Neighbors with the Bad Boy (In Editing And Reconstruction)

The Old Elyse Was Gone

Dedicated to FaithP! Check out her  one direction story... it's amazing, i'm hooked. Thanks so much for being my wattpad/figment friend and sticking with NWTBB! It means SO MUCH TO ME!!!!!!!!

 ~Excuse the mistakes~

 Chapter 16

As we stood by the side of my house, the wintery wind biting at my skin and the bright sun peeking through the grey, smoky clouds, I watched, slightly in horror, as Mike positioned himself on one knee, a grin on his lips. What was he doing? Was going to propose to me? I couldn’t marry, I was only sixteen!

“Will you, Elyse Blackheart, go to the Winter Dance with me?”

I was relieved. I was excited. I was worried. Relieved that this wasn’t a marriage proposal, excited because I actually wanted to go to the dance (sort of, if only I went with Mike)—but also worried, because the single thought of my friends seeing us together, as a couple, caused my bones, my mind—everything—to freeze.

Would they be upset? Would they hate me even more than they did now? And what about Lela? What if she liked Mike? What if—

“El?” Mike’s voice seeped into my brain, cutting off my continuous thoughts and infamous “what ifs”,

I shook my head and snapped my attention to him, smiling happily. “Yes, of course I’ll go to the Winter Dance with you,” I said, taking my palms and resting them on his smooth, tan cheeks.

He grinned back, taking his own hands and resting them on top of mine, enclosing them. “Good, I was scared for a minute… I thought you were going to say no,” he admitted, standing up, enveloping me in a hug. His chin sat on my petite shoulder while my forehead rested against his warm chest, breathing in his minty scent.

“You smell like mint,” I commented, breathing in again, turning our conversation into something completely different.

He snorted, his masculine hands rubbing up and down my back, creating fire. “Really? Maybe it’s my detergent?” he suggested, laughing lightly.

“Smells really good,” I said, breathing him in again.

“Are you smelling me?” he laughed, his body shaking from so much amusement.

I smiled. Loving his laugh, loving his voice, loving his… everything. He may not be perfect. In fact, I knew he wasn’t perfect. Due to knowing him so long, I discovered his flaws and his cons and his faults—and, as time passed on, he found mine. But, the thing was, I was glad he wasn’t flawless and perfect, because if he was those things, then he wouldn’t be Mike. The boy I cared about, the boy who knew more about me than my own parents did, the boy who was mine… the boy I loved.

“I most certainly am.”

I sat on the old bench in the park, watching as the energetic kids ran around, playing and screaming, looking free and except of worry. A part of me felt jealous, envious. I wanted to be a kid. I wanted to be careless. I wanted to stop having doubts. I wanted to just be… me—whoever that was.

My eyes fell closed as the wistful wind blew by me, causing my hair to fly and my skin to shiver. “Lady, are you okay?” I reopened them, surprised, and to only be greeted to a bright pair of blue irises. They were like no other, full of glitter and emotion. They, in truth, as my eyes remained connected with them, were different from any other shade of blue I had ever seen—In between a radiant light blue and a grassy green, almost like crystals. Utterly beautiful. And I had the odd urge to touch them.

A little girl stood in front of me, her light brown hair styled in pick tails and her small body fitted in a little red dress, looking cute as a button. Her face was innocent and simply curious, with chubby cheeks and smooth ivory skin. Her eyes were most captivating, though, being so blue and full of glow. She was probably the most adorable little girl I had ever seen, and as I continued to look at her, feeling the sudden want to reach out and pinch her cheeks, I shook my head and forced a smile, reassuring her.

“Yes,” I said, “I’m okay. Thanks for asking, sweetie.” I smiled warmly.

The little girl’s mixed expression converted into a furious one. “Sweetie?” she repeated the word as if it was acid and crinkled her nose in disgust. “My name is not ‘sweetie’. It’s Katelyn, and I would very appreciate it if you would call me that—not ‘sweetie’.” My eyes widened. Not only did her feistiness shock me, but her wide range of vocabulary words did too.  She looked to only be four or five. How could someone that little/young be that smart?

I shifted awkwardly. “I’m sorry, Katelyn. But I’m fine, thank you,” I replied, smiling brightly.

Katelyn shook her head, not believing a word that I had just said, and planted herself onto the spot next to mine. I slid over to give her some more room. “That’s a lie,” she pointed out, glaring at me slightly. “My mommy used to tell me and my big sister to never lie, and you just did. She said that it would only cause you consquicinies—“she shook her head, clearing her throat—“consnequences…”

“Consequences?”

“Yes, that. So you shouldn’t do it. It’s bad,” Katelyn said, looking up at me with those big blue eyes. “Will you tell me what’s wrong?”

I smiled slightly. “Maybe, but not right now. I actually have something to do,” I said, and before she could respond or I could extend any more information, I left.

And, this time, I knew exactly where I was going.

“So, what you’re saying is, you and Mike are dating… Yes?” Jessie looked at me; flabbergast, not yet able to process everything.

I nodded in confirmation, and turned my gaze to Linda. She was in “thinking mode”, most-likely being consumed by thoughts and theories.

“So you guys are, like, boyfriend and girlfriend?” Jessie crinkled her eyes, raising both brows. I nodded again. “You guys are finally together! Thank God!” she cheered, surprising not only me but Linda too. “Why did you look so nervous before…? Why were you so nervous?”

I plopped my chin on my palm, perplexed. “You’re glad about this?” I asked, my voice seeping of frustration. “I was so worried because I thought you were going to be angry with me!” I threw my hands up in the air, emphasizing my point to why I had been so cautious about telling them this at first.

“Yes, actually, I am very happy! Linda is too. Right, Lindy?” Jessie looked at our other best friend, waiting for an answer.

“Yeah,” Linda finally said, smiling. But it wasn’t a Linda original—it was fake, it was all wrong. But why? “I’m so happy for you!” I smiled back, even though I knew a part of what she had said was a lie. There was something she wasn’t telling me… But what?

Though before my thoughts could increase, I put my lips into a fine line and said, “I’m sorry, you guys, for not telling you about Brandon... or Mike.” I looked away

In the corner of my eye I saw Jessie smile, telling me that it was okay. “It’s alright. I mean, I kind of overreacted about the Brandon thing, anyway…”

Linda snorted, amused, rolling her eyes. “You think?”

“Shut up,” Jessie replied, but still smiled.

Laughter spread around the room, and as we continued to laugh and have fun, a part of me felt that we were the people we used to be, back before Kayden Maxwell moved here. But I knew that girl, that Elyse was long gone.

And she wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon. 

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A/N

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