My Next Door Neighbor is WHO?!

Within Close Quarters

Chapter 8:

By the morning, the story of my mom's death was on the news. I turned on the television and the news had it as a headline. Great, just what I wanted. I wondered if it was worldwide news or just local news. I heard a knock on the door. I looked out the window. It was Toby. He probably heard about it. I opened the door and let him in.

"Hey" he hugged me.

It was nice to hug someone. I hadn't hugged anybody like that for a while. We sat down on the couch together.

"Are you going to school today?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I've got my stuff packed for school. I just have to get dressed."

I slept in the living room yesterday night. It was about an hour before school, so I had time to eat and get ready.

"I'm so sorry to hear about your mom" Toby said.

"Thanks. I just wished I would've gotten a chance to say one last thing to her. It was only like one and a half weeks until her birthday. I remember she was so excited. She was turning forty. I wished I could've..." tears were streaming down my face like raindrops falling during a summer rain.

Toby wiped away my tears with his thumb and hugged me gently again. Only this time he hugged me for a while. There we sat, just the two of us, together, hugging. He rubbed my back gently. He was so warm and loving. After five minutes, we just looked at each other. He was looking at me intently and he rubbed my arms and patted my leg. He wiped away my tears one more time, looked at me and said, "Now, I want to see that pretty smile of yours again."

"Alright" I smiled and laughed.

It hurt to laugh after so much crying. I was shaking when Toby was hugging me. The pulses of my shakes in his arms were scary, but his arms comforted me. His warmth radiated to my body.

"Good news, instead of 4 months and getting my braces off, I get them off today!" he smiled.

Now that I was more collected, even though my face was red, I said, "That's great! You'll look different" I smiled.

"Yeah, but I'm excited."

"I bet! I would be too!"

I was getting hungry.

"You want some breakfast?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm starving!" he said, excited.

I got up. Toby got up quickly, put his arm around me, and walked with me. He was glued to my hip.

"What do you want to eat?" I asked him.

"Ooo, do you have waffles?" he asked.

"Of course, we, I mean...I have a lot of waffles."

He hugged me again and kissed my forehead. "It'll be OK, trust me" he smiled.

"I know. You buy the Eggo kind right?"

"Yep!" I smiled.

"I love seeing your smile" he smiled back.

*sigh* That beautiful, bracy smile of his. I sort of let myself like him now. There was no need to hide that I liked him anymore. Who was I kidding?

"By the way, I like a lot of syrup on my waffles" he noted.

"OK, I do too!"

There we sat, with our waffles, in silence. It was a calm morning and it was better to have Toby here with me. After breakfast, I went upstairs to get ready.

"Do you have an extra toothbrush?" Toby asked.

"I should."

He followed me upstairs and said he would be in the bathroom. I had found him an extra toothbrush that wasn't used. Meanwhile, I got dressed and did my hair.

"Are you ready?" I heard Toby ask outside of the door.

"Yeah, I'm ready. I just have to brush my teeth now" I told him.

I opened my door and he was there waiting for me. I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. After that, Toby and I got our backpacks and went outside. We walked to his house. Obviously, his mom would be giving us a ride. We opened the door and went inside. Toby's mom was there with her keys and purse. She was smiling.

"Hi sweetheart, how are you doing?" she asked me. Meanwhile, she kissed Toby on the forehead and tussled his hair.

"I'm fine. Toby was really sweet and decided to comfort me" I said.

All of the sudden, Toby's mom hugged me. The whole Turner family gave great hugs. Toby was great and so was his mom. Then, we got into Toby's car. It was a beat up black Pontiac but it was homey. The ride to school was fine and Toby was talking to his mom about some joke he heard on television last night. Toby and his mom were laughing and I was smiling because I loved their laughs. When we got to school, Toby's mom told us to have a great day. We walked towards the door together. Toby's arm around me, protecting me from my own vulnerability. We walked in the school and Toby and I were escorted to a separate room because we were subjects in the investigation. There were five guards protecting the room we were in. I felt special. I had the, what I would call now, perfect boy with me and safety. For once, even though I was without a mother, life was more perfect than it ever was. The first bell rang and a voice over the announcement system came on.

"First bell will be replaced with an urgent assembly" Principal Baxter said.

So, everyone was escorted, one body by another, into the auditorium seats. Then the assembly began.

"As some of you may know, there has been a recent outbreak of violence in this school. This applies to everyone. It will not be acceptable here anymore. If you are caught bullying or doing suspicious things you will be immediately sent to the administrative office and expelled immediately. A fellow student you may know has recently lost a special figure in her life. This is why we're here. If any of you have clues about the death of Aurora Arnold's mom do not hesitate to tell us" Principal Baxter said, sternly.

Next, an official S.W.A.T team officer came up. It was Officer John.

"If any of you want to talk to Aurora Arnold or Toby Turner, they will be in a separate room for the whole day to ensure their safety. There will also be guards around the school that will be patrolling throughout the school day. If you do decide that you want to talk to Aurora or Toby you will have a limit of 15 minutes to talk to them. Thank you" Officer John said.

I didn't realize how serious this whole predicament was until he finished talking. It sank in and I realized that the most perfect time of my life was also the most dangerous. It wasn't until later in the morning that I would realize how much danger I could be in.