Across the Street

Chapter Two

The next morning I woke up to my dog licking my face. This is normally how I wake up so it didn't come as a surprise. What did come as a surprise, however, were the obnoxious noises coming from upstairs. I quickly got out of bed to see what all the commotion was about. I ran up the stairs and as soon as I turned the corner, all I could see was a cluttered mess on my kitchen counter. Sierra was near the oven, peering in to see how her concoction was coming along. I was about to ask her what she was doing, or more importantly, what she was making (because lets be real I was NOT going to clean all of this up), until I got distracted.

Now my dog is not very good at listening, so it is an absolute pain when she gets out of the house. And she is a tiny dog which leads to her being able to sneak out of the door even if it is merely cracked open. So this previously mentioned distraction was indeed seeing my dog sneak out the front door. I groaned and angrily stomped out of the house on a trek to find my dog.

Okay, before we get to the next part of this story I must tell you that I am prone to embarrassing events. I don't know how or why, but embarrassment is just a normal thing for me. Like in the seventh grade, for example: I was in reading class which was the last period of the day, luckily. So I'm in a group with the guy I like and the guy that likes me. So what do I do? I peed my pants. In the FREAKING SEVENTH GRADE. I was so embarrassed I almost started to cry. And guess what I was wearing. A SKIRT. I PEED MY FREAKING SKIRT. Oh my goodness it was awful. In my defense, I did go to the doctor and they said something was wrong with my bladder, so I suppose that is better than just willy nilly peeing. Any who... lets get back to the story shall we?....

Where was I? Right. The dog. So anyways I walk out the door and start trudging around in search of my stupid dog. I looked in her favorite outside spot and she wasn't there. I looked in the backyard and she wasn't there. I looked in the front and she was still nowhere to be seen. By this time I figure that she is somewhere beyond our property. I start making my way up the driveway onto the road. When I get to the top of my driveway I look to the house across the street from our house to see a moving truck. This house has been on the market for ages so its a miracle that the thing finally sold. Not only was there a moving truck, there was also a tall, lean boy in the driveway of the house and he was holding my dog.

Well what do I do now? Like do I just walk up and be like "Hey thanks for catching my dog you nice looking boy." Oh also before we continue I just want to reiterate how utterly awful I am with engaging with the opposite sex. Like seriously awful... Ok anyways. I muster up the courage and start making my way to the boy. Now that I'm getting closer I can see how incredibly beautiful he is. Nice, curly hair and a nice looking body. I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming. And drooling. Oh god how am I going to do this? I take a deep breath and finally make it to his driveway. I'm not sure how he hasn't noticed me yet. He is just too infatuated with my dog. By now I am like ten feet away and that is when he finally looks up at me. Oh my holy god his eyes. His eyes were like if you stared deep into a forrest. Im pretty sure he got uncomfortable with my staring because he cleared his throat. This is it Emma. This is your time to shine.

"Hi there neighbor. I see you've become acquainted with my pooch." I literally said that. Out loud. To a smoking hot boy who lives across from me. But he didn't give me a weirded out look. He like giggled. HE GIGGLED AT MY STUPID SENTENCE. Not only did he giggle, he also replied.

"Um, why yes. I believe your pooch and I have become quite good friends actually ."

Want to know the best part about his response? IT WAS DONE IN A BRITISH ACCENT. The most gorgeous accent that I have ever heard was spewed out in that seemingly simple sentence. How was I going to survive now? Not only is he hot, he has the hottest accent that my ears have ever been blessed with. It must have been my lucky day because he kept talking.

"What is your dog's name?" he asked.

This was such an easy question but my brain is all over the place so I seriously could not think of the name of my dog. So instead of answering the wonderful looking man in front of me I just stared at him trying to figure out what my dog's name could possibly be. After a few seconds I finally shouted (like legitimately shouted),

"CHARLI."

He was silent for a while; kind of like he ws thinking of something to say to a crazy girl who just shouted at him. A few seconds went by before he looked to my dog in his arms and started talking to her.

"Well hi there Charli. Aren't you the cutest thing in the world? You are so cute and fluffy and soft. I just want to snuggle with you all day..."

I stopped listening after a while because I was just focussed on him using one of those high voices that people use with babies or puppies. I honestly couldn't have been more amused in that moment. Suddenly the strange accent-high pitched voice stopped. This was when he finally looked at me, like really looked at me, like gave me the head to toe evaluation. That moment was when I realized just how awful I probably look. I was wearing my short sleeping shorts that barely cover my butt and my ratty, old, long sleeve t-shirt. To top it all of I was wearing mismatched socks that weren't only different patterns, but also different lengths. And to make matters worse, My hair was in some knot-bun hybrid thing AND I was still wearing my retainer. Once I realized this, apparently I felt the need to explain myself in a ramble like fashion. That proceeded like so:

"Oh my goodness I'm so sorry that I look like a hobo its just that I was woken up this morning and then my sister was making a mess in the kitchen and she was using the stove, which kind of worries me now that I think about it, but before I could ask her what was going on I saw Charli run out the door and I was worried because she likes playing in the streets and that sounds really bad, like we are good pet owners I swear, but sometimes she gets out and I just don't want her to get hit by a car and so I didn't have time to change into actual people clothes or brush my hair or look presentable so I'm sorry."

By the end of that I was a little bit out of breath so I was kind of breathing hard which didn't exactly add to my case.

Before I could apologize for my rambling he spoke.

"Its all right love. You look lovely anyways." (What a little liar.) "I'm super glad that your dog got out so that I could meet you."

I'm almost 100% sure that my face was as red as a tomato. Did I mention that I blush a lot? Before I could worry too much about the color of my face, I was brought back to reality when he continued talking.

"Anyways my name is Harry and it is a pleasure to meet you." He then extended his hand for me to shake. I know this is going to sound super cheesy and extremely cliché, but I honestly felt a spark when our hands touched.

"Hello Harry. I am Emma and I am glad that you are living across the street instead of some old man."

This was where it all began.