The Next Door Neighbour

Chapter 3//The Hair Thing

Brayden's POV

     BRAYDEN KNEW HE WAS BEING a little ridiculous. Or maybe more than a little ridiculous. Full-blown ridiculous. Immensely ridiculous. Exceedingly ridiculous. All of the synonyms for "extremely" fit the bill. He was being ridiculous by telling Shailene not to be friends with his friends, and he knew it. But did he care? Of course not. If Shailene hung out with his friends, she hung out with him, and that was just about the last thing he wanted. So he told her, essentially, go away. And then they got stuck as lab partners. For the whole semester. Fantastic.

     He wasn't totally heartless though, and he did feel a little bad for telling her to go away. Not that it seemed to be bothering her. In any case, it seemed to be spurring her on. Not only had she been sitting with Christian in science, but her best friend Holland had been sitting with Sam, forcing Brayden to sit with Hester Anderson, a girl obsessed with anime.

     Now Shailene was going to his house after school to finish the assignment. She'd been to his house tons of times, what with babysitting and dinners, so it wasn't going to be a big deal or anything. Not that girls didn't go to Brayden's house all the time, because they did. All the time. Totally.

     One of the annoying things about Shailene (aside from everything) was that she could be fun sometimes. She was occasionally funny and her anecdotes weren't always totally pointless. Sometimes — rarely — Brayden had a good time with her, but he would never admit it. He found it irritating because it made it harder to dislike her. It was a paradox. Contradictory. It was annoying but it wasn't.

He made his way to the bus and prayed she wouldn't be on it, but he knew she would be. She always took the bus. Even when it was -35°C outside and the bus was forty minutes late, she'd be one of the persistent five people on it.

Stepping onto the bus, he waved his September bus pass at the driver and headed for the back of the bus. Shailene was sitting alone, looking out the window. When she saw him, she smiled and beckoned him over with a wave of her arm. Awesome. He begrudgingly made his way over and sat down next to her. She smelled like vanilla, as usual.

"How come you never take the bus?" she asked.

Because you take it, he thought.

"I usually get a ride from Sam," he replied as he pulled his phone and headphones out from his pocket.

They were silent for the majority of the ride, until Shailene noticed Brayden switch to a song by Fall Out Boy.

"You like Fall Out Boy?" she asked, excitement making her voice rise.

"Uh, yeah?"

She grinned. "I love them."

Good for you? he thought.

Instead, he said: "Cool."

He turned away, but he could feel her gaze on him for perhaps a second too long.

A few minutes later, they disembarked and headed up the street to their houses in silence. Brayden had never been around a silent Shailene. She'd literally never been quiet for so long. He stopped walking.

"What's wrong?"

She looked at him curiously. "Nothing, why?"

He tasted his words before speaking them, deciding they weren't capable of causing a riot. 

"You're quiet."

"So?"

He looked at her flatly.