charming // ch

1.

I leaned over my violets, smiling at how beautiful they looked. "My pretty babies..." I murmured, straightening. I observed my flourishing flower garden, feeling like a proud mother. This garden was my pride and joy. A bit unusual for an eighteen year old girl, but my mom introduced me to gardening when I was just a toddler, showing me different types of , teaching me about flora's important role in the ecosystem, things of that sort. Naturally, I picked up gardening, helping my mom until she let me have a little patch of my own. , she had let me take over the entire area, and I intended to make her proud.

I went inside my , going into the kitchen and filling a glass with some water. Looking out my window, I see a moving truck. Weird. My mom didn't tell me we were getting new neighbors. Heading upstairs, I knocked on the door of my mom's bedroom, where she was napping. I hear a grumbled "Come in." and , stepping onto the soft carpeting.

"Hey mom, do you know who the people moving in door are?" I asked, leaning against the wall.

She sat up, obviously disgruntled. It took a moment, but after a few moments of thinking she responded. "You know, I remember hearing Brenda saying that they're a family, last name uhhh" she paused a second. "Hood. They've got a daughter, a few years older than you. And a son. Only a year older, actually. You should go over and say hi." She suggested, gesturing in the general direction of their house.

I grimaced. I've never been a fan of talking to people. I knew I'd end up doing it anyway, but only because my mom asked me to. "Sure, mom. But could you, um, come with me?" I asked, a bit embarassed that I'd ask something like that, as I was an adult, and should hardly need to be accompanied to make small talk.

"Babe, I would but I have a pounding headache. I'm sorry. You can give them some flowers from your garden as a house warming gift." She gave me a warm smile. "You're doing amazing with that by the way, (Y/N). Some of my talent must've rubbed off somewhere along the line."

I grinned at the compliment and gave her a quick kiss goodbye, walking back downstairs.

I picked up the glass of water I'd left on the counter and drank what was left, finding a pair of sandals before exiting to my backyard and picking out a few tulips. I took a look over the metal fence seperating our yard and the Hood's, not getting a glimpse of much anything yet.

Skirting around to the front of the house, I walked the short distance to the front door of my new neighbors. It was then that my shyness took over, and suddenly I dreaded the idea of ringing that doorbell. Taking a deep breath, I quickly pressed the and heard the faint chimes from inside the house.

After about two minutes of me standing on their front porch uncomfortably, rocking on my heels in nervousness, the door opened. Standing in the doorframe was a very tall boy, with messy dark hair and toned arms decorated with tattoos. Great, hot neighbor.

"Yeah?" He asked, staring at me.

"Uh" I said, holding up the flowers. "Are your parents home? I was just bringing these over as, um, a housewarming present. If that's okay, I mean." I smiled awkwardly, and silently offered the flowers the boy. "My name's (Y/N), by the way. In case you need to know, or something." Shit, this was almost painful.

Then, a little lady appeared him, and saw the flowers. "Ooh, are these for us? How sweet." The hot neighbor guy let her in front of him, and then disappeared inside the house, obviously uncomfortable. The woman noticed, and gave me an aplogetic smile. "Don't mind Calum, dear. He's just shy around pretty girls." I blushed, and heard Calum yell "Mom!" from somewhere inside the house.

"No problem about the flowers, by the way. I actually have a garden so if you need a bouquet or something, I'm your gal." I chuckled and felt myself relax, handing the bouquet to the woman.

"I'll keep that in mind. Could I get a name?" The woman asked sweetly, and gave me an expectant smile.

"It's (Y/N)" I said, shoving my hand in the pocket of my shorts.

"I'm Joy, and please don't hesitate to come over if you need anything. For now though, as you may understand, we have a lot of to do." She explained, giving me a look of mock exaustion.

I nodded. "Of course. It was very nice meeting you, Joy." With that, we said our goodbyes and Joy closed the door. On my way home I felt my stomach erupt in butterflies just thinking about seeing Calum again.