The Boy on the Second Floor ✓

ix. The Best Friend A Girl Could Have

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This one is for OgamiRei06. Thanks so much for reading this book ♡.

Also I just want to warn you that some future chapters will have descriptions of violence and injuries. I'll try to warn you the best I can, but there is a chance I'll forget to do so.

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ix. The Best Friend A Girl Could Have

I walked into my apartment, my necktie loose around my neck after a long day of work. This apartment had been my home for the last month and a half now and as much as I wanted to keep this place clean, it was proving to be quite difficult thanks to work and the fact that I usually came home tired. I was too much of an overachiever when it came to work.

I slipped my shoes off and stripped off my jacket before walking into my kitchen to get some coffee brewing. I set my phone down next to the coffee machine and went into the bathroom to take a leak.

I came back into the kitchen five minutes later - I got lost in my own imagination - only to find that my phone was buzzing. Caroline was calling me.

I picked up my phone and answered the call. "Hey Carrie," I said.

"Samuel oh my god I just talked to this cute girl on the bus that I go on every day and I just- ahh I love her voice!" Caroline said so quickly that I could barely make out what she was saying. All I could tell was that she was excited.

"Uh, could you repeat that in English?" I asked with a small chuckle. Caroline mumbled out a sorry before she repeated what she had said before, now at a normal pace.

"She must be the cutest girl in the world if you got so excited about talking to her," I said. The coffee was done, so I poured it into a cup and sipped from it. People usually had some sort of problem with how I drank my coffee. They would stare at me like I had two heads. I didn't know why it was so weird to them, though.

Caroline sighed. "She is! And I got her number! Should I text her? I want to ask her out but what the hell am I supposed to do? What if she isn't gay?"

"Oh so gay panic has hit you? I guess I can help you out," I laughed.

"I will hit you," Caroline said, her voice now terrifyingly calm. A chill ran down my spine and I was happy we weren't in the same room.

"No but seriously. Text her and get to know her a little before you ask her out. Maybe try to figure out if she's gay, I don't know. I'm not exactly a homosexual expert," I told her, giving the best advice I could. "Besides, this could be your chance to get over Aurora."

"Yeah, you're right. I should get to know her first. I don't want to scare Emma away," Caroline said. She was probably already planning how she would approach the girl. "Should I text her now? Or would that make me look desperate?"

"If you're worried about looking desperate, then I'd say you should wait until tomorrow or something, but it mostly depends on what you say to her when you text her that determines if you seem desperate," I told her. I was still drinking from my coffee cup, the hot liquid slightly burning my tongue.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll do just that. Damn, I wish my wingman was here so you could help me."

I laughed. "I can help you from here. I'll even help you figure out what to say to her if you need help with that. I'm here to give you all the mental support you need."

"Thank you so much, bro. I think I might be good for now though," Caroline said. "Oh shit, I need to go now. I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Okay, you better update me on Emma," I said with a small smile.

"Will do. Bye now!"

"Bye, love you." The call ended and I was left in the silence of my apartment.

I made myself a salad and ate it in front of my TV while watching some cheesy romantic comedy movie that I didn't really care too much about.

I thought about the yelling I would hear from upstairs every now and then. Especially the latest one. I couldn't tell who was yelling, but I assumed it may have been Benjamin. The thought made me worry.

What if these arguments went too far and Taylor got hurt? I knew I was thinking too far ahead. There was no way Benjamin could hurt Taylor. He wasn't that kind of guy.

Then again, I thought the same about my sister's boyfriend before I saw him hit her all those years ago. Images of the palm of his hand hitting Vienna's cheek invaded my mind. She never seemed to care about what he did to her. When I asked her about it, she had rolled her eyes and told me to mind my own business.

As if triggered by my thoughts, I heard sounds from upstairs. This time the yelling wasn't clear enough for me to understand what they were saying. All I could hear was angry screams and soft cries.

My heart dropped when I heard a loud thump sound that was followed by silence. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and tried to calm my erratic heart.

I stood up from my couch and took my plate to the sink, quickly rinsing it clean before I took a long shower to distract myself. I didn't want to think about what I heard. I wanted to think it was all nothing, I wanted to ignore it all and just live my life but at this point I couldn't.

All I could do was try to mind my business. I didn't know everything about what was happening. Maybe it was all just a small argument and someone slammed the door shut.

That was a plausible enough reason for me. That night I couldn't sleep, so I spent my time texting Tinder matches, looking for someone to distract me from my overactive imagination. Maybe I should just get laid.

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When i originally wrote this chapter, i thought it was short. Trust me, there are shorter chapters to come as well as longer ones.

Dec 28, 2019