Love Next Door

chapter one

I paced in my room looking for what I could be missing. I looked into the mirror and I noticed the two earrings missing from my ears.

"Damn it, I don't have time for this." I exhaled and quickly fiddled in my jewelry box looking for any pair of earrings that are not completely ugly. After finally finding some exceptional gold hoops I shove them into my ears and grab my bag.

Ryan was supposed to be picking me up for our date in 15 minutes and I still felt like a complete and utter mess. Apparently he has something to tell me and that alone has been stressing me out.

Ryan is my boyfriend of 10 months. He was the guy I've been dreaming of ever since I was 10. Tall, blond, smart, and charming. We met at a park that's not too far from where I live. It's my favorite park to read at, I think it helps romanticize the moment just a bit more. One day I was rereading one of my favorite books, Stargirl. That's when Ryan walked into my life, he had just moved into town and was out exploring what Connecticut had to offer. Clearly, he also liked Stargirl. Next thing I knew we sat there in the park for the next hour having one of those conversations. I swear it felt like it came straight out of one of my books. A month later he asked me out and the rest is history. Everything since then has been perfect, I mean we haven't even argued.. ever.

To clear my mind I decided to go wait out on the porch steps before he came to pick me up.

I grabbed my keys, and took one last look into the mirror that sat at the front door. After readjusting some hairs, reapplying my lip gloss, and putting my shoes on I unlocked the front door.

"Bye mom, I'm off to my date with Ryan. I'll text you when I'm on my way back" I yelled down the hall loud enough so she can hear me.

I heard my mom hum as if she's trying to swallow something before she replied. "Okay sweetie, don't be late. Remember tonight's movie night."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, love you mom."

"Love you too Athena, have fun."

---

I shut the door behind me and sat on the porch steps. Instinctively, I decided to read a little on my book app before Ryan picked me up. Not even three minutes later I hear a far off sound. I quickly recognized the sound to be my neighbor's voice, Mason.

Mason Russo, and I have been neighbors our entire lives. Frankly, I've never cared for him much. He's everything I hate in a guy. Too sarcastic, too obnoxious, too... player-ish. I don't understand how any girl thinks he's cute. His personality completely cancels out the fact he's relatively good looking. You know, tall, wavy brown hair, somewhat proportional face. Anyways, I guess you can say he isn't my cup of tea.

"'Thena, is that you?" He squinted his eyes and put a hand over his face to shield it from the sun.

"Nope, some other girl that looks exactly like me decided to move in." I rolled my eyes while I looked towards his direction. His head slightly tilted and his eyebrows furrowed as if I was speaking in some other language. "Yeah, no shit it's me."

He dramatically puts his hand over his heart, "You wound me 'Thena." He quickly loses the act and walks closer to the front of our porch.

"Hope you know you're the only person like ever to call me 'Thena" I said in an annoyed tone. Honestly, I didn't actually mind the nickname. It felt like something just in between the two of us. Which is weird because I can barely tolerate the dude.

"Well, your name's a mouthful to say so I had to shorten it somehow."

"You're only taking one letter out of my name, genius."