The Darling Boys (Rose Award Winner) (#Wattys2017)

Prologue

Being stirred awake at two in the morning by someone banging repeatedly on my bedroom window added to my long list of reasons to hate my ridiculously obnoxious neighbors.

I rolled over and held my pillow over my ear, hoping Jai Darling wasn't able to see into my dark bedroom through the foggy window pane. After a few minutes of pointlessly avoiding him, I forced myself out of bed and threw a dark glance toward the window. He was far too persistent to give up and walk away; all of the Darlings were.

I slid into my old Stitch slippers, edging closer to my window across the room. As I approached, I could hear Jai's voice through the glass.

"Hey, Sally! Open the window!" he was shouting. I could see his hunched silhouette leaning into the cold glass through my curtains.

"Sally! Come on!"

I had lived next door and sat behind Jai Darling for the last ten years and he still couldn't remember me.

"I can see you standing there! Open up!" he tried again.

I pushed the window up with a huff of frustration. "What do you want?"

My anger dissipated when I realized he was shirtless and soaking wet.

"I need a towel," he said with a lopsided grin, "Sally."

"Sienna." I corrected. He frowned, shaking his head, green eyes glistening under the dim light radiating from the lamp beside me.

"No, you're Sally." I glared, raising my hands to force my window shut again.

He held his hands up in surrender and leaned forward in desperation.

"Okay, whatever. Sienna, I need a towel." my eyebrows drew in confusion.

"This is my problem how?" I questioned. He coughed and made a wide gesture behind him. Teenagers littered his front and back yard, empty red solo cups throw carelessly around and in the pool.

"And?" I quirked a brow. He slammed his hands against the sill, lips curling back in his signature snarl.

"Let me borrow a damn towel, Sally." he snapped. I shook my head, ready to turn my back on him and forget he was here.

"My name is Sienna. I've sat behind you in school our entire lives." I mumbled, doing my best to shield my irritation.

"Cool, Sally. So can I have a towel or not?" he asked with a bored expression.

"You haven't spoken a word to me in eleven years, Jamie. Why the hell should I let you borrow a towel?" he stared down at his nails, completely ignoring every word that left my mouth.

He sighed. "Because I said so."

"That's not an answer." I regretted my response the moment after I said it. He grabbed the cuff of my sleep shirt and pulled me forward so I was hanging halfway out the window, faces only inches apart. This was the closest I'd ever been to a Darling boy, and I honestly could have lived without it.

"Look, Buttercup. I need a towel so my girl and I can go skinny dipping. My brothers gave all ours out and told me to come ask you. If you won't give it to me, I might have to take it." he threatened.

I didn't know whether to be repulsed or surprised by his words.

Did he not have any common sense? Was he seriously going to skinny dip in the pool we had to share? Did these guys not have any respect for the other people that had to use it?

"So what's it going to be, Sally?" Jai's voice snapped me out of my disturbing thoughts, green eyes narrowed.

Don't say yes, Sienna. He'll think he can just walk all over you if you do. The idiot can't even remember your name.

"If I give you a freaking towel, will you leave me alone?" I finally grumbled under my breath, doing my best to push all previous thoughts aside. Jai nodded, outstretching his arms. I pulled a towel from my closet and tossed it out the window, stifling a laugh when it hit his forehead.

"Here. Now can you please keep it down? People are trying to sleep you know." I watched as Jai Darling silent unfolded the towel and smirked.

He was holding back laughter as he spoke. "I didn't take you as a Thomas The Train kind of girl, Sally."

I rubbed my forehead, too tired to deny anything else.

"Whatever. Are we done?" he lifted his head and returned my question with a quick nod as he backed away.

He didn't may it too far. "Hey, Sienna!"

Shocked, my head whipped up. He was smirking maliciously as he waved his index finger in a taunting gesture.

"You shouldn't open your window for strangers. It could be dangerous!" Then he disappeared behind my house, throwing a quick thumbs up over his shoulder.

I stood in the window for a moment, gaping at my backyard.

I had never had a real conversation with any of the Darling boys, they had always been pretty reserved at home and around the neighborhood; weekdays I never got the chance.

Sometimes my brother would drop by for a weekend for a visit before he headed back up to the university. He would always laugh at the mess the boys always seemed to leave behind for others to clean up.

"They're lost boys, sis. There's no hope for them." he'd say. On occasion, he'd even greet one of the boys with a dark look.

He was right. In the eleven years we'd lived next door, the boys hadn't ever really had a true sense of their own identity. The Darlings were lost boys, and it's easy to say they never want to be found. 

***AN***

Hope you guys enjoyed! 

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~ChasingMadness24