The Girl Next Door (gxg)

Confession

The morning light crept through my window, threatening to end my sleep. I opened my eyes the second I heard the familiar squeak of my window being pushed open. "Rise and shine sleepy head," came her familiar voice from the corner of my room. I opened my eyes just enough to see her slender body climb through the crack in my window. Her ripped jean shorts showed off her smooth lanky legs. The tight t-shirt she was wearing brought my attention to her gorgeous chest, it lifted a bit as she reached up to grasp the window revealing her perfect stomach. I caught myself staring, a little too amazed by the beauty of my newly found best friend.

Her dark hair was braided at the top while the bottom was left down. She hadn't worn it like that since the day we met. I vividly remembered watching the moving truck pull up to the house across mine. I had been outside, my head stuck in a book. She'd walked up to me with all the confidence in the world and introduced herself. "I'm Calla, your new neighbor," she'd declared in that sweet voice of hers. Later she'd told me Calla came from the Calla Lily, which was why everyone called her Lily. Everyone except me, I preferred Calla. I remembered being a little stunned at her confidence, her beauty. It had taken me a few moments to be coherent enough to introduce myself as Reign. She had laughed that gorgeous laugh and asked what I was reading.

After that we were together everyday of the summer, except for the week mom had brought the whole family to go see great grandma. She was a lovely woman, but old and often very cranky, and it was much more interesting to be with Calla. With her, I was often pushed beyond my comfort point. She had convinced me to sneak out with her nearly every night. We'd gone to parties (my all time least favorite activity), walked miles just to get ice cream from a place she'd claimed was a million times better than the fifteen shops closer to our houses, and done just about any crazy idea that popped into Calla's head. One time we even went swimming in the ocean long after the sky had gotten dark. We ended up cold and salty, but neither of us cared, it was worth it. It was always worth it.

Calla sat on my bed, bringing me back to reality. "Well what are you waiting for? It's the first day of senior year, get up!" She ripped the covers off me, revealing my very under clothed body. I had tiny pj shorts on and a tank top that clung to my chest. We sat for a few seconds in silence before she left my bed and threw my first day outfit at me and ordered, "Get dressed." 

I was ready in a matter of minutes. We ate quickly and then started our short walk to school. My mom waved goodbye as she pulled out of the driveway to take my younger sister to elementary school. The walk went quickly. We were both a little nervous to find out our schedules, and really hopeful that we'd have classes together. Our schedules would be given to us in classes assigned by our last names.We had to separate since my last name was Kennedy and hers was Aspen. We waved goodbyes, wished good luck, and set off toward our classes.

I ended up having two of my six classes with Calla, English and Government. We also had the same lunch which was a huge blessing, lunch with Calla would be much better than lunch by myself.

The first day of school went by quickly. English was last period, so Cal and I were together. I caught Calla looking at me a few times throughout the class. She did that sometimes and I always wondered what she was thinking. I had no clue, and she would never tell me. When English was over Calla grabbed my hand and half dragged me all the way home. She didn't say a word until we reached my house. I fumbled to grab the house key out of my bag and open the door. I looked back at her, expecting her to come in, but she didn't. She stood there and looked at me for a minute, like she wanted something. But all she did was whisper goodbye and set off toward her house. 

I though back to lunch, she was perfectly normal then. She wasn't even like this is the beginning of English. Sure the class was boring, but nothing had happened that would make her upset. I was mildly confused, but used to it. Calla did this sometimes. She would get quiet and start acting odd. After the first or second time I decided it was just her getting lost in her thoughts. It made sense, things like that happened to me all the time, although I was able to snap out of it pretty easily. The only thing that really got to me was how Calla would look at me when she was like this. It was a mixture of what looked like hurt and want and confusion all at the same time. It was only me who got the look, only me who made her eyes fill with so much emotion, and I couldn't stand the thought that I was hurting her in some way I had never meant to. 

Late that night, after I was already in bed, fast asleep, she crawled through my window and shook me awake. 

"Wake up Reign, get dressed, we're going out," Calla whispered into my ear.

Even in my sleepy state I knew better than to argue with her. It was no use, I would lose every time. So I fought my exhaustion and got dressed. 

A few minutes later Calla was pulling me down our street. I was no where near awake enough to be able to guess where we were headed. We walked for what seemed like hours and I wished I had thought to bring water. By the time we reached what appeared to be our destination I was wide awake. Calla stopped when we got to a park filled with grass and green trees. I recognized it, it was only about a ten minute drive from my house, a much longer walk however. 

"What are we doing here Cal?" I asked, trying my hardest not to sound annoyed.

"Reign, there's something I need to tell you. I've wanted to tell you for a while now, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. But I've hid it from you long enough, it's time." Her voice was filled with nervousness, something I had never heard before.

"What's going on?" I asked, very concerned.

Calla sat down on the grass and leaned against a tree. She motioned for me to sit next to her and I did. She stayed quiet for a few long minutes.

"I like you," she whispered in my ear, breaking the silence. I laughed.

"I like you too, a lot, you're my best friend." She looked at me funny. 

"No." No what? I wondered, and started to tell her what a great friend she was. She interrupted me. 

"No, I mean I like you."

I was still very confused when she ordered me to close my eyes. I was so surprised at the command I obeyed instantly. The next thing I knew her mouth was on mine, kissing me softly, with overwhelming emotion. Butterflies filled my stomach, confusion scrambled my thoughts. I was so surprised, so confused, so overloaded with feeling, I didn't notice when she stopped. By the time I opened my eyes she was gone.