The Next Door Down// Gawsten

II

     "He's hot." I said to my bestfriend, Otto. "I thought your neighbor was 40 and divorced or something." He responded. "No! Not the neighbor, his son!" I said quickly. "Uh huh, whatever you say. I know the truth." He argued. With that, I hung up. It was getting late anyway. I went to bed and set my alarm for 9am the next day when he would walk the dog (Charles, or Charlie for short) again.
     I went through the same routine again in the morning. When I arrived at the Knight residence today, again their son opened the door, except today, his purple hair was brushed and swooped across his forehead and he was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. "Awsten," he said holding out his right hand. I take his hand and hold it for an uncomfortably long time before realizing I was supposed to be shaking his hand, I dropped it. "Uh, I'm Geoff." I said awkwardly with anxiety in my voice. "Charlie!" He called rather loudly, dragging out the 'E'. Again, the dog came bounding towards me and we went about our business. After walking a couple of blocks, I returned Charlie to his home.