The Boys Next Door

Chapter 2

“So, my new neighbors were moving in today,” I told Paul Rogers, my boyfriend, as we rode along in his convertible, the top down and the wind whipping through my shoulder length brown hair as he sped down the road.

“That’s nice,” he replied as he went around a curve.

“That’s nice? Is that all you have to say?” I questioned as I lifted my sunglasses up while looking at him. “I thought you would be curious to see if the folks had any kids that would be going to school with us next fall.”

The corner of his lips tugged up into a smirk that I was so familiar with. “Well, I knew that if there were kids there, you would end up telling me anyways.”

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” I mumbled, but couldn’t keep the smile off my face, since he knew me so well. “Ok, so there are three guys. The oldest is Randall who just graduated, there’s Patrick, who’s the same age as us, and then the youngest is Dexter, who’s a couple years younger than us.”

“Dexter?” he laughed as he looked at me with disbelief.

“Yeah. He said that his parents were hoping that he would be smart, so they gave him a name that sounds smart,” I said waving it off.

“The poor kid,” he said while shaking his head. “I imagine that he used to get teased quite a bit. So… I don’t have to lay the law down do I?” he asked as we pulled up next to one of our friend’s cars.

Yeah, Paul is one of those guys that get jealous easily. But, he only gets like that around new guys. He doesn’t care if I flirt with his friends, which I never do anyways. I think that he’s really insecure because both of his previous girlfriends cheated on him, and he’s just making sure that I don’t do the same. If it had been under any other situation, I would have dumped him a while ago for being so possessive. It’s not a nice trait to have.

“No, you don’t. You really shouldn’t worry so much. You’re the only guy I want,” I smiled as I leaned over to plant a kiss on his cheek.

“It’d better stay that way,” he grumbled as he got out of the car.

I shook my head as I jumped over the door, grabbing my bag before Paul took a hold of my hand and started off towards where the others were. The lake was a popular place where my friends and I liked to hang whenever it was nice out. Its size was about half of a football field, so I guess that was pretty decent. Trees rimmed the outer edge, giving us plenty of shade on those days when it was scorching out.

When you first approached the lake, there was a dock that was kind of in the middle which was about 6 feet long. To the right on one of the trees was a rope swing, since people loved to swing from that into the lake. On the far side of the lake was a huge rock. There was the least amount of shade over there, and it was a good spot to lay on when all you wanted was to get a simple tan.

I heard laughter as we came closer. A couple people were playing chicken in the shallow part of the lake. Around the banks of the lake, the water at its shallowest was only about three feet, where the middle was close to twelve. As we came into the opening, all of the laughter just stopped.

I knew that the girls didn’t like me, though I have no clue why. I definitely was not the prettiest girl around, but I’m no plain Jane either. My family wasn’t rich, but were comfortable enough that we went on vacations twice a year. And I wasn’t dating the most popular guy in school. Paul was just a regular guy who was well liked by everyone. I really thought that they had no reason to hate me, but I guess they have their reasons, no matter how stupid they most likely are.

“Hey, what’s up?” Paul called out to the guys.

“Yo Paul! Grab Ells and get your ass in here and play with us!” Steven Klein, Paul’s best friend, called out.

“Thanks a lot Steve!” I called out as Roger picked me up and carried me over towards the water. “You know that everyone is going to gang up on me.”

“Come on Ellie, it’s just a game,” Paul laughed as he jumped into the water, me still in his arms.

“Paul! You know that all the other girls despise me!” I whined as I stood back up.

“No they don’t. Now come on,” he said while crouching over.

“Whatever. But if I go down first, I’m coming after you,” I growled as I reluctantly hopped onto his shoulders.

As soon as I was situated on his shoulders, it began. And of course, like I said, all the girls turned and came after me. But luckily, Paul and I were able to fend them off until only us and then Steven and his partner Laney were left. Now, this definitely wasn’t good because she was the bitch of the group.

“You’re going down bitch,” she growled at me.

“Bring it on whore,” I growled back.

All the girls were cheering on Laney, while the guys were cheering for Paul. It made me laugh, because all of the guys knew that she was a bitch. Eventually, I finally knocked her off Steve’s shoulders and there was a huge splash as she fell. I slipped off Paul’s back and came up grinning like a fool.

“Way to go El!” I heard the guys cheering as Paul scooped me up in a hug.

“Bitch,” Laney mumbled while shoving her shoulder into me as she walked past.

“Honey, you should really look in a mirror when you say that,” I called after her, while also making my way out of the lake.

I spotted my best friend Shelley and went and sat down next to her. She nodded her head in acknowledgement and continued to lay in the same position. Shelley was the only girl in our little group that would always talk to me. She didn’t get along with the others either, mainly because she always spoke what was on her mind, even if it wasn’t exactly nice. Shelley was absolutely gorgeous though. She had strawberry blonde hair, emerald green eyes, was about 5’8”, and was skinny enough to be a model. I’m always ragging on her that she’s too skinny for her own good, but she never listens.

“Why do the other girls hate me so much Shel”? I wondered as I took the same position that she was in.

“Because you’re too nice,” she said without hesitation.

“What?” I asked in disbelief.

“Like I said, you’re too nice. I always hear them complaining about how nice you are, which I think is stupid. But then, they also say that their boyfriends always rag on them to be more like you. ‘Why can’t you be nicer like Els?’ and so on. They’re sick of being compared to you,” she said bluntly.

“I can’t change who I am. But maybe if they were a little nicer, their boyfriends wouldn’t rag on them so much,” I said with a shrug. “But whatever. What’s new?”

“Nothing really, I guess. Parents want me to get a job so I don’t sit around the house all summer long. So, I’m just exploring the possibilities. Anything new with you?”

“Well, my new neighbors moved in today,” I stated casually.

“Do they have any sons?” she perked up, looking at me.

“There are three,” I smirked to myself. “One just graduated, one is our age, and the youngest just finished being a freshy.”

“Ok, I am officially going to be spending every day at your house,” she sighed while laying back down. “How’s Paul dealing with the news?”

“He was a little edgy at first, but he’s fine now. After being together for almost a year, you would think that he wouldn’t have anything to worry about. Especially with all that happened,” I said with a little irritation.

“Ells, you’ve got to look at it from his point of view. He obviously really likes you, and things have gone really badly for him in the past. I think that he’s afraid of losing you, so he just wants to make sure of things, ya know?” she pointed out.

“I get it. But, I just wish that he would have a little more trust in me. But, I guess I would rather have him be overly protective then not caring enough,” I trailed off.

A moment later, my cell phone went off. Looking at the caller ID, I saw that Justin was calling. “Hello?”

“Hey, mom and dad want you to be home for dinner. They want you there because it’s a family dinner, and they invited the Hursts,” he stated.

“I see. Do you think you could pick me up? I don’t want Paul to have to leave early because of me,” I pleaded.

“Who cares about that douche bag?” Justin said irritated. Justin always gets irritated when I talk about Paul. He really doesn’t like him for some reason.

“Will you come pick me up or not?” I asked annoyed that he was ragging on Paul again.

“Yeah, yeah. I guess I could bring the guys to show them around some of the town too. I’ll see you in a while,” he huffed.

“Thanks Justin. See you in a while,” I said before hanging up.

I let out a sigh of frustration before falling back down. Shelley just looked at me with her eyebrows raised.

“That was Justin. He said that the ‘rents want me home for dinner. They’re having the new neighbors over tonight. Oh, and you can see them because he’s bringing them with him to show them around a bit,” I added with a grin.

“I can’t wait!” she squealed, causing the other girls to give us glares. “So, are they cute?” she asked in a whisper.

“Oh, very,” I whispered back.

“What’s with all the whispering?” Paul asked as he towered over us.

“Oh, Elora was just telling me about the new guys next door,” Shelley said, but I poked her in the side to get her to shut up.

“I see. So, is she going to set you up with one of them? Because otherwise, she really shouldn’t be talking about them,” he said, but I could tell it was more of a threat.

“I guess I could. But no, actually the reason is that Justin’s going to pick me up, because my parents want me home to have dinner with the neighbors. But the reason that they came up is because he’s bringing the guys with him to come pick me up,” I reasoned.

“Alrighty, but tell me when they get here. I want to meet them,” he said while giving me a kiss before he got up and walked away.

“He wants to meet them my ass. More like he wants to size them up,” I muttered to his retreating form.

“So, do you really think you could set me up with one of them?” she asked hopefully, and I could only roll my eyes and shake my head at her.