The Boy Next Door

Emma Hall

My heart stops as I stare at the girl who caused me so much pain. All the time I spent trying to forget about her. All the hours I spent erasing her from my memory. It all comes rushing back. The tears. The lies. The pain. But that's only half the story.

No, this can't be happening.

A tear escapes my eye and rolls down my cheek. Movement catches my eyes as Emma turns around to walk out the door. I quickly run from the door and behind my friends, afraid she'll see me.

"It's her. It's Emma," I say after catching my breath. All of their eyes widen and Lydia gasps. My stomach turns.

"Well, well. Look who it is. Miss Malia Archer," a sneering voice coos. My heart stops and my mouth runs dry. The girls turn to face the dreaded bitch, uncovering me. I swallow hard.

"Oh, it's so nice to see you." Two popular girls, Teresa and Marisa, come up behind Malia, flanking her sides. Wow, she's been here two minutes and she already has a posy.

"Girls! There you are. Have you met my friend Malia." She gestures to me and they stare at me with stupid smirks on all three of their faces. I try to stand up taller, to look more intimidating, since she's at least a foot taller than me with her 6 inch heels. She's wearing a flowery top that is skin tight and cuts off short enough to show her stomach.

"Leave her alone," Zamora growls. I glance at my best friend, who has her fists clenched and a death glare shooting at Emma. The other two are trying their best to look tough, but I can see they're a little scared.

Emma draws her attention to the growing madder-by-the-second Zamora. She just smirks.

"Now why would I want to do that. She's my best friend." She winks at me. How dare she.

"We never were and never will be best friends, Emma," I glare at her. Her smirk drops for a second, but she quickly recovers it.

"Whatever. See you around," she turns towards the hallway, flipping her straightened blonde hair over her shoulder. I roll my eyes to look as if I don't care, but a queasy feeling settles in my stomach.

My mind plays back all the memories of her and tears escape my eyes. Why did everything have to fall apart between us.

"What's going on?" A familiar husky voice says behind me. I turn around around to face Jared with a confused and worried expression. His eyes flicker down to my tears and I quickly try to wipe them away, but he stops me.

"Uhh.... We'll leave you guys be. Malia come find us after a while," Zamora says as the girls back up an head around the corner.

"Malia..?" He whispers, bringing my attention back to him. I let out a sob and he loosens his grip on my arm. He pulls me to his chest and wraps his arms around me. I feel my tears soak into his tight red shirt. My heart calms down and the pain in my chest starts to go away by his touch. His cologne fills my mind and I calm down. He pulls away after a few seconds and looks me right in the eye.

"You don't have to tell me right now, but I do need to know what's going on," he says softly. I nod and rest my head against him again. I open my eyes and look the way that Emma left. A horrible idea pops into my head.

I move away and look at Jared. Then I glance in the direction that she left. She could use him against me. She could find a way to get to him and then she'd hurt me all over again.

"Promise me one thing," I manage to mutter loud enough for him to hear.
"Stay as far away as possible from Emma Hall."

"I promise," he says sincerely.

*************************************

"Wow! I can't believe we're best friends with the girl who's dating Jared Smith!" Lydia squeals. I laugh at her excitement. It lunch an I had just finished telling the girls everything that's happened with Jared and me.

I've settled down from this mornings events, but I could t shake the idea of seeing Emma again.

"I'm so excited!" Allison smiles. I glance over my shoulder to look for the devil himself, but instead catch a couple of girls glaring at me and whispering to one another. Ever since this morning when Jared practically came swooping in to save me, the whole schools been talking about it. I've been getting weird glares and hearing people whispering whenever I pass by.

"You guys are so cute together." Zamora adds, bringing me out of my thoughts. I blush at her comment and take another bite out of my hamburger.

"Sup ladies," a different male voice yells behind us. Zamora instantly freezes, then straightens herself up, so that she looks a little bit more graceful. Weird.

I turn around to see Jared and three other boys I don't know coming to our table. I raise my eyebrows questioningly.

"Hey, mind if we sit with you?" Jared asks.

"No, go ahead," I gesture to the seat by me. The girls glance at each other and I roll my eyes. Jared takes a seat and so do the other three boys. I give him a questioning look and glance at the boys I don't know.

"Oh, this is Dylan," Jared points to the boy who had called us earlier. He has the same dark brown hair as Jared and is wearing a navy blue shirt. He nods his head my way as Jared intro duces him.

"This is Sam," he gestures to a blonde headed boy sitting on the opposite side of Dylan. He's a little on the skinnier side, but he pulls it off. Lydia straightens herself up and flips her highlighted hair over her shoulder.

"And this is Blaze," Jared nods his head to a boy who's sitting in between Lydia and Sam. He had jet black hair and a lip piercing on his bottom lip. He's also wearing a black tank top with a guitar on it, so I'm guessing he's in a band. Allison stiffens at his name. What is with my friends?

"Well it's nice to meet you," manage to say." I'm Malia and this is Zamora, Lydia, and Allison," I introduce us.

"Oh so, your Jared girlfriend. You know he won't shut up about how much he likes you. He was text me and the boys all day yesterday," Dylan smiles. Jared's cheeks instantly flame red and I look down at my plate. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jared elbow Dylan side.

"Ow!" Dylan grabs his side. I hear Sam and Blaze snicker and I can't help, but laugh a little. Before I can say something a shadow falls over me and an eerie voice rings in my ears.

"There you are Malia! I've been wanting to talk to you." My head whips around to stare into the devilish green eyes of Emma Hall.