The Neighbor

Chapter 1

"Jo!" My mom yells from outside. "Coming!" I yell back as I run down the stairs of my new house. "Come get the rest of your boxes, so you can start getting unpacked" she says as she walks past me on the porch. I jump up onto the moving truck and grab a few of my boxes to carry upstairs. Once I made it to my new room, I throw the boxes on the floor. Im not happy about moving here. I would rather stay in DC with my best friend, my only friend, Alexis. We've been best friends since 5th grade, which was almost 8 years ago since I'm a junior in high school. I'm not a very social person so when I was told we were moving to New York, a place where I don't know anyone, you could imagine how happy I was. There's no point of complaining now though, I'm stuck here. I should probably start unpacking my 153737 boxes I have. I know I only have like 5 boxes but I'm not in a great mood after the 6 hour long car ride caused by traffic. I need something to lighten my mood so I decided to blast one of my favorite bands, Fall Out Boy. As the music plays, I open the curtains in my room so I have more light. I went to start unpacking when my favorite song came on. "She wants to dance like Uma Thurman!!!" I scream along to the song. Before I knew it I was bouncing around while screaming the lyrics and trying to sing to all of the instrumental parts. I was bouncing around in circles when I felt like someone was staring at me. I was facing the door of my room before I slowly turned around to face the window. In the house across from mine a man who looked like he was in his late 30's was looking straight at me with tears in his eyes from laughing. He waves with a smile on his face, so I return the gesture with a slight blush on my face. I walk into the bathroom in my room so he won't see me anymore. I can't believe I just did that! I embarrassed my self I front of my new neighbor already! He was pretty hot ...man I really fucked up! He had nice gelled black hair along with a beard that fits him well, and black framed glasses. I decided to peek out of my bathroom to see if he was still there but he wasn't. I took that opportunity to go close my curtains and finish unpacking

~A few hours later~
I'm finally done unpacking, thank god. It took me forever, I hope we stay here so I don't have to deal with that again. I make my way down the stairs and into the living room. "Wow guys, it looks great!" I say to my parents. "Thanks Hun, a few of our new neighbors came by to welcome us and help us move the heavy furniture in. There's some pretty nice people here I'm sure your gonna love it!" My dad says, obviously trying to make me want to stay here. "Yeah...I'm sure I will dad" I say as I walk into the kitchen. I look through the cabinets and fridge trying to find food but there was no luck. "Hey what are we doing for dinner? We don't have any food!" I yell from the kitchen. "I'm ordering pizza! I'm going to the grocery store tomorrow!" My mom yells. "You know what, you should come with me! Maybe you'll meet someone that goes to your school!" She yells again. "I think I'm gonna pass on that wonderful offer. I'll probably just chill here tomorrow." I say as I go sit down next to her and check my phone. "Fine, but you start school in a few days so make sure you have everything ready for then."
"Yes ma'am" I say as I roll my eyes. "I saw that!" She yells as she got up and walked upstairs. I chuckled a little before going back to my phone.
I few hours have passed and it's finally time to go to sleep. Maybe I will end up liking it here... At least I sure as hell hope so since there's no going back to DC now.

~The next day~
I woke up to the front door being shut. I grabbed my phone to check the time. "7 am!! Who the hell leaves their house at 7 on a Saturday morning!?" I scream annoyed. Let's just say I'm not a morning person. I get out of my bed and walk over to the window to see who woke me from my well needed beauty sleep. I see my moms car pulling out of the drive way. Whatever, there's no going back to sleep now. Ugh. I decide to take a quick shower before going downstairs to watch tv, since there's nothing else to do. After about 20 minutes I hop out of the shower and dry myself off. I get dressed in my black skinny jeans, maroon hoodie and black beanie, along with my vans. I make my way downstairs and turn on the tv. As I scroll through the channels I hear a faint noise coming from the backyard. I put the remote down and make my way to the backdoor. As I open the door I hear a meow coming from under the deck. I move slowly, trying not to startle the little guy, and get down on my knees so I can see him. "Hey little guy....come here..." He slowly comes out from under the deck and into my arms. As I pet him, I look at the collar. Benjamin. His name is Benjamin. "Hey... You lost Benjamin?" I take another look at the tag on the collar and see an address. It's the same street as mine... "Let's go get you home. Your owner must be worried sick!" I say as I pick him up. I walk around the house and look at the address one more time. The cat belongs to the man who lives across from me! I make my way over to his house and ring the doorbell. I hear footsteps running to the door right before it opened. The same man from yesterday stood behind the door. "I-um well I was just returning your cat...he found his way into my backyard I-I just moved in across the street" I stutter while I stare up at his beautiful green eyes. "Ugh Q! Come get your fucking cat!" He screams, which shocks me. "Hey weren't you the girl dancing in the window yesterday?" He says with a small smile. "I-uh well yeah that was me" I say as a blush fills my cheeks. "Haha okay well you have some nice dance moves. I'm Sal" he says while holding out his hand. I shake his hand while saying "I'm Johanna but call me Jo". "Benjamin!! I was looking everywhere for you! Don't scare me like that again!" Another man who looks like he's in his late 30's yells as he takes Benjamin from my arms. "Thank you so much!" He says as he pushes Sal out of the way. "It was no problem...he found his way under my deck." I say. "Oh yeah he always find away to get out. I haven't seen you around here before?" He says. "Oh I just-um moved in across the street with my parents..." I quietly say. "Oh I helped your parents move some of the furniture in yesterday! I'm Brian! But all my friends call my Q." He says as he holds out his hand. I shake his hand while saying "I'm Johanna. But I go by Jo for short". As I let go of his hand I hear a car coming down the street. I turn around and see my mom parking with a car full of groceries. "Hey I'm sorry but I have to go. My mom probably needs help with all those groceries, but it was nice to meet you Q! And you too Sal!" I say before starting to walk back to my house. "Nice meeting you too Jo! And thank you again!" Q yells. I turn around and smile as a response before running to help carry all the groceries inside. A few minutes later everything is put away in the kitchen. "So I saw you at the neighbors house?" My mom says. "Yeah his names Brian. His cat found his way into our backyard so I was returning him" I say while shrugging my shoulders. "Oh yeah me and your father met him yesterday! He helped us move the furniture in. He seems really nice!" She says while putting the food away. "Yeah I think he has a roommate or something. His name was Sal, he seemed kinda nice too" I say quietly. As I help put the groceries away, I hear my phone ring. I pick it up and read the caller ID. ALEXIS!! I hurry and pick up the phone.
" hey Alexis!" I say into the phone.
" hey Jo! I miss you already and it's only been a few days!"
"I miss you too! Hey guess what!" I say as I make my way to my room
"What!?"
"I have a hot neighbor! He's older but it's okay!" I say with a chuckle
"How old is he?" She asks
"Well-um he looks like he's in his late 30's..."
"Jo! Your only 15 he's like 25 years years older!!" She screams.
"I know I know I won't do anything!" I scream back.
"Yeah yeah whatever. Hey Jo I gotta go but I'll talk to you later! Bye!" She said right before she hung up. I make my way back downstairs, only to see Brian and Sal.