The Boy Next Door

Chapter 12

"The Boy Next Door"

BACK TO PAIGE'S P.O.V
I walk into English with all eyes on me. Again. I hang my head down and continue to walk to my seat, when someone yells: "So is Thomas your boyfriend now?" That was Brooke. A nice girl, but with a really big mouth. Kati, who was glaring into my soul just one minute ago, shot up from her seat, her face red with furry. "Brooke, shut up! Instead of opening that big mouth of yours, you sit your a-" "Kati! Brooke! Enough! Sit down Kati, now." I turn to see my English teacher, Mr Higgins. Who's face is about as red as Kati's. He's pointing towards Kati's chair, gesturing for her to take a seat. Kati mumbles something under her breath that I can't make out, taking a seat. Brooke continues to read her book, and I slowly but surely, make it to my seat without any more interruptions. "Ok class" Mr Higgins announces. "We've been reading Of Mice And Men in class for a week now. It's about time you guys all got in small groups to discuss the book." The class groans, and the teacher goes on. "I will pair you each with three other people. The first group is: Paige, Madison, Stephen, and Kati." I don't hear the rest of the groups because I zone out. Kati, I can't be in a group with Kati! To make matters worse, Madison is Kati's friend. Shit.

I walk over to the back of the classroom where Kati and Madison are already sitting. I can feel Kati's cold eyes glued on me as I take a seat across from her, my head glued to the floor for the second time that period. "Great, I'm paired with a bunch of girls." I look up to see Stephen drop his backpack on the ground, and plop into the desk chair next to mine. "Stephen shut your hole." Madison giggles, playing with her light pink painted fingernails. "So Paige, or should I say, the boyfriend stealer." Kati spats. She puts down the book and leans back in her chair. But her eyes never leave the stare they have on me. Wait a minute? Boyfriend stealer? What the hell? I finally meet eyes with Kati, giving her a confused look. "What do you mean boyfriend stealer?" "Thomas broke up with me today. And it's all your fault!" Anger starts to boil up inside me. How can something like that, be my fucking fault? I bite the inside of my cheek, to hold back from screaming in her face. "You wanna know why he broke up with me?" Kati continues. "He broke up with me, because he's sticking up for your ass! I hope your happy." I look back down at my desk, rolling my eyes. 'Yeah I hope your happy that he broke up with you because your a bitch' I think to myself. But I don't say it aloud. "Um, hello? Are we gonna talk about the book or not?" Stephen says. Annoyance on his face. He taps his finger on the desk, waiting for an answer. Kati laughs. "Hell no. I'm not talking about anything with this bitch in the group." I don't even have to ask who she's talking about, it's me. She pulls her phone out from her pocket, and proceeds to play on it. Madison then pulls out her phone, copying Kati's move. I shrug at Stephen and pull out my notes for "Of Mice And Men." When I look back up, I see that Stephen has already gotten his notes out. I quickly turn to the page where my book notes are, and turn to Stephen. "You talk first."

THOMAS'S P.O.V

After school gets out, I walk home with my sister by my side. We assume Paige had started walking without us, because we all have different last periods. I look straight ahead, kicking rocks and listening to them roll away on the hard gravel. We are about two minutes away from our house, when I start to think about Paige again. 'God she's so pretty. I just wish we had a class at school together so I could see her more.' A hand moves in front of my face all of a sudden, interrupting my thoughts. "Thomas? Hey, we're home. Why did you keep walking?" I turn to look at my sister, who's eyebrows are raised in a confused manner. I had to tell someone about Paige, might as well tell my sister who's actually friends with her. I pull Ava to the side of our house, where I know Paige can't see us through her window. "Ok, what I'm about to tell you, please don't tell anyone bec-" She laughs, rolling her eyes. "Oh just spill it already!" "I-I like Paige." My face grows warm, and I look from Ava, to the ground. I feel her put a hand on my shoulder and I look up, feeling a bit more relaxed. "After what happened today, I figured you liked her." I run my hand through my messy blonde hair. "But what should I do?" I ask, feeling my hand shake as I let it slump back down to my side. "You need to tell her. Trust me when I say that, you need to tell her." "Wait, how do you know that's the right thing to do?" She smiles at me, but that smile soon turns in to a tiny smirk. "I just know." "Ava, do you know something I do-" "Oh just tell her already!" She says, pushing me back towards the front of the house. "Ok! Ok! I will calm down!" I get my feet out from under me, and turn to face her once more. Ava gestures with her head towards our house, at my bedroom window. Right then and there, I know exactly what she's thinking. "Thanks Ava." I say, before running towards the direction of our house. I fly up the stairs, not bothering to shut the front door behind me. I enter my room, throwing my backpack down near my bed, and head towards my window.

I open up my bedroom window, then grab the nearest book by me. Once I've grabbed the nearest book, I turn back towards the window. There she is, sitting on her bed, peacefully reading her book. I chuck the book at her window, causing her to jump and look my way. She slowly puts down her book, then makes her way to her window to open it. "This is the second time you've done this today. Want me to walk with you to the store?" Paige giggles, rolling those cute eyes. I smile and shake my head. "No, this time, I want you to come over here." "Why?" I groan, causing her to giggle again. I lean forward on the window frame, looking straight into her eyes. "I have something important I have to tell you. Meet me in my room, like now. Please." "Now?" She says, almost in a whisper. "Yeah, right now." I frown. "Is someone home?" She shakes her head no. "Ok" I smile, "Good." She tucks a piece of her light brown hair behind her ears. "I'll be over in a minute." I smile and nod. I close my window and run up to my mirror, then start to run my fingers through my hair. As I'm looking into the mirror, I hear a knock on my door. Before I can say anything, Ava opens the door, appearing in the doorway with Paige right behind her. "Hey, Paige is right here." Ava smirks. "I'll just go back into my room. Bye guys!" With that, Ava quickly walks off. A couple seconds later I hear a door close shut, indicating that she's now in her room. I look over at Paige who is still standing in my doorway. "Please, come in." I gesture inside my room, and she quickly steps inside. She stands in the middle of my room, glancing from left to right. "What are you looking at?" I ask her playfully. She flashes her beautiful smile. "Your room. It's cleaner than I would have thought." She laughs. I shut my door, chuckling. "Hey! I never said I was messy!" "So um, you said you had to talk to me?" She asks, changing the subject. "Yeah um" I clear my throat. "So, here's the thing..."