Neighbours // c.h.

f i v e

Jenna and Calum bickered for a long time about who was the prettiest teacher when they were teenagers. Jenna said that their chemistry teacher was brobably the Audrey Hepburn of the eighties, while Calum insisted that, well, the nurse Sandra was more beautiful.

And for some reason, it felt completely normal for them to be talking about their middle-aged school board on a roof in the early hours of the morning.

"I have actually seen an old picture of Mrs. Anderson once, and trust me, she looked like a horse."

"Okay, I am sure that you're- wait, what? Where did you see that?"

"She's my godmother."

"Oh." Jenna couldn't find anything else to say. She just looked at Calum and wondered what would have happened if they had put a little bit more effort before to just.. Talk!

It wasn't so difficult for them to do so. So why didn't they do it before? They could have gotten to know each other better. She could have known that their chemistry teacher was, in fact, his godmother. They could have been better friends. Maybe they could have even..

No, way too far, Jenna!

But, he was--at least by Jenna's standards--a good boyfriend material. He was funny, charming and witty (when he wants to be). He was great to hang out with, and he could be a great friend. Also, it goes without saying that he was very good-looking.

She couldn't help but imagine how things could have gone if they had actually dated. Would it have gone awkwardly and they would have decided to remain good friends anyway? Would they have turned into this cheesy couple who have known each other all their lives and lived right next to each other? Or would they have broken up and turned into worst enemies?

What if Jenna didn't have a crush on Luke and Calum didn't have a girlfriend? Would the two still be sitting there just talking about nothing at four in the morning? Would they be kissing right now? Would he even think of her as more of a neighbour to begin with?

Probably not.

He was a guy with a certain type. All his girlfriend could have been mistaken for clones. They were all the same.

You know what? Fuck types. And just snap out of it you idiot!

"Speaking of old pictures, do you remember my fourth birthday?" She suddenly remembered something she saw earlier that evening when she was messing with the old pictures.

"My memory gets a bit rusty when it comes to something that happened fourteen years ago. Why, though?"

"Well, I happen to have the cutest photo of you ever. Just wait, I'll go get it." And before he could even understand what Jenna just said, she had stormed off.

"Wait, cutest?" He groaned. His mother was supposed to keep all the old pictures of him in their own house, and lock them in a box and fucking hide it, just so that there wouldn't come a day where a pretty girl sees the four-year-old him, and say he was cute.

...

"Here." Jenna laughed as she handed Calum the old polaroid.

And no matter how many times Calum denied it, it was actually cute. Him and Jenna were sitting on a sofa, with paper clips all over Calum's hair, while he kissed her cheek. She was wearing a jeans overall and a tiara.

"Wait, I actually remember that day."Calum couldn't help but smile at the memory that came back to him all of a sudden.

"I was pestering you about something earlier that day, right?"

"Yes, and I was so mad at you that I used the "but it's my birthday and I can do whatever I want" excuse to make you put paper clips in your hair." She continued.

"But you stayed mad at me, and you wouldn't let me play with the other kids, until-"

"Until you apologized." She cut him off.

"And that was when this picture was taken." They spoke at the same time, then bursted out laughing at the memory.

They remained quiet, both of them silently wondering what happened to those two little kids. One ended up falling for the school's biggest jerk and with chronic insomnia, and the other grew up to be an outcast, only hanging out with one group of people and not even bothering to open a conversation with his next door neighbour for years just because he went to a different school then.

"What the hell happened that made us drift apart?" She sighed, staring at the dark sky.

"Life happened." He simply replied.

And as sad as it may sound, it was true.