The Boy Next Door (R5 fanfic)

Chapter 1

“Ugh!” I frustratingly sigh as I glance at the clock hanging on the wall for the tenth time in the past five minutes.  “Where is that plane?” I ask, looking over at my two best friends seated comfortably beside me. 

“Don’t worry!  They said it was running twenty minutes behind schedule and, guess what?  It’s only been five!” Mary tells me.

“I know, but you guys know how much I hate flying!  The sooner the plane gets here, the sooner we leave and the sooner we land”, I state, abruptly standing, too antsy to sit still any longer. 

I make my way to the large window that stretches from the floor to the high ceilings.  I look out at the runway, hoping to spot a plane slowly making its way towards the gate.  My other friend, Nicole, comes up behind me and stands next to me, placing an assuring hand on my shoulder. 

“Just concentrate on the destination, not the journey”, she says.  “Before you know it we will have landed in Los Angeles with our whole summer ahead of us.  So worry about what movie premiere we are going to attend first”, Nicole giggles.

I crack a smile before turning and heading back to me seat and try to take her advice.  Mary, Nicole and I had met a little less than a year ago at our college orientation and became fast friends.  The three of us have huge ambitions to travel the world and when my cousin, Rachel, came to visit from Los Angeles I came up with the wild idea of us going there for the summer.  When I first mentioned it to Rachel, she was so excited and eager for family to visit that she planned the whole trip, even allowing us to stay at her house instead of a hotel.  Without having to worry about paying for a place to stay, Nicole, Mary and I were willing to stay all summer.  It'll be exciting to spread my wings a bit, traveling to the other side of the country to a huge city with my friends.  I cannot wait to start shopping in the little boutiques, tanning at the many beaches and being part of a large, lively city.   

“Finally”, I whisper to myself as I see a plane make its way towards our gate.  People begin to line up, just as eager as I am to get in the air.  We all file into our seats and thirty minutes later, begin to taxi down the runway.  I grip the armrests on either side of me and lean my head against the headrest, taking slow breaths to try and calm my nerves as I feel the wheels lift up off of the ground.  Mary gently pats my arm while Nicole squeezes my knee, letting me know that they are there for me.  I smile slightly and close my eyes. 

What seems like hours later, I open my eyes and lean across Nicole to take a glance outside of the window to try and figure out where we are. 

“We only have about an hour left”, Nicole says, looking up from her phone.  “Then we will be safe on the ground with no worries.”

“Great”, I sigh, “but luckily the hardest part is over.  I have no problem landing, it’s the taking off that I hate.”

Nicole nods before looking back down to her phone.  I pull out my magazine from under my chair and flip through the pages for the last hour, constantly glancing out the window, trying to spot Los Angeles. 

“We will be descending now, please return to your seats and buckle up”, the captain’s raspy voice reports over the loudspeaker.  I shake Mary awake to tell her the news as we all lean as close as possible to the window, watching as the city grows bigger and bigger.  

A/N: I know it starts off a bit slow but I'm just trying to build a nice foundation for my story.  I promise that it gets better so please don't give up on my story!