A/N: The song is Best Friend by 50 Cent and Olivia
When I was in my later years of school, this kid came to school from a private school. I hated him at first...I assumed that he had left private school because it bored him or something....I thought he was taking his opportunity to go there for granted....throwing it away if you will.My family was and still is poor. As a child, I desperately wanted to attend an academy for gifted children...I was smart enough to go, but even with a scholarship, the tuition was still too much...so I had no choice but to attend public school. I hated every second of it. The relentless bullying, the poorly funded programs, the classes that were too easy for me, and the atmosphere in general. This boy pissed me off...until I discovered that he had to give up private school because of financial reasons. Initially, I was smug about it. I called it poetic justice of sorts...but then I realized that he was pretty intimidated. He'd never been in a huge school before...all these kids, all different from him...I decided to befriend him. He was super nice, and I was super relieved. All of those preconceived notions melted away. We dated, but it didn't last long. With me being as boy crazy as I was, I didn't keep relationships for more than a few weeks. That's normal for a high school student, and I know it never bothered him. After graduation, we kinda lost touch, but I kept as many tabs on him as I could and he returned the favor. I moved far away from Ohio to go to school while he stayed. I know about his career and I know about him moving out here to LA. I never thought I'd be seeing him mowing the fucking lawn next door, though. I laughed to myself knowing full well that my old friend had NO idea who he had just moved in next to. My phone buzzed. I laughed, even more, when I saw who the message was from. Mark was letting me know he was getting settled in LA. He wanted to know when we could hang out. I looked at him out the window, and told him now was good for me. He replied saying that he was mowing the lawn and couldn't call it quits just yet. I laughed, and decided to just go ahead and go next door. I walked out the front door, and simply strolled straight up the driveway and into the lawn. He didn't even look up. He never really was the most observant guy. I perched myself against the fence and waited for him to notice. He eventually looked up and saw me. He gave me a long look before shutting the mower off and walking over to me. "You lost?" he asked. What? Apparently, I looked different online than in person. "Hi, Mark." I replied, cheerfully. He stopped before a huge smile graced his features. "(Y/N)!" he said, hugging me. I didn't mind the fact that it was 95 degrees, nor did I mind that he was drenched in sweat and getting it all over my nice clean clothes. "It's been way too long." That it had been. If I recall correctly, the last time I saw him was the day I moved out here for school. That was years ago. "How are you?" I asked. "Tired as hell." he replied. "That move killed me." I can understand. I remember moving out here all those years ago. I had so little that I could fit everything in the trunk of my beat up car. "So how did you know where I live? I mean, I'm glad to see you, but I never gave you an address." I pointed to the house behind me. "I live there. I saw you out here." I said, smiling. "No way?!" he said. "Yes way. I moved into that place about a year ago. I thought I gave you my address?" he shook his head and I shrugged. "Well now you know." I said. I looked around at his property. "This is a nice place." I remarked. "It is." he replied. "I really like it." "Nice pool. I still need to have one added. In a place like this, it's too hot to not go swimming." "Maybe this weekend we can go swimming?" he suggesed. "Just like when we were kids." I replied. "Sounds like fun, count me in." He marveled at the fact that we were neighbors. "This is insane, what are the odds?" "Slim." I replied. "This is so awesome, wait until I tell my family. They'll never believe me." I said, texting my mom. "Smile." I said, pointing the camera at Mark. He did a little wave and I sent the picture to my mom. "This is awesome. When I get all set up, we are definitely gonna party. My roommates will be here soon, it'll be great." "You're still running around with those boys?" I teased. "Of course I am." he replied. "Those 'boys' are my best friends...and you're my best friend, too." I laughed. "I have a feeling this place is going to get a bit noisy at times." "Until they move out, I am sure it will...but don't worry, we won't bother you. I'm sure miss lawyer has to have her peace and quiet." "Lawyer? How dare you. I'm a judge." He made a face. "Wow, when did that happen?" "Not all that long ago." I replied. "Best career decision I've ever made." "Congratulations, I'm sure you're great at it. You always were judgemental." he said, referring to how mean I was when we first met as kids. "That was mean." I replied. "Not as mean as you were to me when we were kids." he said, walking onto the deck. I scowled. "Oh please, you know it was true." I followed him up onto the deck and looked into the pool. It was greenish and needed a good cleaning. "You were a jerk, but you grew out of it." I gave him a simple push. He fought it, but he ended up in the pool. "Alright, you never grew out of it. You just learned to hide it better." I laughed. "You deserved that." "Honestly, it felt good." he said, climbing out. "It's hot as hell out here. Nothing like the midwest at all." "Nope, it's not. I'll miss the snow and such...but, whatever." He sat on a lawn chair and looked at me, dripping wet. I never noticed just how attractive he is until that moment. My face heated up, but he's my best friend...I can't see him like that, can I. "I should send Dark after you. Remember him?" "Who could forget? Ugh, he's...something else. Don't send him after me, I'll do anything to avoid that." "Anything?" he asked. The suggestive tone in his voice made me melt. "Well...almost. Keep it realistic." "Come help me move in later tonight. I have a lot of shit to sort out." "Deal." I replied. He looked out at the skyline. "Nice view...I love it...anyway, this lawn isn't gonna mow itself...and now that you've cooled me off I have the ambition to finish it." "Good." I replied. "If you need me, I'll be inside." "Watching my videos?" "Pfft, no. I'm not 13. I have laundry to do." "Hey, you don't have to be 13 to love my content." I laughed. "Stop, I was joking...but seriously, I have laundry to do. Come and get me when you need me." He agreed to do so as I crossed the property line and went inside. What a day.
