The Boy Next Door

Chapter 1

Good Things Always End

LOUISE'S POV

I stare thoughtfully at the oval window beside me, the view of my new home stretching endlessly below me. It's been a week since she died. When I saw the impact of the car smash into her side of the vehicle I knew it would've been a miracle to survive. What made it worse is that I saw the whole thing. She was on her way to pick me up from school after my car decided to shit itself, it was a normal rainy day at Farnborough and I was contemplating whether to hitch a ride with the cute boy Billy but decided against it since I hadn't had some quality time with my mum for awhile, how depressing that turned out to be. After that day I never saw Billy again, after mums funeral I didn't see anybody, my friends paid their respects by leaving flowers and candles by my door but they knew I wanted time to myself, when I heard that my dad was coming to get me, I remember my heart jumping up to my throat and my fists clench as my ears burn at that name.
As you can tell, my dad and I did not get along, he left my mum when I was very young, and I refused contact with him ever since, my mum left it at that, and brought me up the best she could as both a mother and father figure. Now that she was gone I didn't know what to do, she was my rock, and without her, I felt helpless.
So as I sat in the crowded plane next to my father figure, you could imagine the thoughts going through my mind right now, not pretty ones, I can tell you that much.
"So..." I turned my head to Pete as he tried to spark conversation to the awkward silence surrounding us. I refused to call him dad, so from now on, I'll address him as Pete. "You'll love New York, I've enrolled you at a school not far from home, Springvale High, a lot of the kids in the neighbourhood go there so you'll have no problem making friends" he smiled, I grimaced at his words, clearly seeing my facial expression he looked pained, "look I'm trying really hard Louise, I don't know what I can do to make up for all this time, but give me a chance" I looked at him and said nothing, he sighed and went back to his laptop, typing up what seemed like a book with the amount of words on the page. My dad was a lawyer, a good one at that, I can't deny, meaning a lot of the time he wasn't home anyway, and was unmarried to my relief.
When we finally touched down at the airport and hopped into what I was assuming was his black BMW, I immediately fell asleep in the comfort and smell of clean leather seats.

I soon woke up to the sound of the drivers door closing, what I saw before me left my mouth open as I took in the surroundings, it was a peaceful neighbourhood, stereotypical with the white picket fence and green grass. Petes house was 3 stories high, back in Farnborough we had a little house with a lounge, kitchen and a bedroom I shared with mum. This house was a mansion compared to what we had and I couldn't help myself but feel a bit excited at my new home. That feeling quickly disappeared as the boot opened, I don't think it took me any less then a few seconds to retrieve my bags before Pete got the chance, I didn't want him touching my things.
"I can get tha-"
"No"
He shrugged off the hostility in my voice, putting on a forced smile as he closed and locked the car, "sure thing Louise".
We entered the house, me hauling my suitcase up the steps, Pete could see I was struggling but remained his distance. When we finally made it inside I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Your room is on the 3rd floor, 1st on the left, I understand you'd want your privacy so I gave you a room further away from..."
"Thanks."
He gave me a nod before hesitating, "are you sure you don't want any help?"
"I'm fine, thanks"
What seemed like an eternity I finally managed to haul both the suitcase and my body up the 2 flights of stairs, to say that I was unfit would be an understatement, of course I wasn't fat, i had a pretty fit looking body if it wasn't for the sweat and panting that betrayed me. I was about 5ft 7, with wavy black hair that stopped just before my hips, I was naturally tan due to my mums Mexican heritage but I had my dads green eyes, strange mix hey? I admit I wasn't bad looking if I tried, but I despised make up and I had the dress sense of a bogan, so most of the time I resembled what you'd call a lost cause.
I opened the door to my room, it was pretty simple, the walls were creamy and the carpet was white.
Disaster waiting to happen, I thought as I reflected on my clumsiness. In the middle sat an oak double bed, with a matching wardrobe and vanity, I walked towards the chair at the vanity and sat down, looking at my reflection you could see the bags under my eyes from lack of sleep and the dull look in my eyes. I got up and collapsed onto my new bed, falling asleep instantly.