the boy next door

Chapter 2: Youth

The night knew all your secrets. Even if you never uttered a single word of this to anyone, the moon would know—your conscience would know. And that was enough to give you a bad taste in your mouth.

You waited until everyone was asleep, or at least appeared to be asleep. It's not like you cared that much to check. Just as long as your parents remained ignorant you could live another day. Although, according to Gabi, your mother is already keenly aware. You hoped that she wouldn't clue your father in. That would be the end.

You checked the time, 12:55am. Usually you aimed for later than this but part of you wanted to get this talk out of the way. You could come home and sleep knowing that it was all over. You grabbed your car keys and headed out to the garage. Every sound appeared much louder, the jingle of your keys, the echo of your footsteps through the silent hallway, your nervous breaths. For all you knew, this heightened volume could've all been psychological.

We're just gonna talk... nothings gonna happen.

Just two adults having a conversation.

I won't even hug him.

You flinched at the rumble of the car engine and prayed that it hadn't woken anyone up. It certainly thrashed you out of your anxious thoughts. You pressed the button on your keychain to open the garage door and drove out to the gate. Now this was the hard part, your parents bedroom faced the front yard with a clear view of the gate. All you had to do was make it quick. 

You clicked the other button pad on your keys and watched as the front gate sailed open. You looked back at your parents bedroom window before making a break for the road. The whole car ride left you sick to your stomach. It felt like you were constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. You'd convinced yourself that there was no way you could've done what you'd done without consequences. Everyones heard the stories of college girls getting a little too close with their professors or vice versa. If no one found out then maybe you could feed yourself some twisted lie that it was nothing more than a friendship.

But do friends kiss?

Nope.

Downtown Trost was just as lively as ever, all through the night, you could bet on pumping music from the nearby clubs and a distant siren. Not to mention the university was smack in the heart of the city which didn't do much but magnify the nightlife. Godbless anyone who lived near that campus, sleep was probably a privilege. Your home sat in a neighborhood on the outskirts of the city in a sleepy belt right around the edge. It only took a few minutes to actually drive from your house and into downtown, depending on the traffic's leniency.

Tonight was the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, which meant that the clubs would be packed with college kids trying to ride out the final days of summer break.

"Oh my god..." You mumbled to yourself, leaning back in the driver's seat. The road was jammed, you'd forgotten that today was going to be crowded.

Should've taken the backroads.

But this route was quicker, usually.

You started to notice a strange leveling with your vehicle. One side seemed more raised than the other. At first you tried to ignore it but the feeling became more and more apparent as you drove. You couldn't accelerate, and it felt like your car was being pulled to one side.