you belong with me - Olivia Rodrigo

I liked your dance moves

"Y/N, go to their house now, we're five minutes late. I just need to find my earrings. God, they're gonna think badly of us," Mom panics, pacing around the room in search of her earrings.

I wear some baggy blue jeans (my nice jeans) and keep on the same black long-sleeve top. I brush my hair but don't bother with makeup. Sure, I want to make a good impression, but really, why should I care what these people think of me?

She looks at me up and down, her eyes scanning over my appearance. "Change your socks." My right sock has a small hole on the big toe.

I roll my eyes. "They're not even gonna notice that. Why would they even look at my feet?"

She sighs and looks at her watch. "You know what, I don't care. Hurry up and go next door before we're ten minutes late. Tell them I'll be there in a minute."

I put on my sneakers and walk up to their front door, ringing the doorbell. I run my hands through my hair quickly and clear my throat.

Make a good impression, Y/N.

The door opens, and on the other side appears the pretty neighbour who was dancing across from my bedroom window not long ago. She's no longer in her tight tank top and boxer shorts but in a cute light green minidress and boots. Her hair is tied into a sleek, clean bun, and she's got light makeup on.

I put on my best smile and turn on my charm. "Hi, neighbour, nice to meet you." Her face shows no interest, and she quickly looks me up and down, staying silent. Okay, maybe I should have listened to Mom and put more effort into my appearance.

Feeling slightly embarrassed and uncomfortable with the silence, I try again. "My name is Y/N. Your mom invited us over for din—"

"I know," she interrupts, her face maintaining its bored expression, her eyes scanning my face as if analysing me.

Okay yes she's pretty and yes her dress is hugging her figure in all the right places but what's her problem? She wants to be rude to me? Fine. I decide to mess with her.

"I liked your dance moves."

She furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

"You know, you're dancing earlier. Could loosen up the hips a bit more but it was cute, I guess," I smirk.

Her eyebrows drop, and her face turns red. Steam is practically coming out of her ears. She opens her mouth to say something until an older woman walks up next to her. "Hey! You must be Y/N, it's lovely to meet you, dear. I see you've met Olivia."

Olivia. God damn it, even her name is pretty. It's a shame her looks don't match her personality.

I turn on my charm again and smile. "Lovely to meet you too, Mrs....?"

"Call me Jennifer, dear"

"Lovely to meet you, Jennifer. Thanks for inviting us over for dinner. My mom will be here in a minute—"

"I'm here! Sorry for the holdup, I was just in an important phone call," Mom stands next to me, her gold-plated earrings adorning both ears.

Yeah, an 'important phone call.' I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing.

My mom looks toward Olivia, "Aw, you must be Jennifer's lovely daughter. You're so pretty!"

"Yeah, she's lovely alright," I say with a low, sarcastic tone and a convincing fake smile. Mom definitely notices the tension and elbows me slightly, hoping that Jennifer didn't notice anything. Olivia subtly rolls her eyes too.

"Great, well, my husband Chris should be home from work in a few minutes, so Olivia, how about you bring Y/N up to your room and hang out there until then? Lauren can stay here with me," Jennifer smiles, leading my mom into the dining room. My mom shoots me a stern look that says 'please behave'.

Great. Now I have to be alone with her. This can't get any more awkward.

Olivia sighs and walks up the stairs without a word. I mindlessly follow, taking in the rest of the house. It's a lot more spacious and brighter than our house. Despite being flashier, the decor isn't obnoxious as I expected. Picture frames adorn the walls, a few plants placed in every other corner, and the furniture boasts light colours.

It isn't bombarded with chandeliers and all-white furniture like most rich modern houses. I'm quite impressed. It actually feels like a home.

I followed Olivia into her room, which was twice the size of mine. Immediately, I looked out of the window and, sure enough, saw her view of my bedroom with the curtains closed. I'm guessing she didn't realise this until I brought up her dancing earlier.

"You can sit over there. Just stay still and don't touch anything," she points to a small bedroom chair on the other side of the room and lays down on her bed. She pulls out her phone and starts scrolling with her thumb.

Very accomodating.

I analyse her room. On her wall next to her bed is a Taylor Swift poster, accompanied by photo booth collages of Olivia, a girl on her right, and a boy on her left. Must be her friends. They're all smiling and pulling goofy faces.

On her bedside table, there's a lamp, her headphones, and a polaroid of Olivia and another boy. This time she's kissing the boy's cheek, and the writing on the bottom of the polaroid says 'my boy <3'.

She has a boyfriend. Not surprised.

"You just gonna sit there and stare into space? Don't you have a phone or something?" Olivia says, her eyes not leaving the screen in front of her.

I think about replying with a snarky comment, but I remember what my mom said earlier about making a good impression. I realize that Olivia and I may have gotten off on the wrong foot. So I ignore her comment and try to start a conversation.

"Your mom seems nice..."

Olivia looks up for a second then goes back to her phone, completely ignoring me. I go red - seriously, Y/N? yOuR mOM SeEMs nicE. What kind of conversation starter is that? God I don't even blame her for ignoring me.

I try again with a different approach, looking at the poster on her wall again. "What's your favourite Taylor Swift song?"

This time she moves her eyes to me, her phone still in front of her face. She takes a moment to answer and raises her eyebrow. "You listen to Taylor Swift?" she asks.

I take this as a win - at least she replied to me this time.

"I mean, I've heard some of her songs, but I'm sure everyone has," I reply.

"'Picture to Burn'. Yours?"

"Hmm, probably 'You Belong with Me.'"

She scoffs. "Overrated."

"No, it's not! It's one of her best songs. It deserves the hype. Plus, the music video?" I sigh and smile. "So cute. I want to experience that kind of love."

"Yeah, I can tell by the way you were stalking me through my bedroom window like the guy in the music video." (This conversation might not make sense if you haven't watched the music video.)

"Hey, I wasn't stalking! I just looked outside my window, and you just happened to be dancing in my view"

"Whatever, perv. The music video is overrated anyways. The guy is a total red flag." She drops her phone, giving me her full attention now.

"How so?"

"I don't know, if I found out my boyfriend was exchanging cute notes with his next-door neighbour while he was still with me, I'd be pretty pissed."

"So, you're defending his cheater girlfriend?"

"I'm just saying, it was probably the guy's fault for making her feel insecure in the relationship."

I think about it for moment. She's got a point. "They were both toxic" I say

"And Taylor was a home-wrecker," she replied. We both laughed.

I smirk to myself, knowing that I've succeeded in getting her to warm up to me. We were actually having a nice conversation. Maybe we could get along with each other after all.

"Girls!!! Dinner!!!" a voice from downstairs calls.