Girl Next Door

Blessings

(Reader as narrator)

I was jamming to some songs while I folded and put my clothes away. Normally, I do this the day after laundry day, but I'm in a great mood today. I got to spend time with dad, and I got to see Chaeyoung. Alice does kinda scare me a little, but I know she's just watching out for her sister. It must be nice to have a big sister who looks out for you, but in a couple months, I get to be a big sister. Everything seems to be going so well lately, I'm a little bit skeptical, but I'm also thankful.

As I hung up my last shirt, my phone rang. "Park Chaeyoung." My heart started to race. "Act cool, (Y/N). It's just Chaeyoung. Relax. Breathe. Be cool." I said to myself as I answered the phone. "Hey neighbor." I said with a jolly tone and rolled my eyes at how cringey I just sounded. Chaeyoung giggled, and greeted with a soft "Hi there." At least she can't see the smile on my face right now, or how red my cheeks are. "Everything okay, Chaeyoung?" I asked. "Haha, yes. Everything is great, I just wanted to call you to say 'goodnight' that's all." The smile on my face got bigger, and I didn't think that was even possible anymore. "Again?" I asked, sitting at the edge of my bed, smiling from ear to ear and staring at my toes. She chuckled and quickly said "Yes, is that so wrong, (Y/N)?" I laughed and reassured her that it wasn't. "Good."

We spoke on the phone for what felt like a couple minutes, but soon she said "Oh my gosh, (Y/N)!" I stopped in the middle of my sentence "What happened?!" I said with a more serious tone to my voice. "We've been on the phone for one hour, 48 minutes, and 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 seconds." I laughed, and she giggled. "I guess we kinda lost track of time, huh?" I said. "You think so?" she said with a playful voice. "Do you want to head on out to bed? You can if you want to." I said, and she sighed softly, I could feel it through my phone's speaker. It sent a slight shiver down my spine. "We should probably go to sleep then, school tomorrow." She said, with a little cheer at the end of her sentence. I giggled, and I could hear her form a smile on her face. "Okay, Chaeyoung. You get some rest, okay? I'll see you in the morning, alright?" I said, smoothly. "Yes, I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, (Y/N). Sleep tight, and dream of beautiful stuff." She said, before I heard her yawn. "Jaljayo, Chaeyoung." I said, struggling to get the words out. Chaeyoung screamed out of excitement. "Oh my gosh! Who taught you that? I'm impressed, you sound like a natural." She giggled. "No need to make fun of me, I know that wasn't the best pronunciation." She laughed, and I regret saying it for a bit, but she stopped in the middle of her laughter. "I'm not making fun of you, silly. I'm actually impressed at that. It's also really cute that you learned that just for me." I felt my face get red, and thanked the universe, she couldn't see me. "Gosh, you're so cute." She confessed, and she wasn't helping with the way I was feeling. I couldn't find the words to say to her, so I just internally screamed. "Okay, I think we should go to sleep now." I nod my head, as I agreed with her. We finally said our goodnights after a couple short-stalling conversations, but we hung up, and head to bed.

The next morning, I woke up later than usual. Probably since I was up late last night. I smiled at the thought of Chaeyoung, got up and raced to the bathroom. I got dressed, and wore my usual black skinny jeans, with a plain white t-shirt. I took my backpack, and went downstairs. I could hear mom and dad in the kitchen, discussing something; sounded serious. I walked into the kitchen. Mom was standing behind dad, as they both looked at the daily paper. They both had upset faces. "What's wrong?" Mom walked towards me, from behind dad, and went to get a bowl and mug, from the cabinets. "There was another shooting, sweetie. Come, sit. Have some breakfast." She said with a soft voice. I could tell she was upset. One of her close friends, was killed in a shooting. It was a couple years ago, I've never met that friend, but my mom was hurt when she got the news. She set the mug and bowl in front of me, before I sat down. "Hey, it's okay. I got it." I said and smiled at her. Her smile was warm, but it wasn't her usual bright smile. This news must have triggered some memories. "Where was the shooting?" I asked, sitting down at the table, across from dad. He didn't look up from the paper, but answered "New Zealand." I felt a frown on my face, and suddenly got the chills.