Cigarette Smoke // FILLIE

The Boy Next Door

       "Hey, what'd you get for 6?" I ask from the comfort of my bed, glancing up at the hazel-eyed boy who sits casually in my desk chair with a pen twiddling in his hand.

"Millie, I already told you- I got 56x + 7y." He answers with a short chuckle as I sheepishly smile.

"Right.. I got that too." I shyly reply as I feel my cheeks grow hot, reverting my eyes to my math paper instead.

"What have you been thinking about?" Noah questions curiously, his question bringing my attention to him almost instantly.

"What?" I ask innocently, wondering if what I heard is actually what he said.

"Is it a guy or something?" The brown-haired boy guesses, looking away as he speaks with a small frown.

My eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.

"What? No! Why on earth would I be thinking about a- about a boy?" I question though the truthful answer already lingers in my mind, an answer I refuse to accept.

"I don't know," He mutters with a shrug as he sways side to side in my swivel chair and refuses to make eye contact with me.

I hate it when he acts this way. Every time I've ever mentioned a guy I had a crush on or even spoken about another guy who isn't related to me and is my age, Noah will get all quiet and like he's mad at me or something.

I've been best friends and next door neighbors with him for my whole life and still to this day, I've never understood.

"Anyway, did you understand any of Mr. Zawolski's quiz Friday? Because I, for one, had no clue." I admit with a smile as Noah's laugh fills the room.

"I understood some, yeah. Did you not study or something?" He asks with raised brows as he writes down another answer to his math worksheet.

"Well.. no, but I did quiz Maddie before we took it." I explain while showing off a shy smile. He snickers, shaking his head as his hazel eyes meet mine.

"I hate to break it to ya, Mills, but quizzing other people isn't as effective as quizzing yourself." Noah states through fake pity as he then begins chuckling at my groan of failure.

"If you want I could help you study tomorrow night, maybe go to dinner beforehand?" He offers, his low voice becoming slightly higher as he finishes the question.

"Can't." I answer through a sigh while erasing out an answer I know can possibly be correct.

"Oh, w-why not?" He asks curiously, a hint of disappointment hidden in his stuttering voice.

"Mum wants me to start having move nights with her on Mondays." I answer, never letting my eyes trail from my paper.

"Mondays are our movie nights." Noah protests quietly, though the clear irritation is very obvious in his tone.

"I know, that's what I told her but it's the only night she's off of work before late. We can just have our movie nights on some other day." I insist with a shrug, not finding the ordeal very important.

I already basically spend every minute with him so how could one night without his presence possibly be so insane?

"Yeah, I guess. What about Tuesday nights?" He suggests. Shrugging, I nod softly as an answer.

"Okay, cool. Tuesdays it is!" Noah announces while setting the reminder on his phone.

The guy's always looked forward to our movie nights, more so the times we chose to watch horror. It's his favorite.