The boy next door

Now I know his name

I walked into my first class of the day: Chemistry. It was my worst subject, I'm usually in high 90s and high 80s. But this class was an exception. I got 70s, which is my lowest mark. But this year I want to work harder, get better grades and I absolutely do not want any distractions.

On the chalkboard it said, "Chemistry class, Mr. Lepore." An older man walked into the room, he looked about 32 years old. "Hello class I will be your chemistry teacher for the rest of the year." He pointed to the chalkboard and said, "My name is Mr. Lepore. Before we discuss a little bit about our selves I will arrange your seats." I saw kids standing close to each other signalling that they wanted to sit next to the person near them.

Mr. Lepore went through the beginning of the class list. He finally got to my name. He told me to sit in the middle area of the class. When I sat down he came up to me and said,
"You must be new here because I haven't seen you the previous years." He looked back at the class list and read my name out loud. "Malia Grey. That's an exotic name 'Malia' I've never heard of such a pretty name!"
"Thank you very much," I responded with a smile, "and yes I am new here. My mother and I moved to Coldwater Hills during the summer." He replied, "Well ,Malia, if you ever need any help with anything you can come to me."

Before I could say anything the class door opened and a teenage boy walked into the class. The whole room went silent. I couldn't see his face properly, all I noticed was that he had dark hair, almost black and he was very tall. I actually think he's taller than me he's at least 6'5. "Ah, glad you could join us . Have you finally decided to go to most of your classes?" Mr. Lepore said. The young boy lifted up his head and gave a small laugh. Right when he did that, I knew exactly who he was. He was the boy next door! He never said 'hello' and he barely ever went outside. When ever he would see me he'd look at me for a couple of seconds and then turn away. I've always felt like there was something suspicious about him. But I didn't think about it very often, I didn't want to be 'the crazy stalker girl next door.' Now that I see him, he's very, very good looking. He has the perfect patted hair, the most perfect jawline and his eyes almost matched his hair. His eyes were black as orbs taking in everything and giving away nothing.

"You'll be sitting next to our new student, Malia Grey." I wish he hadn't said my last name because now everyone knows it and so does the mysterious guy that lives right next to me. And I also wished that Mr. Lepore hadn't placed him next to me. When he sat down I got a good smell of his scent. He actually smelled really good. He smelled bold yet earthy. And now that he's up close to me I told my self that he's extremely attractive but I can't let him be a distraction. I need to focus this year on my school work and making new, good friends. On the other hand this guy didn't seem so "kind" he had that 'bad boy' look in his eyes. He looks like he's the kind of guy who stays under the radar but gets into trouble. But if there's one thing I know, is that every girl stops and looks at him. All the guys stop and start to whisper.

He turned at me and said, "Well don't you have a pretty name. 'Malia' very exotic." I don't know if he was trying to compliment me but from the sound of it, it didn't sound so friendly. It sounded as if he was trying to be playful yet rude. And I'm guessing that was his goal. I just decided to ignore him because I didn't know what to say. But I finally came up with something, "I've seen you before. You're the boy from next door," I told him. "And I'm pretty sure you recognize me too. I know you've seen me through out the summer in the neighbourhood." He didn't say anything and there was a moment of silence. He kept looking at me as if he was studying me, I started to feel uncomfortable but I didn't let him know I was.

"Okay everybody take out a pice of paper and pencil and get to know your partner." Mr. Lepore told the class. "Oh I see we're partners now!" he said mockingly. I replied to him, "So let me ask you the first question. It's only fair, that you know my name so I need to know yours if we're going to be 'partners' for the rest of the year." He looked at me as if he was bored out of his mind. "How about we do something a little bit more fun," he said. I was so confused with what he meant by that and I was also a little frightened. Because we were in the lab, he took a couple of bottles and poured the contents right on top of my head. I gasped. I was speechless. I had no idea what to do or how to react. I would have usually stayed calm and then walked away quickly but all I could think of was getting back at him. "Are you insane! What the hell is wrong with you?!," I yelled at him. I took a Tupperware with some kind of white glue/paint and poured it on top of him. I ruined his perfectly patted dark hair to a white sticky mess. Next thing I knew he was holding me by the waist and I was upside down my face a couple of inches away from the ground. "Apologize," he told me, "or I'll drop you face first on to the ground!"

I've made up my mind I hate this guy. I have no idea who he is or what he thinks he's doing but there's something severely wrong with him. I kept hitting his strong and hard back but he didn't even flinch. Mr. Lepore stormed into the class yelling, "Put her down! Put her down now!" The boy turned me around and next thing I knew I was back on my feet yet I was a little unsteady. I was so shocked I can't imagine what my face expression looked like. Everyone froze and I think they just as shocked as I was. "May I have a word with the both of you outside," signalling us to the door. "What is the matter with you? Could one of you care to explain," the teacher said. My partner opened his mouth and said with control but with a slight of anger in his voice, "She dumped a container of Mojpoj right on top of me." "Only because you took beakers with contents and poured them on me first!" I said with hysteria. Mr. Lepore interrupted and said, "I don't care who did what but I never ever want to see this again. To you both understand?" I nodded but he didn't do anything he had this 'I don't give a shit' look on his face. "Malia I wouldn't expect something like this from you. Him I'm not surprised." He said while pointing at him. "Because it's the first day of school and the FIRST PERIOD, I'll let you guys off the hook and not tell the principal. But if this happens again you'll both have an after school detention and we'll call your parents," he continued.

The bell wrung and the hall way started flooding with bodies. I went back inside and got all my books so that I can go to my next class. I feel so embarrassed and ashamed I would have never done something like that. But this kid really knew how to push my boutons and get under my skin.

He came up to me and said with a playful smile, "I hope we can do that again soon." I looked at him and thought; is this kid for real? I want nothing to do with him. He might as well tattoo the word trouble on his fourthead! "You could have dropped me and I could have fallen and injured my self really badly," I told him. He looked right at me and said, "I wouldn't have dropped you! I'm pretty strong, I wouldn't have let you slip out of my arms." "Just leave me alone and stay the hell away from me. We just met and you literally had me dangling in your arms. And in fact I don't even know your name! That's how much I don't even know you and you don't know me!" He leaned his face closer to mine and said with a small, tiny smile,
"I'm Derek. Derek Materazzi. I guess I'll be seeing you around a lot more often then just when I go outside to take the trash out." He started to walk away. I knew it! I knew he remembered me! Now I know his name... Derek... Derek Materazzi. But it doesn't matter because I hate him more than anything.