MY NEW NEIGHBOR

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN

I helped Alex walk inside and he was dragging his feet the whole time. 

"Does your mom know about the scars?" I asked him. 

"She doesn't know about a lot of things.  She barely even noticed when I got depression and anxiety issues.  She forced me to see a therapist because she thought it would 'fix me'.  It didn't, so fuck her.  Ever since Addie was born, I was no longer a concern.  She fakes it when she's around other people.  I don't give a shit anymore."

I never did ask him how I was the one to bring back some of his depression. 

I figured I would wait and let him tell me on his own time.  I wasn't even sure if he knew what he was saying since he was so hammered. 

I gave him so water and walked him up to my room.  I didn't want his mom to catch him and my mom wouldn't be coming home until tomorrow morning.  She's working the night shift. 

We got to my bed and he just plopped down, closing his eyes.

He fell asleep pretty quickly and I just laid there with him.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of someone puking. 

Alex. 

I walked into the bathroom and threw him a towel. 

"You can take a shower here, I have some old clothes of my dad's that you can wear." 

He just nodded his head and started to undress when he was finished.  I made sure he was in the shower before I brought in the clothes: dark jeans, a black tee, and a red and black flannel. 

I didn't say anything as I did this and started to walk out once I'd placed them on the counter.  "Thank you," came Alex's voice from the shower.

When he was finished, I had already prepared breakfast for him. 

We ate in silence. 

When he was finished, he drank some more water and took the Advil that I had given him.  He left the kitchen and went out on my back porch, to smoke I presume. 

I walked out after him and stood beside him.  "Are you okay?" I mumbled.  He was quiet for a second then answered.  "I will be."  

"If you ever want to talk about it and last night, I'm here and no judging, I promise."

I almost thought I saw him smile.. just a tiny bit.

"This doesn't change anything between us.  I was really wasted and had no control over what I was doing."

I nodded, kind of expecting him to say that.

Will he ever change?

He went home after he was sure his mom had gone to work. 

It was the weekend, but he still didn't want to be caught going inside.  My mom came home shortly after, and with few words, greeted me, and headed upstairs to get some sleep.

***

I walked into Alex's house without knocking, knowing that his sister and mom weren't home.

His sister had spent the night at a friend's house. 

I headed up to his room and knocked. 

"Enter," came his voice.  I smiled and walked into his room. 

"Sup?" he said.  "Nothing," was my answer. 

We spent all afternoon playing video games and attempting to cook something for lunch.  We were trying to make Biscuits and gravy... not your traditional lunch, but we were feeling it.

Alex kept groaning in frustration and I would laugh every time.  He couldn't get the dough right. 

He kept using the wrong amount of flour.  I guess he got tired of my laughing, because he threw a big handful of flour on me, covering my face and clothes. 

"Oh that is it!" I yelled.  I grab the kitchen sprayer and did a Tarzan/victory cry as I sprayed him all over the front of his body. 

"Ha, you peed your pants!" I childishly yelled.  He started to run after me.

He chased me all over the house and almost caught me a few times.  I was just barely fast enough. 

I started for the stairs but had the breath knocked out of me when he caught me by the waist and held me in the air.  I yelped. 

"Put me down, you Monkey!" 

"Take back what you did!" 

"Never!" I yelled. 

I wriggled in his arms and fell to the ground.  I had almost escaped, but he caught me and sat on top of me, keeping me in place. 

"Remove yourself from my body, Alexander Johnson!  I mean it!  You will regret it!"  He just kept smirking.  "I don't think so, Samantha Jones."

All of a sudden, he started to tickle me really hard and I was laughing loudly. 

"Stop it, pleeeeeeeease, I beg you," I yelled in his face.  He stopped, but didn't get up. 

He just stared at me.  His face became serious, as did mine. 

I couldn't tell, but it looked like he was coming closer.  When I realized that he actually was, I started to panic inwardly. 

Oh, my god.  Is he going to kiss me?  Should I kiss him back? 

I didn't know if he was, but I was definitely panicking inwardly.

He was so close now and I didn't have time to decide before my eyes fluttered closed.  I waited for his lips to come into contact with mine, but they never did. 

A door flew open, "What the hell is going on here?!"  I looked up from my position on the floor to see Alex's mother, staring at us in horror.

***

That's when I woke up.