Next-door neighbors in their senior year of high school have once last chance to connect with each other before graduation. Will they take it?
YA profile Summer Countdown 2023 writing contest prompt:
The warmest season is arriving in a few weeks. C...
Last summer, I caught Charlie watching me bake. The reading nook in his house had a perfect view of my kitchen. Every time I took the baked goods from the oven, he would pretend to ask for one. My reaction to him had always been to shake my head.
I mean, it was weird. Though we've lived next to each other our entire lives, we've never spoken to each other except for the occasional block party. Even then, we'd only nod at each other as our parents mingled. We've also met while getting mail. We only nodded to each other politely and went our separate ways. So you see, I had no way of knowing that he was serious about getting a cookie or brownie from me.
When school started, I returned to baking every Thursday. It was the same day as his baseball practice so I was spared from the awkward mime exchange.
Okay, fine.
I missed it.
I missed it so much that I put it on my to-do list right under bake double chocolate brownies with fudge for grad gifts: offer Charlie brownies.
I love crossing things off of my to-do list. I made one for every week. It's the only thing I've been focusing on since I don't know how to go about actually offering him a brownie. Different scenarios occupied my head as I set the timer for the oven. Part of me hoped that he would notice that I'm baking a day early. If he would just ask me for them today, I'd nod yes and save myself from all this overthinking.
Half an hour later, the bell rang as the timer went off. I moved my eyes from the to-do list that was mocking me on the kitchen counter and peeked at Charlie's nook. He wasn't there.
I moved quickly to the oven and took the brownies out. The bell rang again. I had forgotten about it. I took my potholders and walked towards the front door to open it. In hindsight, I should've checked the monitor before opening the door. I could've also looked in the peephole. But since I didn't do either of those things...
I stood frozen and flabbergasted at the door.
"Earth to Stella."
"H-h-hi! Charlie."
Yes. Charlie was standing on my porch with a sheepish smile on his face.
"Hi! I, uh, I hope this isn't weird. I saw you were baking today and I know you're going to say no, so I figured there's no harm in asking anyway."
I smiled. "Um, wanna come in? I just took brownies out of the oven so they'll need time to cool off."
Charlie smiled back at me and followed me inside. Turned out, he'd been wanting to knock on my door since last summer. He also put talking to me on his to-do list before graduation.
I guess we're both checking things off our lists today. The last list before graduation.
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Hi y'all~ thank you so much for reading my short story! 😊
What did you think?
I love making lists! It relieves my stress when I see the things-to-do written down. It helps me prioritize. I'm not worrying about them not being done because I know I'll make the time to cross them off the list. I love the feeling of crossing them off, lol.
If I ever needed an extra push to do something, like talk to the cute neighbor, I would've probably put it on a list to give myself the encouragement I needed.
What would you put on your to-do list to give yourself an extra push?
If you liked the story, I always appreciate your comments and votes! Always happy to hear from you! 💗
