Next-Door Neighbour

Chapter 10: Pasta anyone?

Caleb.

I hear something outside my window. At first, I ignore it, but when I hear something again, I open the window to see Valentina trying to climb her way. She looks up from her position—half hanging on the ledge—I leave the window open, throw a hoodie on and get back to the window.

I help her to climb and once she is inside, I ask, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you." She says panting. Hearing that makes my heart flutter for a second.

"You could've been hurt." I nudge her to take a seat on the chair. I lean on the window sill.

"But I'm not."

"Is your dad home?" she shakes her head. It is a normal thing to sneak out of your room for any teenager, but not for Valentina. She was terrified to do that. And she did it. For me. "Why did you want to see me?"

"I owe you an explanation."

My jaw clenches, I don't want her to know how affected I was so I keep a straight face when I say, "There is nothing to explain." That makes her sad.

I can't say I was hurt when I walked in on them. But I did feel something. She had every right to be with him since me and she was never really a thing. We were barely friends yet. But it still affected me. My mind still kept thinking about them in that room. I kept thinking about what could've happened if I hadn't interrupted. I didn't know what I was feeling, Disappointment, that she lied to me when I asked about him. Rage, because I caught her with him after she lied to me, or upset, that she thought I cannot be trusted with the truth. It boiled down to only one thing, she lied to me.

"If those rumours weren't true, what were you doing in the room alone with him?" She looks up at me and gulps down a lump in her throat.

"I can explain," she shuffles through her bag pack, "but before that...here...I brought you something." She produces a tiffin box and hands it to me. It's a red sauce pasta and it smells delicious. The room immediately fills with the smell of pasta.

"You made this for me?" I ask and she nods.

"Did you have your dinner?" she asks. I shake my head. I don't tell her I had my dinner a few minutes ago.

"You?" I ask and she shakes her head too.

"Wait here, I'll be back." I head for the kitchen leaving her alone in my room to grab two forks.

She is reading something sitting on the floor by the bed when I am back. I sit beside her.

"So, you got good grades," she smiles looking at the essay she helped me finish. I nod. She waits for me to take a bite first. I do. It's a treat for my tastebuds. Maybe, my face can tell how delicious the pasta tastes because she can't stop smiling. I take another bite and so does she.

She picks up the conversation where we left earlier before she gave me the box. Possibly, it was a planned tactic to distract me with this delicious pasta while she narrated the whole story. And I can't say it didn't work. I was distracted. By her and the pasta.

"What was Theo's reaction when you told him?" I ask after she is finished. My heart gleamed with happiness after knowing this was all a misunderstanding.

"He looked embarrassed, angry even." I can't help but look at her lips pouting when she takes a bite.

"The most popular guy in the school getting dumped by a girl within three days of their relationship, what do you expect?" I giggle.

"I didn't dump him." she rolls her eyes, "I just clarified the misunderstanding and told him I can't be his girlfriend anymore."

"That is dumping, Valentina." She looks at me when I take her name. I have come to notice she doesn't like it when I call her that, she likes to go by Val.