02 | The Window Next to Mine

02 | The Window Next To Mine

Paige's Point of View ~

It's about a 40-60 minute drive from my mom's house to my dad's house. We are about half way there when Ronnie turns to me and asks,

"Guess what," She asks, going back on her phone. I try to see what she's doing on her but she's still checking out the same guys on Instagram. Ronnie is really pretty. She looks a lot like our mom. Her jawline is perfect, her eyes are a glossy light brown that glows when she's in the sun, her short flowy brown hair is the perfect color and length. I don't think she's ever had a bad hair day. She's the perfect 16 year old girl. At my school she's the sort of popular where everyone wants to be like her. I like to think of myself as nice, but I'm definitely not popular. My Saturday nights are lone Rom-Com movie nights, and studying. Ronnie gets invited to all the parties. The only parties I get invited to are family reunions and my grandma's birthdays. I like to think having myself for company is just enough, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be invited to a party or two. It's like there is only one high school standard for being popular. Being impossibly attractive. And I'm not that.

"What?" I ask. She doesn't answer me right away because she is still staring at her phone. I slap her on the arm and she gasps dramatically.

"Guess!'' She repeats and I stare at the road while driving, thinking about what she could possibly be bringing up.

"Just tell me!" I yell at her and she flinches. She smiles, shrugs and leans back in her chair. I turn to her and she's still on Instagram. She slowly scratches her forehead.

"You're going to make me deaf from your yelling," She complains.

"Tell me or get out of my car, Ronnie!" I yell at her. Her eyes widen from my yelling and she jumps up from her seat making her back straight and not slouched like it was before.

"Okay, Okay!" she smirks, taps something on her phone, and brings it up to my face so I can see it clearly. I squint. I can't see very well without my contacts.

It's the same guys Instagram she's been looking at this whole time. He has that protective, hot, bad boy kind of vibe. His hair is a dark brownish, blackish color. It's messy, a strand of brown hair is covering half his face. His eyes are a piercing green. He's hot. His username is...leo_walker1.

I look up from her phone to see Ronnie grinning at me with wide brown eyes. She brings the phone towards her so she can look at the boy again.

"Ronnie we talked about this, you already have a boyfriend." I say as I park into the dark garage waiting for me. I turn off the car and turn to her.

"No, no, no, dumbass!" She yells and points to the phone. "This is Leo!" She screams.

"Ronnie stop screaming! Who's this Leo boy, and what are you doing stalking his account?" I question her. She slaps her hand against her forehead and shakes her head over and over making me dizzy.

She sighs, "This is our new neighbor. You know the house next to us that hasn't had a soul in it for months? Well a family moved into it about a week ago! Leo is 16 and his sister is 10." She informs me with the biggest smile spread across her face.

I got out of the car and grabbed my keys and phone and stuffed them into my pocket. When I closed the door and opened the trunk to get our bags Ronnie finally got out. She fixed her skirt and walked towards me still on her phone.

When I grab my bags I ask Ronnie, "Why don't you get off your phone and get your bags like a normal person?"

She groans and grabs her purse leaving me with the rest of her stuff. She walks up the stairs to the door that leads to the inside of the house. She pauses, smiles and turns her body towards me.

"Could you grab my stuff? After all you're much stronger than me," She fake pouts, turns around looking down at her phone, and opens the door leading inside the house.

"You know that's not true! Get back here, brat!'' I yell, but she didn't seem to hear me because she was already walking away from me.

***

Me and Ronnie have separate rooms, hers is slightly bigger and more modern/plain-ish, but I like how cozy mine is. The best part of my room is the big bookcase full of different books I'd like to read over the summer.

Ronnie went out to have lunch with her other friends I've never met. I'm on my bed reading when I decide to text my dad when he's coming home. My dad is a chef and is at work a lot of the time cooking up meals for strangers. I've come to love it because he comes home with lots of leftovers.

"Hunter!" I call out.

I have a German Shepherd mix and his name is Hunter. He's about two years old, but he still acts like a puppy. He comes running into my room and plops on my bed. I pet him and he starts barking at my window.

"What is it buddy?" I turned to the window he was barking at. I put my bookmark in between the two pages that I wasn't done reading. I slowly got up and walked towards the window and opened the curtains. I stood there stunned at what I was looking at.

There was a window right next to mine. Somebody was in it. It was the same boy I had seen on Ronnie's phone.

***

https://issuesintheworld.carrd.co/

hope you enjoyed,

- p