girl next door ✰ l.h.

13 || luke

Audrey had a rage I never wanted to meet.

I was invading her privacy, quite frankly. I couldn't help it. Or, I could, but I wasn't that great of a person. I was nosy and invasive. At least I was honest about it. Curiosity hadn't killed me yet.

Curiosity did nip me, though. Hovering above Audrey Hart in an empty soccer field, questioning if I should unravel our friendships in hopes of braiding a new strand of infatuation. That was a whole scene of curiosity and questionability. Although, she is the human embodiment of those words. Who am I to match a single feeling to such a girl filled with a million emotional, brilliant connections. I was convinced she was inexplicably bound to the universe.

In front of me laid a fresh lined notebook. The silver metal looped the pages together neatly. I scribbled for a few minutes, trying to find the right words. All I was doing was a small gesture; a handwritten note in hopes of cheering her up. After speaking to her about her and Ashton's end, I felt sympathy for her. A broken heart is something I had not quite felt yet, but the way Audrey worded it, it sounded like a poetic suicide.

1:09am. Instead of sleeping and preparing for school tomorrow I was writing a letter to invite her to the fair. We were about two months into our friendship and I was already doing stupid things for her. Even worse, this wasn't something she asked for. I was purposefully torturing myself in hopes that I can sew her heart up.

Audrey wasn't heartbroken. I compared the perfectly phrased scenario she explained to me and her situation now and they weren't on the same level. She said a torn heart felt like a knife in your chest, but she told me this was just a scratch. This time she knew it was for the best. This time she knew she'd be better off.

As I wrote neatly, she replayed in my mind. Scenes of her feet on my dashboard and her throwing her head back in laughter. Faintly, I heard my voice in the background. But she was an eclipse.

I read over the short note a dozen times, checking for spelling errors or weird phrasing.

Audrey -

I'll be knocking on your door at 7pm on Friday.

Answer, looking just as wonderful as you normally do.

We're going to the fair.

- L

I folded it neatly and tucked it into an old envelope and wrote her name on the front. I hoped it was sweet enough for her bitter soul and kind enough for her to come. Of course she would, I told myself. If there's one thing Audrey likes to do it's getting into mischief with me. She'd find it somehow in a crowd of flashing lights on amusement rides and stuffed bears. Especially with a guy like me.

I got up from my worn wooden chair at my desk and quietly headed downstairs. I grabbed the coat hanging on the railing and threw it over my shoulders. I slipped out the front door, crossing my fingers my parents wouldn't hear. Technically, my grounding was now up, but they never officially said anything to me. I was walking a thin line that I didn't really want to be on, but a letter in Audrey's mailbox was more important to me.

It was late September and I didn't need a coat. If anything I needed an umbrella for the sprinkling rain. I pushed my now dampening hair back as I neared her mailbox. A hand delivery didn't seem to fit the feel of the letter I wanted, and neither did a paper airplane through her window. Or a text. A text wasn't the style I was aiming for. It never was.

I opened the metal box, sliding it in carefully, and shutting the door. I trotted back to my house as the rain began to fall harder, just as I did for her.

-

"Hey stranger."

I quickly glanced up from my phone screen to meet a bare faced Audrey. I smiled, immediately praising myself for reminding Audrey of where I worked twice a week.

"I don't think your manager would like to see you sitting on your phone on the clock," Audrey said, placing her few things on the conveyor belt.

I laughed, meeting her tired eyes. "I don't think that my manager would like to see me fighting a girl on register seven, either."

"Feisty today, aren't we?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. I shook mine at her as I scanned her things.

"I can't help it. You bring out the worst in me, Audrey Hart."

She chuckled, pulling out her wallet as I finished bagging her items.

"So Friday?" She spoke, handing me cash as she read the total on the screen.

"Ah," I gathered her change slowly. "I take it you did get my note. I was worried there for a second." I handed the change to her carefully, not wanting to spend any more time picking pennies off the floor.

"That I did. I appreciate the gesture." Audrey smiled sweetly at me, her cheeks turning a faint shade of pink. I had never seen her in such a state, it was cute. Don't get me wrong, her strength and dignity wooed me, but her softer side only came out every full moon. It was sweet, she was sweet.

"So are you going to come with us?" I asked as she gathered her two plastic bags. I made a mental note to bring her reusable ones soon.

"Is that a question?" She replied.

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Yes?"

She chuckled again, "Of course." She paused as she twisted the loose pieces of hair that fell from her bun around her finger. "So Friday at 7?" She batted her eyelashes at me. Unintentional or not, it nearly knocked me off me feet.

"Yes," I repeated, confirming it again for her.

"Okay," she smiled again. She took a sharp breath in glancing down at the ground, then back up to me. "I'll see you then." She began to walk off, giving me a small wave before heading towards the exit. "Bye, Luke."

"Have a good night," I softly told her, watching her as she exited through the sliding glass doors.

I turned to face a new customer, one I didn't recognize this time. The thought of Audrey stayed put in my mind, fighting against the conversation I was having with the middle aged man. I day dreamed of the ferris wheel rides and funnel cakes. The picturesque scene of children laughing and rides moving in slow motion as we're spun every which way. The perfection and sincerity that is Audrey Hart.

-

A/N:

heyoooo! sorry this update took so long, this week has been crazy!

thank you for reading. i love u guys

i'm starting a playlist for this book! leave me some recommendations :-)