The Girl Next Door

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                                                              "You got spark, you, you got spunk. You, you got something all the girls want..."

Onika Maraj

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Santa Monica, California 

My alarm clock buzzes, jolting me out of my sleep. 

6:30 a.m. Time to get ready for the first day of junior year. 

I hear the hiss of hydraulic brakes outside, making me jump. I hop out of bed and turn off my alarm, then I stagger over to to the window of my room. 

Looking out it, I see a moving truck at the house across the street. I furrow my brows as I see a girl around my age hop out of the passenger side of the truck, and begin walking to the house. 

"Nicki, you up?" I hear my sister, Romania, ask.

I turn around, smiling,"kinda. Why?"

"Junior year!" she squeals, jumping up and own. 

I roll my eyes at her playfulness,"yea. Just two more years."

"yes," she drags out, throwing herself onto my bed. I walk over to my dresser and look at my outfit I set out last night.

'You going to dance tryouts on Friday?" Roman asks.

I nod, picking up my phone off of my nightstand and unplugging it from the charger. Turning it on, I see that I have 11 text messages from the football quarterback, Robert Williams. 

Reading all of them, I see that they are saying good morning and he's telling me how much he thinks about me. I feel my face blushing as I set my phone back on the dresser.

"Aww. Nicki got a text from Robert." Roman says in a baby voice, laughing

I flip Roman off and begin putting on my clothes.

"Why won't you go out with that boy?"Roman asks as I get dressed.

"Because, he is a player," I reply.

"It takes one to know one," Roman advises.

"I'm not a player. I just have a lot of options." I state, sitting on my bed and pulling my Jordans on.

"A lot of options," Roman draws out.

"yep," I reply.

"A lot." 

"Okay, I get it," I say, a chuckle escaping my mouth.

"hope you know you got competition," Roman says, referring to the dance tryouts.

"Who," I ask, looking back at her.

"Beyoncè," Roman informs, raising her eyebrows.

I laugh at her name,"Please. That little girl ain't about nothing. Just because she's from Texas doesn't mean she's good."

"But she is," Roman says as I get off my bed and walk into my bathroom,"and if you don't step up your game, she'll be new captain." 

I pick my hair brush off of the sink. Running my brush through my hair, I speak,"I doubt that. I highly doubt it."

"Okay," Roman says. I hear her phone ring in her room adjacent to mine, then her running out of my room to answer it.

As I finish brushing my hair, I hear the sound of a ball bouncing outside.

I walk back to the window and look for the source of the sound. 

I find it, seeing the same girl bouncing a ball and shooting on a basketball goal that she must've just set up. I watch as she moves so gracefully, equivalent to a dancer, the way she's light on her toes. She runs with such speed, it looks like she's barely touching the ground.

"Onika! Romania! Breakfast!" My mother shouts, startling me. My head hits the window, making a sharp pain go through my temple.

"Ow," I say, cursing under my breath. I look back up, through the window, and see that the girl stopped and is looking up at my window. 

I quickly step away from the window and end up tripping over my feet. I land on the floor beside my bed.

"Onika! Come on! Breakfast!" My mother yells again.

"Fuck," I curse under my breath,"I'm coming!"