The Girl Next Door... Well... three doors down.

TGND Part 1

“I have missed you so frickin much” I managed to wheeze out. When I said this she just hugged me tighter. I spun her around and when I turned back I noticed the small group of people who had gathered, I barely registered their presence, so happy to just have my friends in my arms again.

I reluctantly put her down but still held her in my arms as she had turned around but my arms were wrapped around her waist with her hands joining mine. I looked up to survey the small group of people before us and recognised Lisa, who lived just down the road, her fiery red hair was easy to pick out of the crowd, Emma was here also, I smiled inwardly when I saw her, before I left I had a massive crush on her, it died down when we were away but since we were back I now remembered why, she was beautiful, her brown hair cascading down her back in small natural waves and her hazel brown eyes I'd gotten lost in a million times.

I continued to look through, I saw Nick, my best guy friend, his blonde hair was sticking all over the place, blue eyes sparkling with excitement, then Connor and Xavier, my close guy friends, they both had short brown hair though Xavier’s was a fraction longer and he reminded me of a bear with his large body physique and tan skin, he towered over most people but he was the nicest guy I knew.

Last but not least I saw two girls I had never seen before, they both had blonde hair and one of them had very cute dimples, the other was trying to give me a flirty smile but sort of failing. “Hey guys!” I beamed.

Suddenly everyone started to talk at once and I had no idea what anyone was saying, “Woah guys” I laughed, “Theres no rush, im going to be staying for a long time!”

“Holy bejollies James, you got h-o-t when you went away!” That was Lisa, never afraid to speak her mind no matter what people thought of her.

“Thanks Lis, you don’t look so bad yourself” I chuckled. Everyone said their hello’s and I untangled myself from Soph to give the girls hugs before returning myself to Sophie.

“Oh James” Soph started excitedly, “These are my friends from my new school, Jaz and Issy!”

Oh that’s right, Sophie had gotten a scholarship to an all girls school, it was an academic scholarship, although she didn’t seem it, she was incredibly smart.

Issy was the friend with cute dimples and Jaz the one with the flirty smile.

“So we finally meet the legendary James! I feel as though I sorta know you already by how much this girl talks” Issy said. I laughed along with the rest of the group.

“She talks about me eh?” I raised my eyebrow and Soph beamed up at me.

“Everytime she opens her mouth your name comes out ‘I miss James, When will James be back? Ive been friends with James since I was 3 ladidada!” Jaz mocked in a funny accent which made people laugh at again.

“Its hard not to when you play such a big role in my life” Sophie shrugged, I hugged her closer and this only seemed to make her smile bigger, she rested her head against my shoulder bone and I felt a sense of homeliness being with her again.

“But she never said you were so damn hot!” Jaz blurted out, no one could stop laughing.

“Hey back off from my hot best friend!” Sophie laughed.

“Watch out Liam!” Lisa wolf called, “James is back in town!” The group laughed but I had no idea who Liam was, the confusion must have been shown on my face because Emma explained.

“Liam is Sophies boyfriend, they’ve been going out for 3 months” I nodded but felt a little hurt that Soph never told me.

“How come you never said you had a boyfriend?” I whispered in Sophies ear.

“We barely ever got to talk and when we did I just wanted to hear about what you had been up to! It sounded amazing and I liked to know you were safe over there, im sorry Jamesy” I gave a weak smile and said it was okay, I could never stay mad at her, ever!

As if to confirm the fact in such an 'oh so cliche' way, that she did have a boyfriend a rough voice sounded behind us, “Who the fuck are you and why are you latching onto my girlfriend?” I turned around and saw him standing there, he had big broad shoulders and almost pitch black hair which sat in waves on his head, another cliche right?

Showing up on the doorstep when ive only just got back home. I don’t know why, but I was jealous when you used the word girlfriend for Soph, my feelings for her weren’t romantic or anything.

Sophie was now out of my arms and he pushed me away from her slamming me into the rough outside wall. “Liam!” Soph called out. I put my hands out in front of me in a surrender sign, “Woah man, theres no need for that!” His glare just deepened instead of the outcome I hoped for which was him, letting me go.

“Then answer my question dickhead!” He bellowed.

“Chill out okay? I'm her bestfriend, known her since we were 3 and names is James not dickhead” I paused to see his expression which was satisfaction since he had made me squirm, this just made me mad, “And I have a name for a reason so unless you think its ‘cool’ to have nicknames like dickhead I can call you dumbass or maybe even fuckwit because that is what you really are, but to be quite frank with you, I actually prefer James”

I heard gasps from behind us, they were probably not used to anyone standing up to Liam. “I can break you into a thousand pieces smart ass!” Liam hissed.

“Bring it ‘macho man’ see how far it gets you, but just a pre note, ive been doing karate and judo since I was 6 and kickboxing since I was 10, so its not exactly recommended” I said calmy.

“You think your fancy little moves can be a match for me?” He huffed.

“That depends on whether you are as slow and feeble as you look or if you whip out some special talent, which, no offense, at this point in time, I doubt you have”

If looks could kill I would be long gone right now. Liam stepped back and swung his arm, intending it to hit my face, but it was just as I thought, slow and easily predictable, I hit his arm down then jammed my fingers in his ribs which would give him a momentary spasm.

“Just as I thought, clumsy shot” I tutted. He grit his teeth before trying again. This time I used his momentum to twist his arm behind his back and shove him up to where he had me pinned before, his face pressed up against the wall.

“There are many things I can do right now, but il narrow it down to a small list for your little brain to understand, number one, I can dislocate your shoulder but you look like a football player so maybe i will just wait till the end of the season, number two, I can continue to kick your ass around but im wearing a new shirt and don’t really want to get blood on it, or three, I can let you go and tell you to listen to my advice next time, my advice this time is to choose number three because its whats best for all of us” I shrugged.

He wriggled and tried to get out of my grip but I held him firmly against the wall. He growled some unintellectual words so I pushed his face a little bit harder.

“I'm sorry but I asked for words” Everyone behind us seemed to be in a daze but suddenly Soph snapped out of it.

I was hoping she would get mad at him, tell him he had no right to show up at her home and pick a fight with me, atleast that’s what she would have done 8 months ago, but 8 months can change a person, and after 8 months, that isn’t what she did.