The Boy Next Door (An All Time Low Fanfiction)

Forty Four

"We're out of eggs!"

Jas' holler surprises me up to life

I groan, slowly opening my eyes. I see my friends are still sleeping despite Jas' shrieking. Alex's still snoring lightly behind me, his right arm holding me tight. I gather my consciousness and force myself to wake up. Gently removing Alex's arm without waking him up, I try sitting up.

We must've fallen asleep last night in the middle of the movie. These past 4 days we've been here, we've literally ditched the bedrooms and just been making ourselves comfortable here in the TV room. I like it better this way, though.

I hear Lilia shifting on my right, huddled up beside Jack. "What time is it?" groans Lilia

I shake my head, "I don't know. Not that early, seeing that Jas' already prepping our breakfast."

But apparently, Jas' shriek wasn't strong enough to wake the others up. Such heavy sleepers, they are.

Jas appears from the kitchen, "We're out of eggs!" She repeats

"Yeah, we heard you, Jas." Lilia rubs the sleep out of her eyes

"I thought we'd brought enough for the week?" I ask

"Well, who'd have thought the boys would eat twice the portion of what a normal person would." Jas sighs

Before the trip, Jas had planned everything beforehand. She's the mom of the group. She's the first to wake up every morning to cook breakfast. We get woken up by the delicious smell of freshly cooked eggs, and pancakes. What better way to be woken up with. She doesn't mind doing it, she says. In fact, she loves it.

"I better go to the store and get some. Are you guys coming?" asks Jas

I nod, "Yeah, sure. Let us just wash up for a bit."

After Lilia and I finish brushing our teeth and washing our face, we join Jas who's just written a note for the others. If they do happen to wake up before we get back, I'm sure Steve would like to know where his car has gone since we're borrowing his car to go to the store.

The shopping street's only a 10-minute drive from Lilia's mansion, with many kinds of different shops along the road. We passed by the street when we first got here, but we haven't exactly gone outside since we first got here. We've just been enjoying everything we have at the mansion. I see an antique shop just across the grocery store, but unfortunately, it's not open until 12 and it's still 10 right now. I'll drag Alex here before we go home in 3 days.

"Okay, so we need eggs.. and you know, maybe I'll see if I can make something special too for us tomorrow. It's Holly's birthday tomorrow. So, shhh. It's a good thing she's not coming with us now." Jas says

"Oh my God! I almost forgot! I feel so bad. Should we get something too for her after this? I know she's been complaining about how she needed to replace her sunglasses. Maybe we can stop by at a shop after this and pick some for her?" Lilia suggests

I nod, "That sounds great. We can just like, get her a decent pair."

We spread out and try to find the things we need. Minutes later, we're all done and ready to go get Holly's birthday present. 

Lilia leads us to a boutique a short walk from the grocery, "My mom once forgot to bring her sunglasses when we visited last year, she got hers from here. I think they have a lot of options." She says

"Welcome to Hamptons Eye&Vision, I'm Carla- wait, Lilia? Is that you?" The employee greets us. She's clearly familiar with Lilia

"Carla! OMG! It's been so long! How are you?" Lilia squeals

They give each other a brief reunion hug. Carla looks around our age, maybe she's an old friend of Lilia's. 

Carla smiles, "I'm good! When did you get here?" 

"A couple of days ago. I'm here with my friends actually. You guys, this is Carla. We used to play every time I stayed here. I met her at the park near our place, she lives just around the corner. Carla, Jas and Gail." Lilia introduces us to each other. 

"Nice meeting you guys! So, what brings you to our store? Anything I can help you with?" Carla kindly offers

"We're actually thinking of getting a pair of sunglasses for our friend. Do you have any recommendations?" Jas asks

They take their time choosing after each pair of sunnies, because let's face it, between us, I'm the least fashionable. 

Lilia puts down the sunglasses she's just tried on, "We haven't met in so long! Well, how are you doing?" 

"I'm working here part-time to save up for college. I've just been accepted at Oberlin with my brother! Well, I know it's spring break but I still get to do all the fun stuff after work though." Carla replies

"That's so good to hear! How's Hamish by the way?" Lilia continues to ask

I look outside the clear glass door, dozing off as usual. I can't help but think how lucky Lilia is. I mean, that's normal isn't it? My childhood wasn't the greatest. I too, could've had this life. But then again, I'm still grateful for everything. I still wouldn't trade the bond my mom and I have with anything else in this world. 

"Earth to Gail? What do you think of these? I think they'll suit Holly perfectly." Jas says as she tries on a pair of red cat-eye sunglasses

I nod, regaining my thoughts and consciousness, "Wow, yes. They look amazing." 

I meant it though, they really do look amazing, now that I really pay attention to her

We pay for the sunglasses and have them wrapped in a gift box. 

"Bye Lil, Jas, Gail! Thanks for coming, hope to see you guys soon!" Carla waves as we exit the store

We head back to Lil's mansion, finally with the groceries. When we get back, almost everyone's up already. I help Jas in the kitchen and when we finish, we all sit by the pool to have our breakfast. 

Alex sits beside me, "I was panicked for a second when I woke up to find out that you were gone." 

"Did you not hear Jas' screaming? God." I laugh

"Well, I actually made it through the movie unlike you." He nudges me, referring to the fact that I'd fallen asleep halfway last night 

"You guys, so my friend here just texted me. She was wondering if we wanted to come to a party tonight her school friend is throwing. What do you guys think? I think it's a great idea. It'd be good to actually get out and socialize, you know." Lilia says, reading the text from her phone

"I'm down, honestly." Jack's the first one to speak up. Classic Jack, always down for parties

"Yeah, that sounds great. Everyone agrees?" Chris says

We all nod. I do too.