The Boy Next Door

the party

"I'll get it!" Yells Hayley and she sprits for the door. Katie turns the camera off and follows behind her to talk to the guests mom, I'm assuming. After a few seconds, I hear her scream, "GEMMA!" And she drags a red haired girl around her age into the room.

"Hey Gemma," says Caleb.

"Hey!" Says Gemma, she turns to me. "Who are you? You're the girl who Caleb hugged at gym the other day. You were crying weren't you?"

"Yeah.. uh, my name's Ebony."

"Do you like tea and crumpets?"

"Um, yeah they're okay, why?"

"Because you're British, so of course you like them. Isn't it like a rule all people from England need to like tea and crumpets, or is that just a rumor?"

"Um..."

"How about you guys go join Annie on the trampoline?" Says Caleb. I smile at him thankfully.

"No Caleb! We need to wait for Stella, Zoey, and Clara!" Whines Hayley.

"Okay, okay."

"What's your favorite type of tea?" Asks Gemma, sitting across from me on the island.

"Raspberry."

"Do you like popcorn?"

"Yes."

"Do you like America?"

"Yeah, it's great!"

"Can I try on your glasses? I like them."

"Sure," I say, taking them off and handing them to her.

"Woah! One of the eyes is clear and the other's all funky!"

"Yeah, one of my eyes is half blind and the other's got perfect vision."

"Did you fall and hurt it? I fell in gymnastics once, but I didn't need glasses..."

"I guess you could say that... kinda." The doorbell rings again and Gemma hands me my glasses back and follows Hayley out of the room. Caleb and I meet eye contact. He can tell I'm uncomfortable, but I can also tell he's curious to know more. Maybe I'll tell him later. I don't feel like talking about the accident now.

"You were a really good sport with Gemma," says Caleb. "She sometimes asks questions there aren't really good answers to."

"It's fine, I've grown up needing to deal with little sibling's friends all my life." Caleb smiles his adorable smile at me and wraps an arm around my shoulders. We hear excited chatter of little girls coming from the other room.

"Let's do Frozen karaoke!" I hear one yell and the stampede of six girls comes running in. They all run into the living room, which is attached to the kitchen, and stare at Caleb and I, looking slightly confused.

"WHO'S THAT?" Asks a chubby blonde girl.

"That's Caleb and Hayley's friend, Ebony." Says Gemma.

"Oh!" Says the girl, "hi I'm Stella!!"

"Hello Stella!" I say.

"Are you from England?" She asks.

"Yep!"

"I'm Zoey!" Says a girl with long black hair.

"And I'm Clara!" Says a taller girl with a dirty blonde bob.

"And I'm Caleb," says Caleb, his arm still around me.

"HI CALEB!" All the girls say.

"Nice to meet you guys!" I say.