The Next Door Neighbour

Chapter 5//Girls

Brayden's POV

     "I WENT ON A DATE EARLIER," singsonged a female voice from beside Brayden. Shailene and Brayden were sitting on the curb in front of their houses, avoiding their families and taking a break from skateboarding to have a snack. Two minutes before, an ice cream truck had trundled down the street, obnoxious kiddy music tinkling out of the speakers and shoving itself down Brayden's throat. He figured that was what possessed him to buy ice cream from a truck at the old age of seventeen. But whatever; sometimes you have to sacrifice your pride for a Nestlé Drumstick.

     Brayden really didn't care about Shailene or her date, but he decided to flatter her and pretend to listen. (He did that a lot).

     "With who?" he asked in response to her prior statement.

     "Ky Morrison," she replied in an almost dreamy voice. But her face didn't really match her tone. No, she looked a bit tense, which prompted Brayden to wonder what had happened on said date.

     "The new kid?"

     She nodded her head, scooping a spoonful of cookie dough Ben & Jerry's from her miniature tub into her mouth. (He was originally going to get that — he loved cookie dough — but had opted for the Drumstick when he saw her getting it. He didn't want to spend the rest of the evening hearing "Twin!" every five seconds).

     "How was that?" he asked, because he knew she was waiting for him to ask.

     "Awesome. We went to the movies, okay? And normally I hate the movies. But like, I actually had fun," she rambled. Brayden had to admit, it could be fun watching Shailene talk. All of her little hand gestures and her exaggerated diction made for an overall enthralling tale, no matter what she was talking about. Her facial expressions made everything seem more surreal, like what she was talking about had indeed happened, but not quite the way she was explaining it.

     "Great," he replied, because it seemed like the typical Brayden-esque response. Then, since he was a little curious, he asked, "What movie did you see?"

     "The Lazarus Effect. It was terrifying and - stop looking at me like that, it was."

     Brayden snorted. "Isn't that movie like, pg-13?"

     "I don't know, but it was scary, so stop judging me," she cried.

     Brayden rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

     She scooped another spoonful of that goddamn cookie dough ice cream into her mouth and sighed. He couldn't tell if it was a content sigh or not, but he was thinking not. Finally - and only because he couldn't keep his mouth shut - he asked the question that had been fighting to pass his lips ever since she'd brought up her date:

     "Do you like Ky?"

     Shailene sighed again, tucking a piece of gold-blonde hair behind her ear.

     "Isn't that the question," she muttered quietly, so quietly he almost missed it. They sat in silence for a bit, until she asked, "Have you had your first kiss?"

Brayden thought about this for a moment. Did he tell her that yes, he'd had his first kiss before (thanks, Amy Danvers) or no, it didn't really count because it had happened during eighth grade truth-or-dare? And why did she care, anyway? But because she was Shailene, he felt compelled to answer.

"Yeah."

She nodded, turning her head to observe the road in front of them. Then she took a deep breath and said, "You know how kisses are described in books and movies? Like, time stops and sparks fly and you feel something." She paused. "Do you think that happens in reality?"