Anyone Else But You

Chapter 16 - The Boy Next Door

Counting Crowes – Accidentally in Love

It was almost impossible to avoid Jasper; they lived next door to each other, they went to the same school, they had the same classes, their little sisters were best friends. The list of things that they had in common was endless, yet still Maddie was trying to avoid him and ultimately trying to not get her heart broken. He’d said it himself, multiple times, he liked someone else and she just needed to deal with that. Somehow.

Monday had been the hardest, they had double history together first and English literature last but she’d managed to get out of Miss Davies’ classroom before he caught up with her. English literature was a totally different challenge luckily Ali hadn’t shown up today. Maddie and Jasper were working together on their project, fortunately there were 20 other students and a teacher in the classroom with them. Maddie spent the whole hour trying to clamp down on her runaway thoughts, her mind kept wandering back to the way he held her yesterday at the fair; how close they had been.

She was relieved beyond belief when the bell rang for the end of school and was out of the room and on her way home before Jasper had even begun to pack his things away. She had to stop herself from running all the way in case people thought she was crazy. By the time she got home she was a little out of breath, she checked behind her, looking up the street but Jasper was nowhere in sight. She sighed and walked through her garden and through the front door into the sanctity of her own home.

Dumping her bag at the bottom of the stairs, Maddie walked into the living and dropped heavily on the sofa sighing to herself. She closed her eyes and groaned, what the hell was wrong with her? She sat forward and rested her forearms on her knees, placing her head in her hands she rubbed her eyes. There was a small throbbing beginning to start at her right temple, she squeezed her eyes closed hoping to force the pain away but it just pulsed harder.

The sound of voices and the front door closing made her jump, she sat back in her seat and listened as Kate and Lucy took their coats and bags off. “-I just can’t believe the two of them are going out, they’re totally wrong for each other.” Lucy sounded disgusted as the two of them walked through the hall towards the kitchen.

“I know. Hey did you find anything else about this girl your brother likes?” Maddie was about to sneak upstairs when she heard Jasper being talked about, her interest peaked she tiptoed to the dining room and listened as the two girls carried on with their conversation.

“Oh you mean his secret girlfriend?” Maddie’s stomach dropped as she heard the G-word. “I don’t know who she is but he really likes her, I’ve never seen him this way before. I genuinely think he’s in love with her, whoever she is.” She couldn’t listen to this anymore, her heart was beginning to break; she could literally feel the cracks fracturing their way through like ice on a frozen river.

She turned on her heel and silently walked back through the living room towards the stairs up to her bedroom, where she could throw the covers over herself and imagine Jasper and his secret girlfriend didn’t exist. As she reached the front hall a shadow appeared over the window in the front door, Maddie grabbed hold of the lock and turned, pulling the door open before whoever it was could ring the doorbell.

She was completely unprepared for the person standing on her doorstep and the fractures that had begun to form in her heart creaked as they threatened to break further. Jasper was stood with his arm raised and ready to knock, looking drop dead gorgeous, making her die a little inside. He looked annoyed as he saw her standing in the doorway, lowering his arm he cleared his throat and looked at her like he would at the pigeon that had just relieved itself on him.