The Next Door Neighbour

Chapter 17//Ode to Sleep

Brayden's POV

     IT HAD BEEN a regular Monday. Nothing too interesting. Going to school. Studying (read: staring blankly at notes). Cleaning his room. Going grocery shopping with his mom. Reflecting.

     There was only one thing to reflect on. It was the same thing it always was, and therefore it couldn't be described as thing. It was girl. A girl. An important one.

     Brayden had been beaten to the chase. He'd spent so much time thinking about making a move that he hadn't gotten the chance. But Shailene had.

     She was impulsive, she didn't think before she acted — she just acted.

     And he was glad she had.

     He was running on some kind of high. His mom even asked him why he was smiling so much, and if he was going to marry the broccoli or put it in the fridge "like she asked." He was so distracted he couldn't even think of a sarcastic comeback. It's hard to be witty when you're thinking about the girl you really fucking like.

     A kiss on the cheek. One small step for Shailene, one giant leap for Shayden-kind. All that shit he'd been thinking about, the fear of rejection, the fear of fucking up their friendship — it all went out the window when she'd kissed him. He felt high, like he was living on a cloud. All this from a kiss on the cheek.

     She liked him back.

     Well, that's what he'd thought, anyway.

     You couldn't like more than one person at once, Brayden believed, because if you spread your love too thin, was it really still love? Was it genuine, or as real as it could be? Could you really experience two completely separate romantic loves at the same time?

     Brayden didn't think so, which meant one thing: Shailene didn't like him after all. Because she liked Ky — enough to kiss him, apparently.

     He'd been in his room, "trying" to "study" for an upcoming math quiz. Really, he'd been thinking about Sam and his advice and how he hadn't actually followed it. But the distant sounds of an animated conversation happening outside kept distracting him, and finally he just opened his blinds and looked outside.

     Instant regret.

     Fuck, man. The sight of her kissing someone — someone like Ky — had shocked him so much that he'd yanked the blinds down immediately. He pulled them so fast he distantly feared they'd come crashing down on him. And maybe they hadn't, but something else had: realization. Shailene was kissing Ky Morrison — in other words, she doesn't like me.

     Brayden might not have taken Sam's advice, but she had. Did the kiss on the cheek mean nothing? Did their whole relationship mean nothing? Staying for dinner? Baking  cupcakes? Buying flowers? Did he mean anything to her?

     I can't figure this out alone, he thought, throwing his pencil down and running his hands over his face. He hadn't really moved from his desk since he'd seen...whatever the fuck he'd seen, determined to let his weird mix of confusion and shock-induced-adrenaline fuel his studies, but obviously that hadn't worked (it never did).

     Standing up, he grabbed his phone and dialled. Then, he paced. And then he waited for what felt like an eternity. And then, finally, "I thought I gave you this number for emergencies only."

     "I haven't even told you what happened yet, Holland. How do you know if it's an emergency or not?"

     Holland heaved an exasperated sigh. "Whatever. Why did you call me, exactly? I'm not getting any younger over here."