Boy Next Door ✔

chapter eight

C A L E B 

After attending a couple of lectures for the day - and falling asleep during most of them, I got back home and invited Dustin over to my place so I wouldn't feel lonely, which happens more often that I'd like to admit. He showed up not soon after and that was how we ended up sitting on top of my bed, gossiping like high-school girls talking about how plump and juicy their crush's ass is. 

"You look horrible, again," Dustin noted.

"Tell me something I don't know," I retorted with a scowl. 

"Did you even manage to sleep last night?" Dustin questioned, tilting his head to get a better look of my face. Normally, I would've been offended by such a question - don't ask why, I'm not sure either - but this time, he was fully justified in asking me such a thing. There were visible bags beginning to form under my eyes and my eyes were droopy. Every now and then, my eyes would shut and I would fall asleep for around five seconds before waking up by banging my forehead against a hard surface or simply by the way my head would drop. My hair, too, was unkempt and I was beginning to attend my lectures wearing nothing but my pyjamas. 

"I didn't," I answered honestly with a yawn. 

"Let me guess," he began, tapping his chin. "Asshole next door with his incredibly good taste in music, again?" I nodded in response, confirming his suspicions. 

"Then what did you spend your night doing?" he questioned. 

"I did this weird quiz on PlayBuzz about what type of pizza topping I am," I said with a proud smirk. "I ended up being pineapple slices, which kind of hurt my feelings."

"Don't you mean pizza bottom?" Dustin said with a playful smirk.

"Shut it, dustbin," I sneered, emphasizing on the new nickname I had presented him with. 

"Okay, horsey," he said, raising his arms in the air as if to surrender. "But, all jokes aside, you should probably confront him. He won't stop unless you do."

"I've tried," I sighed. "By banging on my wall hard enough so he could hear and by screaming like a goat on drugs."

He blinked in confusion, "You really think that's going to work? You need to tell him verbally, idiot." He finished by flicking my forehead. I hissed in response and rubbed the area which he had hit, which I'm pretty sure was beginning to turn red from the impact, "How am I supposed to do that? The first time I spoke to him, he completely ignored me."

"Maybe he had his airpods in," Dustin shrugged. "You know, rich kids."

"I'm pretty sure he didn't have his airpods in," I responded, remembering how he had answered a call right in front of me after having given me the cold shoulder. "But if he does it again tonight, maybe I will confront him. I'm getting sick of it, too. I shouldn't keep falling asleep during my lectures."

"Right, you're working your ass off so you can afford to go to those lectures and you end up treasuring those precious classes by snoring like a fucking donkey."

"Says you!" I said with a gasp. "You should've heard yourself when you slept here, you sounded like an engine starting up." 

Right after I had said that, my phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out, smiling once I realized that I'd gotten a message from Matthew. I quickly engaged in a conversation with him, smiling at my phone like a complete idiot in front of a very confused Dustin who was now leaning over my shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of my phone.

"Who's Matthew? A boyfriend?"

"No," I responded defensively, putting my phone aside. "He's just some guy I met at work. He's really nice, and I found out that we go to the same college too."

"Huh, small world," Dustin said with a grin. "Is he gay?"

"Er.. I don't know," I responded, scratching the back of my neck. "Let's just hope that he is."