The Boy Next Door

© Amber Kalkes 2014

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The Boy Next Door.

The question was never how or when I fell in love with Brody Forrest. The question was more like, when did I not love him? Well the answer was pretty standard, before the age of twelve. That was when he and his sister, Kate moved in next door to us. He was fourteen and Kate was my age. At first I thought he was just a cute boy and often when Kate invited me over to play I would catch myself staring at him.

This staring only increased over time. Brody went from cute to hot as soon as puberty did it’s job and sadly other girls noticed too. This became even more annoying when they realized he also had a great personality. He was smart, funny, kind, protective, and confident. He even had the trademark killer smile, dimples on the cheeks and all.

I stood zero chance.

I was chubby, with mousy brown hair that was probably too long, glasses, and oversized clothes. The only remarkable things about me were my dark green eyes that Kate always said were the color of ivy. I thought they looked the color of pond scum but we agreed to disagree on that point.

Brody was, to put it bluntly, hot shit on campus. I, on the other hand, was not. Kate over the years had turned into my protector and with her athlete’s muscles no one messed with Kate. She was a star volleyball player and Brody seemed to share the gene too because he was a rugby star. I cheered on both from the sidelines, my common position. I was always on the sidelines, quiet, unassuming and shy. That was just how I rolled.

So, yeah, Brody was kind of out of my league.

He dated, the girls always being future victoria secret models, and I tried not to get jealous. I mean it wasn’t like he was mine or anything. Kate knew about how much I liked her brother and often cursed him for being so stupid. She often was awful to his girlfriends, making sure they knew she did not or would ever approve. In fact she wanted him to just get over himself and marry me.

I always blushed when she said that.

Though fate seemed to smile or frown on me, considering your perspective when an opportunity arose. It was a party, a house party at the Forrest Siblings house. I was a fairly fresh seventeen and Brody was about to turn nineteen that weekend. It was his birthday party but you know with no adults and Jell-O shots instead of cake. Kate was convinced this was my big chance.

So she kidnapped me after school that Friday and primped me. She dressed me up in a black dress, straightened my hair, did my makeup and stuck me in heels which I had only recently had learned to walk in. When I descended the stairs I was shocked to see Brody’s mouth fall open as he looked at me. Did I look okay? Was I pretty now? Did I look hideous? I was going to kill Kate!

“Wow, Bumblebee, you look…great.” Brody breathed out with a smile.

I blushed at the nickname. My name is Beatrice but Brody and Kate always called me Bumblebee while everyone else kind of just called me ‘Bea’. It was their special name for me and over the years Kate just started calling me Bea, knowing I loved with Brody called me Bumblebee. Yes, I was that pathetic.

“Thank you.” I mumbled.

“What about me birthday boy?” a squeaky voice rang out into the room. I saw an arm snake over Body’s shoulder to find his latest squeeze Katrina glaring daggers at me.

I remember almost rolling my eyes. Like we were really even fit to compete. Katrina was a tall, thin redhead with piercing blue eyes and perfect skin. She was dressed in a midnight blue cocktail dress and looked great, as always. Yeah, there was no competition there, not with me, the bookworm, as the opponent.