Boy Next Door

The Bet at The Corner

Shawn groaned and stretched his arms out as the morning sun woke him from his slumber. He wasn't much of a morning person, but he had yet to get the curtains hung in his new apartment so he didn't have much of a choice. The sun was out, so he was awake. Deciding to make the most of his morning, he slipped his running shoes on and stepped out of his apartment to go on his morning run. Just as he shut his door he saw the small brunette from the day before stepping out of the apartment across him.

"Oh...hey." Camila said plainly. "You're the new guy, correct?"

"Uh...yeah, hence why I just came out of that apartment," Shawn chuckled.

"Yeah, now that I think about it that was kind of a stupid question. I'm Camila, by the way." Shawn could tell right away that the grumpy mood he had seen when he encountered Camila yesterday wasn't typical for her. This girl was bubbly and happy and adorable...and not at all the kind of girl he'd imagined with the guy that he had met the day before.

"Nice to meet you. I, uh...I think I met your...boyfriend...yesterday. Zachary, right?" Shawn stuttered.

"Oh, uh...yeah. That's him...hopefully he didn't scare you off or anything," she laughed.

"No, no...he was cool." He wasn't necessarily telling the truth, but what was he supposed to say? He barely knew these people yet and he has to live across the hall from them for the foreseeable future. He wasn't about to say anything that could make him some enemies.

"Well, I think we're going out with a few of our friends tonight...you're welcome to join if you'd like!" she said with a hopeful grin. Part of him wanted to deny her invitation, but he nearly started malfunctioning when he saw her smile and being new to the city he did need some friends to hang out with.

"Yeah...yeah that sounds like fun."

"Cool. Can I get your number? I'll text you the details later tonight."

"Oh, for sure!" He gave his new neighbor his cell phone number. She sent him a quick text so he had her number as well before going their separate ways. "I'll uh...I'll see you guys tonight then I guess." Shawn turned to head down the stairs for his run but noticed that instead of also going downstairs, Camila walked through an unfamiliar door on their floor. He was overwhelmingly curious as to what was behind the door she snuck through so he made a mental note to investigate it later.

Once the details of their night out had been determined, Camila had sent Shawn a text with the time and location of where her, Zachary, and their friends were meeting. Now, as she got ready to head out with them for the night, she added a thin coat of lip gloss to her plump lips and tousled her hair while looking in the mirror.

"Look at you, hottie!" Zach said as he stepped into the bathroom. Camila blushed as she continued getting ready.

"I texted Shawn, the new guy across the hall. He's going to meet us there. He's new to town, so I figured he could use some friends." Zachary's eyebrows furrowed in a mix of anger and concern as he brushed his teeth, aggressively spitting the toothpaste from his mouth into the sink in front of him.

"You texted him? When did you get his number?" He asked coldly.

"Zachary, please don't do this. Can we just have fun tonight?"

"Can you just answer the question? When did you get his number?" he repeated.

"This morning. I ran into him in the hallway," Camila muttered under her breath. Zachary sighed in disappointment and looked down at the floor. "It was just friendly, Z. You know I love you..." She brought her hand up to his arm and caressed his bicep.