The Guy Next Door

Chapter Three (Thea): "Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap."

"Have a wonderful day and thank you for coming," I smiled to Ms. Peterson.

I love working at Mimi's. Not only do I get to keep up with everyone, but I also get killer pay and great hours.

"You ready for your break?" Shaun, the shift manager, asked.

"Yeah just let me finish up with this table," I said, wiping down table 6. I like table 6. My father used to bring my brother and I here every Sunday after church when my mom had to go to work.

I walked back to the kitchen, dropped the rag in the sink, took of my apron, and grabbed my phone.

Sophia:
Want to hang out tonight? (3:46pm)

I heard the guy that moved in next door is super cute ;) (3:57pm)

Want to watch Grey's and stalk his Facebook profile? (4:03pm)

Hellllooooo (4:16pm)

I am a human. I need love and affection. (4:17pm)

If you don't respond within the next five minutes I'm calling the cops (4:17pm)

I called. Apparently "not responding to my texts" is not a good enough reason to send cops to check on my sucky best friend (4:25pm)

Want me to define best friend for you? Someone who responds to texts. Is caring. Loves me. (4:26pm)

Laughing, I looked at the time; 4:30pm. I decided to text her back.

Me:
I filled in for Julie today. She had some thing with her family. I would love to hang out tonight. He seems a little arrogant. Grey's sounds good to me. I know you need love and affection. Tell the cops I said that Ms. Peterson is doing good, her dog isn't sick anymore (: I love you, ps thanks for being my best friend <3

I set my phone down, grabbed my apron, got a rag, and went back to work.

~

"Mom! I'm home!" I yelled walking in and kicking off my shoes.

"Hello, Thea. How was your day?" My mom asked.

"It was good! Ms. Peterson's dog isn't sick anymore. Craig said he wanted you to call him? Something about looking for an apartment for a while. Oh! Also Sophia is spending the night tonight."

"DID I HEAR MY NAME!?" My best friend yelled from upstairs.

"I take you already know Sophia is spending the night."

"Yes, she does. AND I made us dinner. Come on let's go," my best friend said from the stairs.

Following her upstairs, I heard my mom yell, "You girls don't have too much fun up there!"

Racing each other up the stairs, we ran into my room and slammed the door. Out of habit, I plopped on my bed and turned on Netflix.

"So, the guy next door..." Sophia said.

"Yeah. His room is right across from mine. Last night I caught him watching Grey's."

"HE WATCHES GREY'S!?" Sophia screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Well I know I saw him watching it, not heard him, because out of the 6 years of friendship we have, I am definitely hearing impaired."

"This is so exciting! Oh my gosh. I'm going to go see if he's watching it right now," Sophia jumped up down, running to the window.

"Soph, I really don't think that's a good idea, he already thinks I was creeping on him last night."

Ignoring me, "Thea..."

Annoyed, I got up and walked over to the window. "What is it?"

Then I saw it. James McCall had just gotten out of the shower and was wearing nothing but a towel. I can't deny it, he's hot. Between his 6-pack, always perfect brown hair, and chiseled jaw line, looks could actually kill.

I was so busy gawking at him I didn't even notice it when he looked up and saw us.

Sophia yanked me to the ground, causing me to slam my head on the ground.

~

"Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap." I could hear Sophia saying over and over again.

I opened my eyes and saw I was in a white room. It smells funny in here. Kind of like new gloves.

I grabbed Sophia's hand, signaling her to breathe.

"OH MY GOSH. NURSE. NURSE SHES AWAKE!" Sophia yelled louder than I've ever heard her yell.

In came running in mom, dad, Sam, two nurses, and ... James.? What the...

"Oh thank the heavens! Thea are you okay?" mom yelled. Wow that's a lot of yelling. My head hurts like hell.

"Everyone just let her breathe!" The nurse with the blond hair yelled to the group.

"Hello, Thea," she said with a smile. "My name is Jackie. I am just going to take your temperature and check your stitches, okay? Very good. Now, can you tell me what happened?"

"Umm.." I said with a scratchy throat.

"Oh! Here you go," she said, handing me some water. "Drink slowly."

Sipping on the water, I took a deep breathe. "Sophia and I were at my window, then I fell and hit my head."

"Good! I'm glad. Can you tell me your name, your birthday, what year it is, and who the president is?"

"Thea Nicole Goodwin, January 1st, 1999, 2016, and Barack Obama."

"Good! Okay, I will be back in a little while to check your stitches again. Take it easy. Some people want to talk to you now," she smiled, leaving the room.

"Well I am glad she's okay. I'm going to take Sam home. I want him rested for Church tomorrow morning. I love you, babe," my father said, kissing mom on the cheek. Walking over to me and kissing me on the cheek, "I love you, pumpkin, come home soon."

With that, Sam and dad left. Leaving mom, Sophia, and James, who is currently standing the farthest away from everything.

"I am so glad you're okay, honey. They gave you 5 stitches. I can breathe a little more now. I am going to go down and get something to eat. Sophia, do you want to come with me? Your mom would have my head if she knew you were here all night and didn't eat."

I look over at my best friend and see a mischievous grin on her face.

"Of course! I would love to go with you. I am actually starving. See you soon, Thea," Sophia said, leaving the room with my mom.

I was about to go back to sleep when I remembered that there's still one person unaccounted for. Right when I thought he'd left while I was drifting off, he walked up to the chair next to my bed and sat down.

Opening just one eye, "yes?" I asked a little annoyed I can't just sleep.

"You okay?" He asks, sounding more interested now then the two conversation I had with him before.

"They said I am," I snapped back at him. "No offense, but why are you here?"

"Well you WERE staring at me whenever you decided to take a fall. Who knew someone could literally fall for me," he smirked.

"Oh, please. Sophia was staring at you. I was just trying to understand why you have a teddy bear on your bed," I snorted.

His cheeks turned a dark shade of pink.

Maybe James isn't all that bad after all.