i like (the idea of) you • grayson dolan

seven

OPAL'S POV

"Opal?" My dad asks, walking into my room. "The neighbors lost their basketball in our yard again."

"Can you get it?" I whine, but he just rolls his eyes at me. "Gimme a minute to change."

"What? No, you're already dressed. Just go, sweetie," groaning I stand up from my spot on the couch. "I'm heading out, for poker, I'll be back later. Here's some money for dinner."

"Bye, dad," I sigh, giving him a hug. "Don't lose."

He laughs and grabs his keys off the counter, and I huff as I walk toward the backyard, pulling my skirt down. I wore it out to lunch today, not expecting to have to see anyone I knew.

"Opal!" Ethan grins as I walk outside. "Woah, dude, can you believe she owns a skirt?"

"We uh, lost our ball. Toss it over?" Grayson laughs, swinging his shirt over his shoulder. "I don't think I've ever seen you in a skirt before."

"You have."

With a sigh, I pick up their ball and hand it to Ethan. As I turn around, Grayson reaches over the top of the fence to stop me.

"When?" His eyebrows furrow. Why does he care? It's just a skirt.

Attempting to pull my wrist from his hand, he doesn't let go. "8th grade, last day of school." Both of them look to each other, not remembering clearly. It was probably a stupid thing to remember, but I thought about it every time I wore a skirt. "You noticed second period, stopped the class insisting it was too short and made the teacher check. It wasn't. I still had to leave and call my dad to bring clothes to change into while you all watched a movie."

They thought it was funny, back then. Them and their friends did it often when girls wore skirts. I didn't find it that funny.

But I also wasn't really still mad at them for something stupid they did in eighth grade. It was a bad memory, but I didn't want to dwell on it forever.

That still didn't make it easy for me to forget, though. My brain liked to hold onto things, so I felt uncomfortable wearing them unless I was only going out with family.

"Is that why you don't wear them?" Grayson asks, frowning slightly. I just shrug. "Well... you should. They suit you."

"Yeah, and you've got incredible legs—ouch! Fuck off, dude," Ethan gets hit by Grayson, and then shoves him back. My cheeks heat up, but I see it as an opportunity to sneak away. "Hey! Opal, wait!"

But I'm inside and shutting my door before I can hear what they have to say. Unfortunately, they start knocking on my front door.

What's with them bugging me when they're bored? This is somehow worse than I thought it would be if they knew we were neighbors. I didn't think they'd want to pester me like this.

The knocking continues, and I can hear them yelling for me, so after a couple minutes I swing the door open with a huff.

"Hey," they both grin. "We're bored. Come over."

They're acting as if we're friends, when we all know full well that we aren't.

"Go annoy one of your other neighbors for a change," I snort, crossing my arms. Grayson's eyes dart down to my chest for a millisecond, making me feel self-conscious. "It's Saturday. Don't you guys have friends you could call?"

"Well, sure, but annoying you is a lot more fun," Ethan shrugs. "Why do you think we've been doing it for years?"

So they are aware they're annoying, but they do it on purpose. I'm not sure if that's better or worse.