To Catch a Falling Star

4-"Curse This Boy Whose Name IDEK"

Marykate's POV

I woke up to the sound of urgent knocking on my door.

I blinked lazily, debating on whether or not to answer. With a quick glance at the alarm clock, I realized it was only 7am. I usually chose to roll out of bed at the crack of noon, not the crack of dawn, but the knocking was growing louder by the second.

Sighing, I slipped a robe over my underwear—sue me, I live in Southern California and the nights are warm as all hell— and peeked through the peephole at my door's assaulter.

I drew in a sharp intake of breath. The man on the other side of the door—no, my door— was literally the most good looking man I had ever seen. He had tanned skin, curly hair so light it was nearly white, and dark, stormy eyes. He looked straight off the cover of one of my favorite romance novels.

And he also looked vaguely familiar...

I swung the door open.

"Can I help you?"

He looked sheepish. It was an odd expression considering he was over 6 ft tall and quite muscular. It was vulnerable.

"Uh. Yes, actually," he began, glancing down at his shoes that, upon noticing them, I noted were Gucci slides. They had to be knock offs, though, right?

"Wait. Do I know you?"

At this, he lost some of his sheepishness and instead surprise washed over his face. "Wait a second, you don't know who I am?"

Now it was my turn to be surprised. "No?"

"Are you joking?" He chuckled, all nervousness gone, instead replaced with a palpable sense of pride.

"No," I responded, rolling my eyes. This dude, despite being very handsome, obviously had a huge ego. Why would I know who he was?

At this, he smiled, almost secretly.

"Hm," he said, looking thoughtful. "I'm your neighbor,"

The series of events from last night filtered to the forefront of my brain. The weed smoke infiltrating my room, the boy jumping onto my balcony, offering me a date in return for my silence. Yep, the ego fit perfectly. Like Cinderella's missing shoe, only an undesirable personality instead.

"Ah, that's why you look familiar, then."

This elicited another laugh from him.

"About last night. Why would I want a date? And who, well. Besides me. Who cares if you smoke some dope? It's a free country," I continued.

"Well, the average girl would want a date," he said, stroking his chin. "And a lot of people would care. It was simply a protective measure. And since you don't know who I am, none of this would matter, and we could say our goodbyes and never speak again... but it turns out I'll be needing that date after all."

"What?" I asked incredulously, opening the door wider in shock. "I never promised you a date. I'm confused."

"C'mon, help a dude out. I really need a date for an—er—event tonight. And you're literally the only girl who doesn't know who I—"

He stopped himself, and smiled slightly.

"It'd mean the world to me," he finished.

Staring at this half stranger, who also happened to be my neighbor apparently—and a self proclaimed highly coveted piece of ass— I considered it. What did I have to lose?

"Fine," I succumbed. Curse this boy whose name I didn't even know and his devishly handsome good looks.