Love Next Door

chapter two

It's been almost three weeks since Ryan broke up with me. I decided to take the rest of this week of school off, I just wasn't ready to face any of my friends about it yet. Trust me, avoiding your friends for two weeks should be considered an olympic sport. The only people I've talked to since was my mom and my best friend, Leila.

My mom was at work so it was just me. I walked down to the kitchen to grab the new tub of mango sorbet my mom bought yesterday.

I decided to take advantage of the last couple of warm days here in Connecticut by sitting on the porch swing outside. On my way out I stopped at the mirror and analyzed the person staring back at me. I was wearing a floral pajama set my mom had gotten me for my birthday and had my hair thrown up in a messy bun with a couple stray curls hanging out of it. It was the most disorganized I had felt and looked in a while, I wasn't even wearing lip gloss.

I sigh and grab my book and headphones sitting on the small bench next to the mirror.

I settled on the porch swing outside and played my music before I began to read. I opened my book and it felt like nothing in my life had changed. Everything was perfect, as if all my friends were over for our girl's slumber party, my mom was talking to one of my friends while making us dinner, the other two were setting up our fort on the trampoline in the backyard, and Leila and I were sitting in a comfortable silence on the porch swing after I showed her texts between Ryan and I that made me giggle.

I missed that feeling. I looked up from my book and sighed, hanging my head over the edge of the swing. I continued to read for a while before it was obviously interrupted.

"Hey 'Thena, whatcha doing? Of course you're reading, surprised you aren't with Ryan." I looked blankly at the page in my book before I spoke back.

"Yup, reading like always," I said plainly, I wasn't in the mood for Mason's teasing.

"Anyways, just came over to ask if you were like sick or something since you missed like half the week at school" He said as if he would actually be concerned for my health.

"Why would you care?" I looked up from the pages of my book, even though I have read it many times none of these words were making sense to me right now anyway.

He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes before replying. "I mean it would kind of suck if you were to die and I would have to restart with my next neighbor. Besides, you've been my favorite neighbor to annoy."

"Mason, I'm the only neighbor our age you've ever had" I rolled my eyes at this attempt to make me laugh, "I was out with Ryan the other day and we were out in the rain, just been feeling a bit under the weather ever since." I still wasn't ready to tell anyone other than my mom and Leila about the breakup.

He shrugged, I hated it when he shrugged. He was always shrugging even when there was nothing to shrug at. "Speaking of Ryan, where is he? Normally, you two would be sitting out here all over each other"

I scoffed at even the idea of what he was describing. "Okay first of all that is gross, second, I told you I wasn't feeling well. Besides, what I do with Ryan is none of your business."

"Yeah it isn't, but it does become my business when you decide to make out on this swing that is right in front of my window, so." I felt my cheeks warm up a bit wondering how I never even considered the fact the porch swing is fully visible from his window.

"Well, he isn't here right now so I don't know why we're still having this conversation." I said.

"Yeah, well I meant it when I said you're my favorite neighbor to annoy." He smiled.