The Boy Next Door

Prologue

"Meg! Meg, Meg, Meg, Meg--"

"What?" I cried in irritation, throwing my bedroom door open.

"It's time to go! Mom and Dad are almost in the car!" My sister dashed down the halls and stairs to the car.

Nearly stabbing myself in the eye, I threw on mascara and grabbed my Bible bag, remembering to hold onto my pen that slipped out the side oftentimes. "Liliana, we're leaving!" Mom called, knowing I was right behind her.

Mumbling through a bite of an apple, I screamed, "I'm coming!"

Why did my sister call me Meg and my mother call me Liliana? Well, before my parents really knew me, they decided that I would have a super girly name, one that would scream "HEY! I'M A GIRL!" Because my middle name is Megan, I asked for everyone to call me Meg once I developed an opinion.

As I jumped into the car, I saw my neighbor Evan Walker getting into the passenger seat of his dad's car. I couldn't quite see, but I figured Mr. Walker was already in the car.

Evan and I are both sixteen and sophomores, and we have a few classes together. I wanted to get to know him some, I mean, we are neighbors after all, but I could never work up the courage.

"Meg," Madelyn, my sister, said. "Is Hannah gonna be there?"

"I think so. Brianna didn't say she wasn't coming." Brianna was my best friend, and Hannah's sister. Scratch that, she was one of my only friends. I didn't really talk to anyone. I would answer questions in class sometimes, but I wouldn't volunteer to do anything more public than that.

Brianna and I had been friends for years, for as long as I could remember. She and my family were the only people I really felt comfortable around.

That afternoon, my worst nightmare and biggest dream came true in one sentence that my father spoke. "I invited Carl Walker and his son Evan over for lunch."

My whole body seized up. People were coming to our house? Great. I'd wanted to get to know Evan, but at the same time I was scared to death of how he'd respond. I'd known people who seemed nice, then when I tried to talk to them they didn't want to talk back.

"When?" I managed to say.

"Today. They'll be over in half an hour."

Suddenly I found myself dashing upstairs to my phone, which was plugged into the wall to charge. "Brianna!" I shouted at her.

"Whoa there. Calm down. What's going on?" I kicked my door closed before sitting by the outlet.

"Evan's coming over for lunch."

"That's good, right?"

"No!"

"But I thought you wanted to talk to him?" She asked in confusion. I could picture her head tilted, the ends of her hair in her mouth like she did whenever she was perplexed. Brianna was dark-skinned and had straight black hair that I occasionally envied over my bouncy brown curls.

"I do, but I don't. Does that make any sense?"

"None," she laughed. "Later, I wanna hear that you made a good impression as a hostess, and that you and he aren't strangers anymore, okay?"

"Fine." I sighed in submission.

"Good." My blood ran cold when a distinctive bell rang. "Is that the doorbell I hear?" she asked teasingly. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

The line went dead and I put my phone down, realizing that my hands were shaking. I shoved them down in my pockets, succeeding only in getting the pocket liner wet with sweat.

It isn't scary, I reminded myself. He's only coming over to eat, then he'll leave. That's all that's going to happen. You won't have the chance to try to talk to him.

It may sound like I have a crush on Evan, but in all honesty I hated meeting new people.

"Meg, come downstairs." Dad called. "They're here."

I made my way slowly to the stairwell, which overlooked the front door, and saw Mom opening it. With a quiet release of breath, I planted my feet on solid ground and smiled warmly at the pair.

"Hi." My voice sounded breathy, as if I'd just been running.

Evan looked at me, his dark eyes meeting mine. They were a chocolate color. "Hey."