nosy neighbor (marcus baker)

chapter one

i have lived in wellsbury, massachusetts for my entire life. i don't hate it, but i don't love it. i mean, there's nothing wrong with the place. everything is so homey and people are friendly, for the most part. i live a pretty average life with my mom and brother (austin). my dad doesn't live with us, but i keep close contact with him. he's never done anything wrong. my parents just had me at a young age and as people grow, they either grow together or apart. they happened to grow apart, but i like to tell myself that it was for the better. currently, i'm a sophomore at wellsbury high. i get good grades and take multiple advanced placement (ap) classes. in my free time, i like to write poetry and play my piano, which my father got me. oh, and i guess i have a boyfriend too. his name is hunter.

hunter and i have been dating for about a month. he's not horrible, he's actually a really good boyfriend. i just...i just don't think that i really love him. you may ask, "if you don't love him, then why are you still dating him?" well, my friends sort of pushed this relationship—not in a bad way though. they claimed that if i really didn't want to, i didn't have to. i pretended to agree with them and act like hunter was 'super sexy,' but that's because i was trying to get my mind off of someone else.

about three months ago, i was changing inside of my room. my window blinds were wide open, but i didn't think anything of it. my room was on the side of my house and we live in wellsbury, where the biggest crime committed in years was jaywalking. we don't live anywhere dangerous and it's not like anyone was peeking—at least i thought. i took my shirt off and walked over to my dresser, which was next to my window. then, i noticed someone in the window at the bakers' house. it was marcus baker, who also happened to be shirtless. we stared at each other for a minute, which felt like an eternity, until my mother knocked on my door. in a panic, i turned around and shouted, "i'm changing!" i quickly put a shirt on and let her in. she was all excited, talking about her job at the mayor's office. well, she was talking more about the mayor, paul randolph, and less about her actual job. good for her though. once she left, i looked back at the bakers' house, slightly hoping to see marcus again. but, i was greeted to the sight of him crawling out of his window. where was he going? did maxine know? will he come to my window?

wait...why am i thinking this? having thoughts about marcus baker? no. that's my bestfriend's brother. that would be wrong.