A Friendly Face

one

dakota's pov

  i woke up as the light began to pool in through the curtains signaling it would be time for me to leave my room soon. i dreaded the school day that awaited once i rolled out of my bed.

    i looked out of my window to see that the window mirroring mine looking  into ethan dolan's room had the curtains drawn back. he walked into the middle of the room, from what i assumed was his bathroom, with a toothbrush in his mouth and no shirt on. not a bad view to wake up to. he went back into the other room out of view and that signaled me to start my day.

  i looked in the mirror to assess what i was working with this morning, messy hair and some heavy bags under my eyes. extracurriculars were not helping my sleep schedule out very much. 

  i brushed my hair, threw on a sweater and jeans, and walked out of my house to grab something to eat before my first period. 

  grayson was outside warming up his car and seemed very annoyed. ethan ran out to the car and grayson gave him an eye roll that made me worried his eyes would get tuck in the back of his head. as i got into my car i caught the glimpse of ethan staring at me and heard grayson huff annoyed, again.

  i drove to a little coffee shop nearby to fuel up for the long day that awaited me and made my way to school. 

  the first three periods dragged on and soon i was on my way to the last class i had that day. i glanced up from the floor and saw ethan and grayson talking to their friends it seemed normal. what wasn't normal was that ethan was looking at me as i walked past with a look that sent my stomach into fits of butterflies. why was he looking back at me?

  i brushed off ethan's stare and got to my fourth-period class. english was usually my favorite class and the creative writing unit we were starting is exactly what i needed to get my mind off ethan but, i just couldn't focus today. it was just so different.

  as the day finished up i drove home and realized everyone was still at work. my mom would be home soon and my dad about an hour after that. i made myself a little snack and headed up to my room to get some work done. 

  i couldn't help but glance at ethan's window and hope that it would be open and i'd get to see him again. too bad for me he didn't look to be home but the curtains were still open. i could vaguely make out his bed and dresser. it looked pretty minimal with a couple pictures on the wall but not much else.  

  realizing i was staring into my neighbor's room creepily i threw my work onto my bed and spent the next three hours with my brain invested in math homework i needed to catch up on.

  i walked downstairs to get water and say hello to my family. once i was done i trudged up the stairs to my room and saw ethan sitting on his bed, eyes glued to the phone screen in front of him. 

  i start cleaning around the room and i start to feel uneasy, i turned around and saw ethan looking at me with a wide open window. he smiled and mimed opening my window. was this really happening? i tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and smiled going to the window. 

  "hey neighbor," he said as soon as i opened the window and smiled.