The One Next Door

Chapter 2

"So, this is it?" Joanne asked, glancing at the average sized apartment in front of her. It looked big enough for around ten people.

"Yeah, I think around three to four boys already live here. And they placed an advert for more people who can share this apartment. It seemed pretty good and at a reasonable price so we took it." Rhea shrugged and the three girls moved closer to the building.

"How many rooms does it have?" Joanne asked curiously.

"Like, around four. Its more of a complex instead of an apartment I think." Abby pitched in.

"So, should we go and talk to the person who's renting?" Joanne asked. Everyone nodded and the girls stood in front of a big wooden door with their hands nervously fidgeting. Rhea raised her hand hesitantly and knocked on the door. All three were stood outside waiting for a moment or two before they heard a faint 'coming' from inside.

Soon the door was opened by a tall guy with dirty blonde hair and pure blue eyes and beside him was stood another guy who was comparatively shorter, with blond hair and greenish-gray eyes. He looked like he had just woken up from sleep, still rubbing his eyes and calming down his hair that looked like a bird's nest.

"Wh- Kyle? Do you know them? If yes, tell them that I need sleep." The blond guy murmured and yawned. Joanne chuckled at him and he smiled amusingly at her. "I'll stay anyways, this seems to be interesting"

"Yes, who are you?" Kyle asked with his eyebrows raised with curiosity at the three girls. His stare was fixed on Rhea as she fidgeted nervously. His voice was quite deep, and he looked somewhat familiar but she couldn't tell where exactly from.

"Uhm" Rhea looked sideways at Joanne and Abby. Abby decided to speak up

"You placed an advertisement for people to share the apartment right?" Abby asked confidently and Rhea silently praised that she had her by her side.

"Yeah, we did. Oh, are you here to rent the apartment as well?" The girls immediately nodded

"I mean, of course if its still available. It would be lovely if we could have a chat about it." Rhea smiled and Kyle seemed to ponder about it for a moment. He shrugged and grinned back at her.

"Alright, come on in" He opened the door wide and the girls went in.

"Alessio!" the blonde guy shouted, "There are some ladies who want to see you"

'Huh? Alessio?.. Can it be? No, no it can't be him." Rhea thought uncertainly. Surely there can be more than one Alessio in the world.

"Ugh Flo, I'm in the shower! Wait a minute and offer them something to drink!", A thick italian sounding voice shouted back. A few moments later, the door to the bathroom opened. "Ladies and Gents, we proudly present to you, Alessio." Flo mumbled sleepy and yawned again.

In an instant, a shirtless guy with wet jet black hair and came out of the shower, drying his hair off with a towel.

 Abby and Joanne's eyes widened and their jaws dropped. Rhea however let out a gasp at the recognition and quickly averted her gaze which coincidentally landed on Kyle's as he smirked, Joanne chuckled and Flo smiled at her admiringly, Abby however, couldn't stop staring at Alessio, as her cheeks turned pink.

Alessio noticed Abby staring at him, and sent a charming smile in her direction, making her blush even harder. He then quickly put on a shirt and Abby's disappointed didn't go unnoticed. Rhea and Joanne nudged her with a knowing smile and she looked at them embarrassingly.

Rhea went towards Alessio. "Alessio?" Rhea said, in hopes that he would recognize her. 

"Rhea? As in Rhea, from middle school in Perth?"

"Yeah...the one that moved away in High School. Nice to see you again." She sent a shy smile his way, not sure how to react to an old acquaintance. Alessio didn't seem to have this issue as he pulled her into a hug.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Abby asked in confusion, trying to sum up the sitaution.

"Yeah, I moved to Perth in middle school, we were in the same classes sometimes but I moved away when I was 14 because my Dad got a new job. It's been a while."

"It really has, it's good to see you again. Well, I suppose you came to look at the apartment not discuss pasts. Follow us." Alessio asked and Abby nodded enthusiastically. The others chuckled at them again as the boys started to show the girls around the house.

"Well, me and Alessio share the room. And Kyle is still looking for a roommate -"

"Actually, I'm pretty good on my own for now. I rather enjoy it." Kyle smirked and Flo shook his head.

"Yeah, right. We have two more rooms for you girls. You can share them as you like." Flo snorted and said. He opened the door to one of the rooms, and it looked pretty decent. The room was neither too big nor too small. There were two single beds placed besides each other, with two closets and a mirror. The room was pretty good.

"I like it." Joanne said, Rhea and Abby nodded agreeing with her "What about the bathrooms?" Abby asked.

"Well, we don't have one bathroom for each room. So, we have two common bathrooms. One towards our side of the apartment and the other towards your side." Alessio explained, showing the bathrooms which were quite clean and spacious, impressing the girls. 

"And lastly, this is the room where the magic happens, the kitchen. Kyle and Flo cook usually." Alessio grinned at them and Kyle proudly smiled. The kitchen was also, surprisingly, stocked with food and well equipped. 

"This is actually impressive. I didn't expect you guys would maintain it so well." Rhea laughed and everyone laughed along. 

"Okay why don't we discuss the details?" Kyle led everyone over to the living room. It was quite big with two couches and a marble table placed in between. Everyone sat down as the boys started to explain the details of the house. 

"Well, this is a student accommodation building so the prices are set by the company itself. So far we three have been splitting the costs for the electricity, water and other utilities. So, the total rent is $2200 but now that it'll be six of us here, all of us have to pay around $360 every month." Flo explained and the girls nodded. The price seemed very reasonable for the setting and benefits they were being offered. 

"We'll take it?" Joanne asked while looking at the other two girls.

"We'll take it." Abby and Rhea said simultaneously before grinning. 

"So, when should we move in?" Abby asked. 

"Whenever you want, depends on you. We are fine with any day." Alessio said with a smile directed solely towards Abby while she got embarrassed, turning away from him. 

"How about in three days? We need time to move all the stuff as well." Abby said and the girls nodded. 

"Sounds good then." Kyle replied and checked if the other boys were fine with that too. 

"I guess we should get going then." Rhea stood up, and moved towards the door. Joanne and Abby moved towards the door as well. 

"Why don't you stay for dinner? I don't think any of us should have a problem with it," Flo suggested with a grin, the girls looked unsurely at each other. 

"It's just a dinner. Besides, Kyle and Flo here are quite the cooks, I can assure you it will be delicious." 

"Well, if you insist, sure then." Abby smiled

"Besides, why deny free food right?" Rhea said and everybody chuckled.