Boy Next Door ✔

chapter one

C A L E B 

"That's the last of it," I exclaimed whilst clasping my hands together. I proceeded to scan the room thoroughly with my eyes, letting out a sigh of satisfaction at the outcome of our hard-work. We had definitely outdone ourselves this time. 

Allow me to explain the current situation. It was a Saturday afternoon and I had just finished moving into my new apartment. Having to constantly be around my openly homophobic family was tiring to say the least, and I believed moving into a new place would be more convenient. On top of that, the new apartment was much closer to my campus. 

Yes, I could have just gotten a dorm room - but I was unwilling to spend the rest of my days with a roomie. I was never too good at socializing, and the only person I was even remotely close to was Dustin. It was with his help that I managed to get all my necessities into my new apartment in the first place. 

I shot him a thankful smile and placed my hand on his shoulder, "Thanks, Dust. I couldn't have done it without you."

"Ew," he shrivelled up in disgust. "Don't call me that, you prick. My back hurts like a motherfucker from carrying all these boxes. What the fuck did you even put in them? A circus?" 

I rolled my eyes in response, "I already told you. I only packed my journals in those boxes. I have a lot of them, huh?"

"Yeah well no shit," he retorted before continuing. "You owe me a treat for all I've done for you, you know that?"

"A treat? Sure, what did you have in mind?"

"Buy me dinner," he suggested whilst wiggling his brows, perhaps to compel me to do it - but in all honesty, it was only making me not want to do it at all. 

"Geez, are you that broke?" I joked. "Now I know why you're called Dustin. Your mom probably forgot to add in the 'b' right after the 't'."

Dustin paused for a moment as if he were thinking deeply about what I had just said. And finally, when his peanut-sized brain managed to comprehend what I had just said, he let out a dramatic gasp and held his hand against his chest, "Ouch. That's no way to treat your one and only friend. Emphasis on only."

"Hey, that's a little mean," I said with a pout.

"Well, that means we're even," he said with a cheeky grin. "Anyway, I should probably get going now." He proceeded to crack his knuckles and stretch his limbs out a little before making his way over to the door, checking the place out one last time. 

He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and spoke, "I did a great job, huh?"

"Hey, what do you mean you did a great job?" I scoffed. "I'm here too, you know?"

"Oh right, how could I forget?" he cooed. "Sorry, Caleb. You did a great job too - at standing and watching me do all the work."

I let out a gasp, feigning hurt by tossing a pillow over at Dustin - which he effortlessly caught. He tossed the pillow right back at me. I, however, wasn't gifted with the same skills as him and ended up getting smacked right on my face by the damned pillow. I let out a pained 'oof' at the impact and shot Dustin a glare. 

"I'll be on my way then," Dustin grinned, opening the door and stepping foot outside the comforts of my apartment. "If you need anything or just wanna hang out, text me later." I gave him a nod in response and he turned right around, beginning to walk away without even closing the door.

No sooner had he done so than another boy, a head taller than Dustin - who was already a fucking giant, mind you - bumped into him, resulting in Dustin's phone falling out of his pocket. The sound it made upon hitting the ground made it obvious that his screen had cracked from the impact and Dustin let out a gasp, crouching down to tend to his precious phone's injuries. 

After he had made sure that his phone was still working, he looked up to give the other guy a glare, but he had already left. I hadn't even caught a glimpse of his face. But I did manage to see him make his way over to the opposite direction - perhaps he was my neighbour?

Dustin got up once again and shoved his now cracked phone into his pocket before stomping away, mumbling a string of profanities under his breath.

Well, serves you right for not closing my damn door, you prick. 

After having made my way over to the door to shut and lock it, I plopped myself onto my new bed and shut my eyes, a satisfied grin making its way onto my face. 

This was a new chapter in my life and I was going to make the most of it.