The Boy Next Door

thirty

AMELIAS POV
I was sitting next to Owen at lunch and I hated it here. Everyone kept looking at me like I was going to break. Everyone knew I failed. I also had to eat without my mom nagging me which felt weird.
"So how's your first day?" April asked.
"It's okay," I said, "it's kinda weird."
"Have you seen Ryan?" Owen asked.
"What? Why?" I asked.
"Because he asked me about you yesterday," Owen said.
"He did?" I said.
"Yeah," Owen asked.
"What did you say?" I asked.
"He asked if I knew when you were coming back and I said you were coming back today," Owen said.
"Okay," I said.
OWENS POV
I hated thinking about Ryan. I knew he liked Amelia, and he probably had a chance with her. She didn't want me anymore, but God I missed her so much. She was sitting next to me at lunch and she was quietly eating. I was glad she was eating, the few days before she left school she barely ate, or talked. I mean she was quiet today but I think she was just nervous about being here. The bell rang and we all got up to go to our class. I was walking down the hallway with Jackson to our next class.
"I miss her," I said.
"I can tell," Jackson said, "I think she misses you too."
"Yeah," I sighed, "I don't know."
"Dude you visited her everyday, I'd that doesn't scream I'm still in love with you what does?" He said, "she let you in everyday."
"Yeah," I said, "she did."
"Are you scared Ryan likes her?" He asked.
"You think he likes her?" I asked.
"I don't know," he said.
"Me either," I said.
AMELIAS POV
I was walking to accounting which meant I had to see Ryan. Owen said he asked about me, which was sweet. I opened the door and I quietly sat down next to him. I could feel everyone looking at me.
"Hey you're back," Ryan said softly.
"Yeah," I said.
"I'm really sorry," he whispered, "I should have never given you the ideas about the pills, or given you them at all."
"It's okay, I wanted them don't worry about it it isn't your fault," I said and went back to my work.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Don't worry okay?" I said, "I'm okay."
"Okay," he said. We were taking notes and the bell finally rung.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Ryan said.
"Yeah," I said. I walked to my locker and grabbed my books and started walking down the hall to the parking lot.
"Amelia!" I heard. I stopped walking and turned and it was Owen.
"Oh hi," I said shyly.
"Hey," he smiled, "how was your first day back?"
"It was okay," I shrugged.
"Do you want to hangout today? Like old times you know?" He asked.
"Yeah," I said.
"Meet me by the lake?" He said.
"Okay," I said. We went our separate ways and I watched him walk over to his bus and god I was so in love with him.
-
I got home and my mom was in the kitchen.
"Amelia!" She smiled, "how was your first day?"
"Bad," I said.
"What? Why," she said.
"Because everyone keeps staring at me like I'm going to shatter into a million pieces," I said.
"I'm sorry," she said and hugged me.
"Um, can I hangout with Owen?" I asked.
"Sure," she smiled, "so you two are friends again?"
"I guess so," I shrugged.
"Okay," she nodded, "you'll be back before dinner?"
"Yeah," I said.
"Okay," she said. I took out my phone and texted Owen.
"You ready?" I texted.
"Yup," he said. I walked out to my driveway and I saw him walking over to me.
"Hi," I said.
"Hi," he said. We started walking down to the lake. It reminded me of when we dated, when we used to come out here all the time, this was the first place he took me, the first place I said I love you to him, our first date.
"You're quiet, you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah," I said, "yeah I'm good." We got to the path and I froze, we first held hands here, he would always make fun of me for hating the bugs, I practically jumped into his arms when I heard a squirrel run past us.
"You still scared of the bugs?" He asked. I smiled and started walking next to him.
"Of course not," I joked as we kept walking.
"I think you're lying," he chuckled and nudged me.
"Shut up," I chuckled.
"I missed that," he chuckled.
"What?" I said.
"You telling me to shut up every 5 seconds," he chuckled, "I missed it, someone has to keep me in line." I laughed and he smiled. We got down to the water and we sat down by the rocks.
"This is the most outside weather I've gotten in a while," I chuckled.
"Yeah," he said.
"School sucks," I said, "everyone knows."
"I'm sorry," he said.
OWENS POV
I was sitting by the rocks on the lake with Amelia. She seemed upset about school and I felt awful. I just wanted today to be okay for her.
"I wish I could take it back," she said quietly, "If I knew it wasn't going to work maybe I wouldn't have tried it." I frowned and she sighed.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"It's not your fault," she said.
"Are you coming back tomorrow?" I asked.
"I don't know," she said, "my mom would be mad at me if I didn't, and then she wouldn't let me lay in bed, she'd probably make me clean the house or something to keep me busy, and then she'd try to get me to eat every 5 seconds."
"Cleaning isn't bad," I chuckled.
"It's boring," she chuckled.
"Well then you could come to school," I shrugged.
"I have to go back to the doctors next week," she sighed, "they have to weigh me and monitor everything, I hate it."
"Well your weight is up right? Isn't that good?" I asked.
"Not when you weigh as much as a 6th grader," she chuckled.
"Well you're improving," I said.
"Guess so," she shrugged.
"I'm glad you're okay," I said.
"Thanks," she said. She looked around the lake and she put her head in her hands. I heard her sniffling and it broke my heart.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked and moved closer to her.
"I told you I loved you over there," she said softly, "We went on our first date right there. You held my hand for the first time over there. You almost threw me into the lake over there. You told me I was cute for the first time over there."
"I did," I said.
"And when I told you I loved you," she said crying, "I really meant it, because Owen, I'm still in love with you."