Boy Across The Hall

Chapter 6

          

❝Kiss me and you will see how important I am.❞ㄧ Sylvia Plath

          The next couple of hours of that day passed by quickly. Cleo and I went shopping for new clothes, both of us having the same reason: the need to impress our new crushes. Her's was Isaac Wells, the guy she drunkenly hooked up with at the party as a fling, but they ended up hanging out after. And obviously, mine was Matt Palmer: the boy who lives across the hall. We texted each other a lot, mostly just asking each other what we were doing, talking about each of our plans for the summer. I bought some new sundresses, makeup, and Converse. Cleo went all out and bought like 5 pairs of shoes, a whole ton of makeup, and many different outfits. I've never seen her buy so much before. She must REALLY like this guy. Cleo is a really big try-hard girl and a perfectionist. As soon as she has something to do, she will sacrifice anything and everything to do it properly. So, now that she has to look perfect for a boy, she is sacrificing money and time to do it. Both her parents are very stubborn, so that's where her personality comes from. We walked out of the mall holding all our bags from different shops. We threw them in her car and went to get some lunch. We decided on Starbucks, as it was the closest and cheapest option. The whole time we were there, the only thing that came out of her mouth was everything about Isaac. It was pretty cute. The way she talked about him made obvious that they would get together at some point. This made me think about Matt and I. Will we ever become more than whatever we were then? We finished our lunch, and she drove back.

          It was about three o'clock when I got home. My dad was still not at home, so that left me feeling lonely. I took a shower and tried new makeup skills and techniques. I guess they helped a little because I was finally able to do something other than a gray smokey eye with a little eyeliner. After I wiped everything off, Matt called.

          "Hey, Lena! Meet me at my apartment in exactly one hour." And he hung up immediately. I wondered what that was about. I got dressed and walked over to his door. He opened it as soon as I brought my fist up to knock. Was he just standing there, waiting for me?

          "You came!" He smirked, again, making the dimple on his right cheek clearly visible.

          "Of course I came! You told me to..." I walked in and saw a box enveloped with wrapping paper. He closed the door, and walked over to the box."A couple of days ago, Friday, more precisely, you told me that your dream job was to own a well-known restaurant. I got you this so that you can make your dream maybe come true one day. Go ahead... Open it!" His blue eyes sparkled with happiness. He must have been very pleased with whatever I was about to see. I walked over to the box, joining him, and ripped the paper and tape over. I opened the top flaps, and inside were pans, pots, cutting boards, knives, silverware and stacks of spices in small containers.

          "Do you like it? I noticed that you didn't have much in your kitchen to cook with this morning, so I decided to help you fill up your cupboards." He said smiling like he just won the lottery.

          "Like it? I absolutely love it! Thank you so much!" I said, tearing up from happiness.

          "No problem. I just wanted to get you a little something as a thank you for making my last couple days full of happiness."

          "You're welcome, but how much did this cost? It must have been so expensive!" I said, suddenly realizing how much he must have spent on this.

          "Don't worry about that. It's a gift. Is your dad home yet?" He asked.

          "No. He said that he would come back at night, remember?"