Next Door || HAMZAH THE FANTSATIC

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟏𝟔

HAMZAH

▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊|• 0:16

Chase slides into the seat beside me, handing over my drink.
Our attention drifts to Mandy and Martin, who are seated across from us, each clutching a bright, Christmas-themed drink.

"Oh, you're really in the Christmas spirit," Chase teases as he watches them both sip the drink.

Martin takes a dramatic sip, immediately squinting like he's trying to discover a secret ingredient, while Mandy nods along.

"It's so sweet," Mandy says, letting out a laugh as she quickly covers her mouth with her hand.
Martin nods along before shuffling the drink to Chase and me.

Chase raises an eyebrow, glancing at me before cautiously taking a sip. His face immediately scrunches up and nods slowly to indicate the sweetness before pushing the cup toward me with a look.

I take the cup reluctantly, bracing myself as I take a sip. The sugar hits me instantly, and I can't help but wince.

"Oh my gosh, what did they put in this..." I let out a small cough, sliding the cup back to Mandy.

She rolls her eyes, sipping the drink eagerly in front of all of us. "You guys are so dramatic..." She scoffs.

I take a sip from my drink, attempting to wash out the lingering candy cane taste from her drink.
Midway through, I feel a small buzz from my pocket, and without thinking, I instantly whip out my phone.

"I should've recorded that," Chase lets out a small teasing laugh with his hands over his mouth.
I look up to see them all watching me with a somewhat smirk on their faces.

"What—"

"Hamzah's got a girlfriend," Martin interrupts, his laugh loud and obnoxious, echoing through the room. Chase snickers, clearly feeding off Martin's energy.

"She's not..." I murmur, my voice trailing off as I glance down at my drink.

Chase shifts closer to me, leaning in like he's trying to get a confession.

"I barely get any texts from you anymore," he says, his tone playful but edged with curiosity. "You're always too busy texting someone else." He lets out a joking sigh.

"You act like I text you in the first place," I counter, keeping my tone dry but light.

Chase scoffs before crossing his arms, "I bet he texts her good morning every day, and goodnight."

"How was your day!"  Mandy adds on and they all share a laugh.

I blankly ignore them as I check my phone,

[ SATURDAY 12:24 PM ]

Y/N| I finished a whole minute early 😯

great job 🙌 | Hamzah

what are you gonna do with these extra seconds?? | Hamzah

Y/N | probably go to a mall

Y/N | with Lia!

Girls night out!! | Hamzah

Y/N | boy it's 12 pm

Girls afternoon activities out | Hamzah

Y/N | that works!

Y/N | Lia is here gtg

Y/N | i'll text later!

Aw man | Hamzah

Have fun | Hamzah

I quickly come back to reality after the conversation ends. Chase and Mandy are slightly arguing about something while Martin randomly adds on every now and then.

Martin glances over at me mid way and tugs a small smirk,

"You done texting?" He asks, crossing his arms as if he's been offended, I shoot him a look as I put my phone in my pocket.

"Doe's she usually text you after her work?" Mandy asks as her and Chase suddenly faces me and I shift in my position.

It's starting to feel like their all interrogating me...

Before I can even answer, Martin quickly faces over to Mandy as if he's gained valuable information that's worth her time.

"Yesterday when we finished recording, he grabbed his phone so quickly," Martin says way too eagerly, resting his finger dramatically against his chin.

Mandy immediately perks up, her eyebrows shooting up as she leans forward slightly. Chase glances at me with a curious expression, clearly intrigued.

"What! I always grab my phone—" I start to argue.

"Sure, but not that quickly," Martin cuts in, smirking. "And with that little smile on your face, too."

"Okay what," I try to make my tone aggressive but find myself muttering.

"Dude, you should be happy. You and your crush are literally texting every day," Martin says with a teasing smile, dragging out the word "crush" like he's savoring it.

I scrunch up my face. "Don't say crush... it sounds weird," I murmur, my voice low.

Chase and Mandy both laugh, Mandy practically doubling over in her chair.

"What else do you wanna call it?" she asks, raising an eyebrow at me, her tone sharp but playful.

I open my mouth to respond, but nothing comes out.

"Exactly," Mandy says, leaning back with a triumphant grin.

"Is texting the furthest you've gotten with a girl?" Martin teases, but before I could even respond Chase quickly chimes in.

"Doesn't he pick her up from school and work?" Chase adds on, giving me a sly look as they all share laughs.

"Okay that's enough," I say tone dry as I raise my hand up in defense.

"No you guys should schedule an actual hangout, also called a date," Martin proposes a plan and Mandy nods along.

A date?

"What type of date would she like?..." I ask, my voice is more low. They all share looks to indicate them thinking.

"Well a good first date could be movies?" Chase chimes in but Mandy instantly shakes her head.

"No, absolutely not. For you guys, an arcade could be cute?" She looks over at Martin and he nods along with her.

An arcade date.

I roll the thought around in my head. That doesn't seem too bad. It wouldn't be quiet and awkward like the movies, where I'd probably overthink every second of silence. At least at an arcade, we'd have something to do—something to focus on. 

My mind drifts to a small, vivid scenario of us at the arcade. I envision those scenes from movies where they'd be at one of those claw machines, the girl eagerly pointing out which plushie she wants while the guy waste an embarrassing number of tokens trying to win it for her.

"A date doesn't sound too bad,"