The Boy Next Door (Editing and Rewriting)

Chapter 19

To say that I was surprised was an understatement, I was truly shocked. Was I shocked that he was here? Not really, I expected this at some point, isn’t that what the twins were implying? What I was shocked about is how fast he got here, and the way he looked. Seriously, someone might mistake him for a person that has recently been mugged; his clothes were hazardously thrown on, his hair was literally all over the place, his face was all red and slightly blotchy in places. But none of those things are what caught my attention, no what caught my attention were his eyes, they seemed to be glowing with a new found light, as if he was withholding some information or a secret. Who knows, maybe he is. After his eyes finally darted away from mine, releasing me from the hold that they had on me. I realized that neither of us had actually said anything, we just stood, or in my case sat, there and stared at each other. So I decided to speak up, to break the awkward silence that seemed to have settled on us.

“Adam, are you okay?” I asked in a quiet voice, but it was obvious that he heard me, since his eyes snapped back towards mine, his face seemed to pale a bit, as if the colour was slowly fading away. It was almost as if he was about to be sick, right here, right now. “Adam?” my voice now slightly increasing in volume and concern, “are you okay? You’re worrying me,” though after I said it, I realized this may have been the wrong thing to say, judging by his reaction to my words. His face was suddenly red again, this time in anger; you know all those cartoons with steam coming out of their ears? Yeah, it was something like that, except more realistic, and his fists were clenched at his sides, so tight that his knuckles were a stark white against his tan skin. “Adam? Say something, please?”

“You’re worried about me?” he exploded; I guess I had just witnessed the calm before the storm, and now, I was witnessing the storm, “Why? Is it because I look a little dishevelled?” shocked into silence by his sudden outburst, all I could manage was a small nod in response, “so the way that I look right now is worrying you?” again, I simply nodded in reply, “good to know, but I’m just going to say one thing; if the way I look now, worries you, then what do you think I felt like? How worried do you think I was when I saw you lying there, in the middle of the street covered in blood and passed out?” by now his voice was raised to the point where he was almost yelling at me, acting on instinct I began to shrink back into the bed, trying to hide myself from the storm going on around me, the storm made of words.

Adam must have noticed my change in behaviour, because he immediately stopped talking and his face softened the slightest bit.

“I’m sorry Alli, I shouldn’t have yelled, I didn’t mean to scare you, the images were just flashing through my head again, and it was too much, I’m sorry, it’s just hard to see someone you really care about look like that, you know?” And I did, I knew exactly what he was talking about, it reminded me of my mother, the last time I saw her alive.

“Mum!” I screamed, one of those blood-curling screams that only comes out in the most desperate situations, which this was for sure. “Mum! Run! Get away from him!” But I guess I was too late, the nest thing that I saw was my mum’s body hitting the floor, and the laugh, that laugh that I used to love, but now it only scared me, to the point I was shaking, or perhaps the shakes were coming from the scene that I was currently looking at.

“Mum! Get up, come one Mum,” I called, while standing still, frozen in shock at the events that had just occurred, “Mum!” when she didn’t move, I tried to go to her, but I couldn’t move, I was chained to the spot, literally. He had tied me to the stair rail so that I wouldn’t get in the way, so that he could deal with my mum on his own, without interruption. All she was trying to do was help me, help me be happy once again. But instead she only ended up breaking me further, causing my hatred to go to another level, the person in front of me, the person laughing at the death of my mother, was the person I used to think I was in love with. Not anymore.

 

The flashback hit me without any consent from me, causing a new round of the shakes and causing the tears to run freely.

“Alli? Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” I managed to croak out, “I’m fine.”

He didn’t seem to believe me, as he walked over to the bed and sat next to me, wrapping me in his arms and murmuring that everything is going to be okay, that nothing bad is going to happen again. But he couldn’t promise that, no one could.

“Adam, please don’t talk to me like that, I told you I’m fine, and just for your information; I’m not broken or a child.” I told him, lying was always the best option in these situations, or at least that’s what I used to think, I guess old habits die hard.

“Like what,” he asked in a stupid baby voice, while pouting at me, “Like I’m trying to be adorable?” He had no idea how true that statement is, how adorable he looked right now, while I turned myself in his arms, my little safe haven right now, so that I could see his face. But, instead of dignifying his behaviour I just gave him the look. For those of you males out there that don’t know what the look is, I dare you to go up to any female and say something incredibly stupid, and watch her response. There’s a 99% chance that her response will be the look the other 1% is that she will slap you, but like I said that’s only a 1% chance. The look is a female’s way of saying; you’re an idiot, what the hell are you going on about, what the fuck is wrong with you and shut up, all without actually saying anything.

“Sorry, I was just trying to make you smile,” he said as he poked my cheek, causing me to involuntarily smile, what, he’s adorable, almost immediately he smiled at me as well, “I love your smile, it’s adorable.” So is yours, I wanted to say, but my voice seemed to be stuck in my throat, behind the lump of tears that still had to escape.

As soon as he released me from his hold on me and stood up straight again, I missed the warmth and safety that his arms provided. Once he was standing up, he looked back at me, his eyes once again capturing mine, he started to lean down, until his face was right next to mine.

“Good night Alli, I’ll see you later,” he whispered into my ear, his breath gently fanning my hair and neck, shivers ran down my spine at his voice and his proximity. He pressed his lips to my cheek before pulling away and walking to the door, before he left he looked at me one last time and called, “bye beautiful!” before he shut the door, leaving me to stare at his retreating figure, rethinking his words and his actions, one hand pressed to my cheek, the feeling of his lips still lingering there.