The Neighbor

Public Service Announcement

"Where's Blade?" I asked, downing my drink.

     Grace placed her hand above her eyes, scanning the room. It was a great party room. There was a bar, and a huge stage up front. Neon lights were flashing all around us. "I don't see him. Maybe he had to pee?" She offered. I felt bad talking so much about Blade when it was her 21st birthday, but I was a little worried. He snuck away while I was ordering a drink and now I couldn't find him anywhere.

    I leaned against the counter, feeling slightly tipsy. I wasn't drunk, but I had just enough alcohol to make me a little dizzy. "Thanks for trying." I pulled her into a hug.

"Who is that guy anyway?" She looked at me skeptically.

    I thought about how to answer her without sounding too cliche'. I looked at the rose gold bracelet on my wrist. "He's umm... we're kind of..." I tripped over my words.

   "Excuse me." A deep voice spoke loudly into the microphone. The room got quiet except for one girl who was too drunk to know to shut up. She was talking really loudly about Rihanna. "Hey, Rihanna  back there, zip it!" The microphone man yelled. I turned to see who was on the stage. When I saw, I couldn't believe my eyes. Blade was holding the microphone pointing at the loud girl. When she quieted down, he spoke again. "First of all, I'd like to say happy birthday to Grace over there." He smiled at her. Her cheeks turned red. "Let's hear it for the birthday girl!" Everyone erupted into cheers. Blade began singing happy birthday and the whole party of around a hundred people joined in. Grace was beaming. "Okay, now I have something I want to announce to all of you. It's very new, and exciting. It just happened, like literally right before this party." All eyes were on him. What are you doing Blade? I was so confused. He looked directly at me. My heart soared. "Amaya, would you come up here please." I froze. What is going on?! Grace started pushing me towards the stage. When I was close enough, Blade took my hands and pulled me on stage. "Sorry to all you men out there, but this beautiful lady right here is taken. Amaya and I are officially together." Cheers erupted. My eyes nearly came out of their sockets. "Now, who wants to here some music?" The crowd roared. He smiled. "Okay, this one goes out to Amaya." My mouth fell to the floor. He began singing "The Hills," by The Weeknd, our song. When it got to the second verse he held out the mic to me and urged me to sing. We sang the song as duet, in front of everyone. I had never been so happy.

   When we finished the crowd chanted for an encore. We ended up singing three more songs together. It felt like a dream. I was terrified to wake up. Once we finished, Blade took me backstage. "You were fantastic." He leaned against the wall, smiling.

    "You were better." I walked closer to him. He shrugged me off in disagreement. "What was that all about?" I asked him.

   He looked down at me. "I wanted everyone to know that you were mine. I'm proud and I wanted to brag." He smirked. "Was it too much?" His voice softened.

  I reached up and traced his face. "No, it was just enough." I smiled up at him. "Thank you for making me feel so special."

  "You are special." He grabbed my waste, bringing me closer. His lips pressed against mine. Then he leaned back. "Great party." He smirked.

"We don't have to stay." I responded quietly.

  "Then what are we still doing here?" He whispered in my ear. He took my hand and lead me towards  the door.

"Wait, let me say goodbye to Grace first, I'll meet you out there, okay?" I kept holding his hand.

"I'll be in the car, waiting patiently." He kissed me. He walked outside.

   I saw Grace standing by the bar with a group of friends. I walked up to her. "Hey, I have to go." I pulled her into a hug. "Happy birthday!"

"Thank you, and thanks for coming." She smiled at me. "You're boyfriend is great! That stunt he pulled was so romantic I almost cried.