Next Door Neighbor (Norminah)

Part 1

Dinah's POV:

(outfit mani is wearing in the picture above)

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

I woke up to hear beeping outside. 

"I just wanted a few more hours" I mumbled to myself. I pushed myself out of my very comfortable bed and walked to the window to find the source of the sound. I looked to see a truck with black lettering that read "UHAUL", backing into the next door house's driveway.

"New neighbors? Finally, I hope they have a kid my age so I can have a friend who lives close to me." 

I went into my bathroom and brushed my teeth quickly to see if I could help the new neighbors. I walked back to my room and put on a quick outfit and ran downstairs.

"Where are you going?" My mother asked me.

"I want to help the new neighbors." I responded.

"Mhmm." She said, which confused me a bit. I opened the front door to see a short girl with her back turned trying to lift a box from the truck. 

"Do you need any help?" I asked, forgetting that she didn't know of my presence. She jumped, dropping the box on her foot in the process. 

"Oh my goodness!" I froze when she turned around. She was beautiful.He dark skin sparkled in the morning sun. She had on a black dress with a white t-shirt under it, a choker and black heels. Her hair was long, dark, and straight and I was so captured by her beauty I almost forgot that she was in pain.

"I-Is your foot okay?" I asked concerned.

"Yeah, I think so. I'll just need to ice it."

"I can get some ice for you. By the way, I'm Dinah, your new next door neighbor." I introduced myself.

"I'm Normani. And can you hurry with the ice? My foot is starting to swell." She chuckled a bit.

"Uh, yeah." I ran off with a smile on my face. I think I have a crush on my new neighbor, and I've only just met her. 

"Oh my goodness, I might die because of her." I said to myself.

"Die because of who?" My mother asked

"Umm... no one." I said unbelievably.

"Yeah, okay." She responded. I quickly ran to the fridge to get the ice pack that I use for my lunch. I put it in a paper towel and ran back outside. Normani was sitting on her concrete driveway holding her foot. 

"Here you go." I said, handing her the icepack.

"Thanks, She took the icepack with a smile, holding it to her foot.

"This feels so much better." She sighed. 

"So, tell me about yourself. You know, cause we're neighbors now." I asked her awkwardly.

"Well, I'm 18. I just moved to Santa Ana from Houston because my dad got a better job opportunity here. My favorite color is pink, and I love Hello Kitty as childish as that might sound." She told me about herself.

"No, it isn't childish at all. I'm 17, I love The Lion King. I've been here since I was little, I have one cousin who lives near me and we're really close but other than that I don't have very many friends. I used to get bullied, and I still do but it isn't physical anymore, just name calling, and I have a counselor to talk to." I said getting a bit emotional.

"Well it's good that it isn't physical and you have someone to talk to, but I still have to beat up a few people then." She said seriously.

"You barely even know me, it's only one person anyway." I laughed a bit.

"Yeah, but I feel like I have known you longer." She looked into my eyes. We started at each other for a few seconds before she cleared her throat. "So may I ask why you get bullied?"

"I'm not really comfortable with telling anyone but I'll tell you when I'm ready." I said truthfully.

"Ok that's fine. Anyways, I start school tomorrow at Santa Ana High School. Could you show me around?"

"Yeah, of course. You should probably finish with the boxes. Do you need any help?"

"That would be great actually." She got up and walked to the truck. She picked up a box and handed it to me.

"This is kinda heavy, what is it?"

"A bunch of books, you can't handle it?"

"I can most definitely handle it." I took the box and walked up to the door of her new house.

"Could you help me, Mani?" I said, the nickname rolling off my tongue.

"Mani?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Mani. Can you help me with the door pleaseee this box is heavy." I said struggling to keep up the box.

"I thought you could handle it." She opened the door, walking inside and holding it open for me. Once I got inside she closed the door and walked into the kitchen. My eyes watched her hips switch.

"Hey Normani, who's your friend?" I jumped, turning to who I assumed was her mom. Mani came out of the kitchen.

"Oh, this is Dinah. She lives next door and she's around my age."

"Oh? Nice to meet you, Dinah. I'm Mrs. Hamilton, you can call me Andrea." She held her hand out. I put the box down and shook her hand.

"I'll go in the kitchen and get the dishes out while you girls unpack the other boxes?"

"Okay, mom." Normani said. She took one of the boxes sitting in the living room and headed towards the stairs.

"You coming? We gotta unpack stuff for my room." She looked back at me.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm on my way." I picked up the box and followed her.

We unpacked for a while before we took a break and walked to 7/11 to get snacks and came back. We talked for hours, getting to know each other and laughing before I had to go back home and get ready for school tomorrow. Wow, I really like her.