.