Boy Next Door ✔

chapter three

C A L E B 

"So.. you stayed up ranting in your journal, missed out on a good night's rest, skipped dinner and spent your time after midnight contemplating life just because the dude next door ignored you?" Dustin calculated, giving me a judgemental look.

"Hey! You've got to understand where I'm coming from," I began in an effort to explain myself. "I never make the first move and you know that. I thought because this is a new page in the story of my life, I could try out something new for the very first time - and like all the other first times I've had, it completely backfired."

"You need to calm down," Dustin sighed. "We already concluded that he's an asshole from the way he broke my fucking phone and skipped away all joyful and dandy as if he'd just achieved world peace."

I rolled my eyes, "Hurting your phone is one thing. Hurting my feelings is another."

"You're right," Dustin nodded. "My phone is more important."

I opened my eyes to fire back a response, when he interrupted me midway - perhaps because he was too afraid of having his ass completely destroyed - not literally, mind you - by my extraordinary talent at insulting people. You know what? Maybe this is why I don't have any friends.

"Is that all you needed to tell me?" Dustin inquired with a raised brow, paired with a slight tilt of his head. "I thought something horrible had happened to you from the way you texted me. On top of that, it's fucking half past ten. I'd usually be asleep by now."

"Stop being such a baby," I scoffed. "I have to attend a uni lecture at seven in the morning tomorrow and even then I'm going to bed only after midnight."

"That's because you're an idiot," Dustin responded, muttering a string of insults under his breath in French. 

"Hey, I know a bit of French too, you know that?" 

"Oh yeah? Prove it," Dustin said, crossing his arms over his chest, an amused smirk on his face. "Say something in French."

I scratched my head and took my sweet time in mustering all the words in French that I knew. Then, I proceeded to contort them into a sentence. Following that, I attempted to get the sentence to make even the least bit sense. And even though I didn't know what it meant, I proceeded to say;

"Je suis un cheval."

And I said it with the proudest grin on my face.

Dustin stared at me for a dead moment, probably praying that I was joking around. When he realized I was being completely serious, he burst out laughing. In his fit of giggles and wheezing, he ended up doubling over and was clutching his stomach by the end of his little session. I stared at him with a blank expression on my face as he continued to laugh like a drowning walrus.

"Are you done?" I questioned. "Listen, I know my pronunciation is not that good-"

"Do you even know what you just said?" Dustin managed to choke out amidst his never-ending laughter.

"I mean.. to be honest, no. Not really," I confessed. "Damn, and I thought those Duolingo sessions were paying off."

Dustin wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes and heaved a sigh in amusement, "Alright, Mr. Identity Crisis."

I decided not to question it and glanced at the clock on my wall instead, "It's already eleven o'clock. Shouldn't you be in bed by now?" Dustin turned around and observed the clock as well before letting out an obnoxious yawn, "Now that you mention it, I am quite tired."

"Then go to sleep, dumbass," I stated. "You can spend the night here, there are two beds anyway."

"Really?" Dustin gasped as if he wasn't waiting for me to offer just that. "Thanks, horsey. You're a life saver." he ruffled my hair up to express his gratitude, but it only earned him a glare from me.

"Horsey?" I questioned with a curious look on my face. He didn't say anything after that. He just made his way over to the unoccupied bed parallel to the bed I was sitting on and kicked his shoes off before crawling under the sheets. "Oh my god, this feels like heaven," he said with a sigh that sounded anything but heavenly.

I rolled my eyes and decided to get some shut eye as well. Mostly because I had nothing else to do now that he was asleep and also because I felt like I needed to recharge on my self-esteem after having been rejected so rudely by the boy next door. 

Because I'd gone to bed earlier than I usually would have, I had trouble falling asleep. Dustin, on the other hand, was snoring like an active volcano and muttering random things in his sleep. I rolled my eyes at his state and proceeded to stare at the ceiling when I suddenly heard a loud noise coming from the other side of the wall. 

What in the world? Is that Chase Atlantic?

My doubts were confirmed when I heard a familiar song being played much louder than to my liking. It was obvious where it was coming from. The damned boy next door. I grabbed my pillow and placed it over my head in an attempt to shield my ears from the late night torture. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy Chase Atlantic but sleep is way more important to me.

I peeked out from under the pillow and glanced at the digital clock on my bed-stand. Fucking 3am, are you kidding me? I glanced over at Dustin once again. He was still asleep. I wasn't surprised. At this rate, he could sleep through a dozen tsunamis and fifty earthquakes if he wanted to. 

I was dragged out of my thoughts when the volume of the music was increased even further. I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a distressed groan. I bailed on the idea of confronting him because I didn't want to make a fool out of myself again. 

This is only for one night anyway.. right?