The Boy Next Door

Chapter 4

It was finally time that we went next door, to have dinner at the Walkers' house. I was wearing a pink floral skirt, with a white crop top and a pair of white Converse sneakers. My dad, Mason, and I walked across the lawn and entered the neighbours' garden.
I sighed and refused to walk further than their gate. I stayed there, looking down at the ground. Dad and Mason walked up to the front porch, not noticing that I wasn't there. This made me feel very "loved". Note the sarcasm . . .

As Mason knocked on the door, I looked up at the house and noticed someone standing behind one of the windows on the top floor. I squinted my eyes a little. It was Carter; the stubborn son.
When he saw that I had noticed him looking down at me, he quickly walked away from his window.
I shook my head and sighed.
Mason tapped my dad's shoulder and dad turned round to look at me.
"Brooklyn, come here." Dad ordered. I groaned audibly as I walked up the the front porch.
Within seconds, the door opened and Mrs Walker appeared, standing in front of us.
"Oh, hello! It's a pleasure to see you all again! Please, please come in." Susan said with her cheerful voice. We entered the house, my legs trembling. There was a certain smell in this house. It smelled like Jared's parents' house. It was a mixture between coffee and rose. I couldn't quite pin point the exact smell. But that's what I always thought Jared's house smelled like.

Susan led us to the dining room. Right behind us was Carter. I sat down in one of the empty seats and Carter sat beside me. I felt slightly uncomfortable in Carter's presence.
Mason sat opposite me, and my dad sat opposite Carter. Susan left the dining room and came back, seconds later, with a a bottle of red wine. She poured the wine into all of our glasses.
"The chicken will be ready in a few minutes. I hope none of you are vegetarians." She giggled, before leaving the room again.
I stared down at the table.
"Jared was a vegetarian . . ." I mumbled to myself, obviously loud enough for everyone else to hear.
Dad, Mason and Carter looked at me.
Mason kicked me under the table.
"Brooklyn . . ." Dad said, getting frustrated with me mentioning Jared's name anywhere near him. I glared at him, refusing to say anything to him.
He shook his head and sighed.
"Is Jared your boyfriend?" Carter asked me.
"Was." I answered, still glaring at my dad.
"Oh. I'm sorry." He mumbled, awkwardly.

Susan entered the room again with a plate of chicken. She sat it in the middle of the table, beside the rest of the food. On the table was: the chicken, lettuce, mashed potatoes, dumplings, carrots, dressing, and other side foods. They were all in little bowls, though the chicken was on the large plate.
Susan sat down at her seat, looking around the table.
"Help yourself to whatever you'd like. Gravy, salt and pepper are on this side of the table." Susan told us.
Carter picked up a large knife and started cutting a bit of the chicken. He placed some on his plate, glancing at me. I looked at him. He cut some more of the chicken andplaced it on the side of my plate. He looked at me again. I smiled. Once again, he never returned the smile. 

-After Dinner-

I stared down at my empty plate, and drank the rest of my wine. I could sense carter staring at me, which made me very nervous. Slowly, I looked up until our eyes met. He smiled slightly. This smile made my knees weak, and my palms sweat. This smile gave me the butterflies and it made me smile right back at him. His smile was the greatest smile I'd ever seen! Thedimples in his cheeks were so small but still visible, and his eyes glistened as they stared right into mine. I could barely hear chatter between Mason, my dad and Susan in the background. Right in that moment, I fell madly, truly, and deeply in love with the boy next door.
That was until my phone started ringing; the introduction to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' by Nirvana echoing through the dining room. Mason, my dad and Susan all stopped talking and they looked at me. My eyes widened. I checked my phone.
"Oh my god, it's Jared!" I exclaimed exitedly. I jumped out of my seat and ran out the room.
I slid my thumb across the screen of my white iPhone to answer. I opened the front door and went outside.
"Jared!" I said into the speaker.
"Hey, Brooklyn." He sounded really happy, as was I. I sat down on the step of the front porch.
"I'm so happy you called," I told him. "How are you?"
"I'm okay, what about you?" He asked.
Yeah, I'm fine." I said.
"Brooklyn, I need to tell you something." He said. Judging by the tone of his voice, I knew this wasn't good.
I looked behind me to make sure that nobody was there.
"Yeah, okay . . . Go on." I said. I had a lump in my throat, as if i wason the verge of tears.
"I have a new girlfriend, as of today. I'm with Kimberly Simons." He told me. I closed my eyes, in attempt to hold back the tears. I took a deep breath in and let it out.
"You're seeing that slut from my cheerleading squad?" I asked him, angrily. I could hear the front door open behind me. I didn't even bother to look behind me and seewho it was.
"It's not your cheerleading squad anymore, Brooke. Kimberly is the head cheerleader now." Jared informed me.
"Oh yeah, I shold have known! I mean, of course, she would be. She is the sluttiest girl in school. She was always going to end up taking my place as head cheerleader." I said, really starting to get pissed off.
"Hey, don't talk about my girlfriend like that!" Jared yelled.
"She only became your girlfriend today, Jared. Besides, just last week, you were telling me how much you hated Kimberly Simons!" I yelled back.
"Yes, I know. But now she's the head cheerleader, so . . ." He mumbled.
"Oh, so you're with her becuase she's now the head cherleader? Is that how it was with me? Were you only with me becuase I was head cheerleader too?" I asked, angrily.
"No, no, of course not, babe." He tried to explain.
"Jared, don't give me any of your "babe" stuff. I'm done. We're done. Don't call me ever again." I cried, tears trickling down my cheeks.

I sat my phone beside me and hid my face into the palms of my hands. I started crying into my hands, thinking of everything that Jared and I had been through for years.
Someone sat down beside me and wrapped their arm round my shoulders. I looked to my side and it was Carter.
"You okay?" He asked me, softly.
"No. It's Jared. He called me to tell me that he's moved on and his new girlfriend now has my place as head cheerleader." I sighed.
"I'm so sorry. You can do better than that." He reassured me.
"I can't though. Jared knows me inside and out, and I know him like the back of my hand. We've been best friends since we were kids. I love him. I love Jared more than anything. He's amazing. And now he's with her." I cried. He pulled me closer to him and I rested my head on his shoulder, letting my tears soak into his tshirt.

"Look, uhm . . . Brooklyn, I don't know you very well. But you seem like a nice girl. So that is why I must tell you not to come near me. I don't want to hurt you, Brooklyn. And if we become friends, I will become very attached. THen I will most likely hurt you and ruin everything." He whispered into my ear, stroking my long hair.
I sniffled and looked into his eyes.
"I don't care." I whispered.