The boy next door

In between: Friday

In between: Failing at avoiding each other, still, melatonin making me late to school, and too much contact, again.

~*~

Friday

I wake up, feeling the best I have in weeks. I smell him right away, almost forgetting I'm in his sweatshirt.

I smile and sit up. I'm up early, before my alarm. I turn it off and look at the sunlight coming into my room.

I remember last night, I remember the hug. I remember us basically saying that we're not going to give up.

I can't stop thinking about it all and smiling my entire morning.

When I get downstairs, my mom notices right away.

"You look happy," She smiles.

I smile, "Do I?"

"Happier than you have," She replies.

"I had a good sleep," I smile.

I grab coffee and hug her from behind around her shoulders as she sits with her coffee.

"Love you, mom," I say.

She kind of hugs me back, "Love you too, hon." I kiss her on the cheek and leave my house.

When I get to my locker to unpack, there's another note inside.

I smile, put my stuff down, and pick it up.

"Sorry I couldn't walk with you, I had to come early to work on a group project. I'll make it up to you! -Drew"

I smile, put it in my bag, and unpack.

I write out a note and stick it in his locker.

"You'd better! =) -Jen"

"You're smiling," Carrie observes, as she sits and gives me a muffin again.

I just smile, "Am I?" She hates when I do this. But it's fun being sassy sometimes.

"And you look more well rested," She smiles.

"Well, both are true," I smile, sipping my coffee.

"What happened last night?" She asks like she already knows something.

I kind of laugh.

"Fess up, Jennifer Ann," She laughs.

"Well, we kind of hung out..." I start, smiling.

She just looks at me, so I laugh and continue.

"I couldn't sleep so I went outside and he was too, smoking. So he said I could go over there, and I did. We didn't talk much, but then after, he wrapped me in his sweatshirt because I was cold, and we...hugged," I smile.

"You hugged??" She laughs too loudly.

I laugh and kind of shrug.

"You seem happy though," She smiles, "This is the most I've seen you smile in weeks."

"I am happy," I smile.

She smiles, "I told you this wouldn't last."

I laugh, "You're always right, Carrie," I've said that a few times in our friendship now.

She fake bows, smiles, I laugh, and we eat our muffins.

He leaves me a note while walking past my desk to Ms. Walsh's. He smiles as he passes, and I read it.

"I'll walk with you after school? =) -Dre"

I smile, put it in my bag, and look over at him, already looking at me and smiling.

I smile and nod, which makes him smile more.

We have little looks here and there until the end of the day.

He meets me at my locker as I pack, then we leave walking.

"I love how when we're supposed to be avoiding each other, we communicate more while in school," I'm saying as we walk.

He laughs, "It has ended up that way, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, everyone is probably super confused," I laugh.

"Eh, I don't care about anybody else," He says as we're stopped at my car.

I smile. He never cared about that kind of stuff. All those years I thought he was embarrassed of being friends with me, he never cared at all.

He smiles, too, and I can't stop staring at his lips for some reason.

A piece of hair falls in my face as I look down, trying to hide my more red cheeks.

Before I can, his hand is moving the piece back behind my ear. My right ear, the one I always tuck my hair behind.

"I'm sorry," He says softly into my eyes, "That was a reflex." His voice catches in his throat a little. He's lying. He's never done that before.

Funny how when we're told to avoid each other, we start connecting on a whole different level.

"It's okay," I just say, smiling.

We smile, say our byes, and drive off.

Later on, I realize I still have his sweatshirt.

I've got my glasses on, I'm almost ready to shower and change into pajamas to go to bed soon, but I leave to return the sweatshirt first.

I knock on his window. He opens it and smiles when he sees me.

"Well hello," He smiles.

I smile, "Hi," Almost getting lost in his smile, forgetting why I'm here in the first place.

I grab a little bit of my cool back, "I kind of stole your sweatshirt last night," I laugh and pass it up to him.

"How dare you?" He smirks sarcastically.

"Thank you for giving it to me," I smile.

He smiles, "You're welcome, anytime."

Always looking out for me.

"Wanna come in?" He smiles.

"Maybe for a little bit," I smile. Habits, man, can never resist.

He smiles and helps me into his room.

I get onto his bed and look around. This was my safe haven for so long. And it feels just as safe as it always has. Maybe more.

We end up switching off playing a game he paused when I knocked.

And like old times, he's awesome, I'm really awful, and we both like watching each other play. We have a lot of laughs when I play, because I really stink at video games. That's why when we were kids, he would play, and I would help navigate. We would also get really into the stories of games, if there was one, and would become obsessed with it.

After playing for maybe an hour, we lay down over the covers, tired.

It goes to show that you don't need much to be happy with someone you have a special connection with.

Not all habits are bad, are they?