The Boy Next Door

Chapter 3

A/N: edited as of 1-28-16

I ran downstairs, peeking around the staircase corner. My mom greets them, giving the mom a hug, then looking at the kids with her. My mom laughs, shaking everyone's hands.

She held up a finger, turning around. I quickly dart fully behind the wall, hearing my moms steps coming near. I take a step out, almost running into her. "Sammy!" She jumps, clutching her chest. "Sorry mom." I chuckle, refusing to look at the family. "Come meet an old friend of mine!" She says, becoming excited once more, tugging me toward the family. I let out an exaggerated sigh.

She gives me a look, turning back to the family. "This is my daughter, Sammy." "Sam." I correct, giving my mom the same look she just gave me. "Sam, this is Alecia Timmons, we went to college together."

I bit my tongue to bite back a snarky remark, giving Alecia a smile. "The last time I saw you, you were in diapers." She gushes, making my cheeks heat, probably turning pink if not red.

"Why don't you show Bella your room?" My mom suggests, pushing a girl forward. I slowly lead her up to my room, opening the door for her. "I love your room." She smiles, looking around. "Thank you, for my parents putting it together, they did a great job." I explain, gesturing to everything. From my black comforter, to the dark wood dressers and desk, to the light blue accent color, they did a great job.

"Yeah! So how old are you?" She asks, sitting in my desk chair. I sit down on the edge of my bed, facing her. "I'm sixteen, you?" "Same! I turn seventeen this summer though, so I'm old for my grade. My brother, Blake, he's my twin." She sighs, rolling her eyes.

"You'll learn to ignore him if he doesn't work his charms on you." I laugh, shaking my head. "What charms? He almost ran me over while skateboarding!" She laughed, shaking her head. "He's an idiot."

"So what do you like to do?" I ask. "I cheer, but I'm not your typical cheerleader. That's about the only time you'll catch me in a skirt otherwise I'm typically in shorts and a tee, or jeans and a sweatshirt if it's winter. I skateboard, play video games with my brothers, growing up with a household of boys, you tend to move toward what they are doing." She shrugs.

"You board too? That's awesome! I'm completely with you with the moving toward doing typical boy things, I'm the only girl too." I laugh, curling my legs under me. "Awesome! No one boards anymore in this little town besides the guys, and they claim like the entire city as their boarding grounds and will barely let you go unless you're dating one or considered cool." I roll my eyes, scoffing. "Boys are such pigs." I mutter.

She nods, pulling out her phone. "Let me get your number. We can hang out this summer." She smiles. I put my number in, handing her my phone.

"Girls! Dinner!" My mom calls. Bella and I walk downstairs, sitting next to each other. An open chair beside me at the head of the table. Blake comes from downstairs, making me wonder what he had been doing.

"Alright, now that we are all in one place, how about we go around and introduce everyone?" My mom offers. "Blake, why don't you start?"

"Uh, I'm Blake?" "Say your age, while you're at it." His mom offers. Blake sighs, rolling his eyes. "I'm sixteen." My mom points to me. "I'm Sam and I'm also sixteen." "Bella, sixteen." "Alecia Timmons. I'm not saying my age." She laughs. "Dan Timmons." "Brady, eighteen." "Ben. I'm seven."

Bella offers to show me around the town after dinner, showing me some great hangout spots. "Hey, would you want to spend the night?" She calls over the rush of the wind, both of us boarding through the middle of the street. "Yeah! Sounds fun! I'll have to grab some things though." "Totally fine, go ahead on home, I need to run to the store and get milk for breakfast tomorrow, but I'll hurry back home." "See ya!" I call, heading home.