The Man Next Door(ManXBoy)

11-Chapter Eleven

David

The best part of my day was reading the newspaper silently every morning. I would brew two cups of coffee, black, no sugar. Then I'd sit down at the breakfast table. I'd flip through the stories and then fill out the crossword. It cleared my mind, sort of like meditation. Except, it was hard having that same feeling when my sister was throwing me glares every minute.

I lowered my newspaper, meeting Maya's eyes again. She was sipping on a mug of filled to the brim with scotch. 

I knew why Maya had been giving me those looks. After I told her about how I kissed Will she wouldn't let it go. How could she? She always cared too much about my love life. I was her little brother.

"Remind me again" Maya asked. "Why didn't you sleep with him?"

I let out a sigh, setting the newspaper down fully on the table. "Because he was a drunk, horny teenager." I said. "He probably didn't know what he was doing."

She pursed her lips, rolling her eyes. She wanted so badly for me to get laid. Maybe I was acting a bit more uptight than usual. I hadn't had sex in a while, but that was purely because being gay here was like being a "witch" in Salem.

"Well then do it tonight." Maya suggested.

I narrowed my eyes at her. Will was a senior in high school. Not to mention I've had dinner with his parents. It would be wrong to have sex with their son.

"Not that you care or anything," I started. "but there was a sizable difference between Will and I's age."

"So?" Maya said taking another sip from the mug.

"He just had his eighteenth birthday." I said. "It's gonna make me look like some prowler."

Maya gave me a sideways smile. "But you like him, so do it."

I rose my eyebrows at her statement. "I'm sorry, 'like'?"

She smirked. "Don't put up that act." She said. "You don't invite anyone to your house. This is the first time I've been inside one of your houses since college."

I chuckled at that. She wasn't wrong. But there were many specific reasons why I didn't invite Maya over, and she was proving one right now.

I didn't "like" Will. He was a nice boy don't get me wrong. He had a nice head on his shoulders, a very smart, witty head. But I didn't like him in that way. I couldn't have any emotional attachment to a boy.

"I don't like Will, Maya." I said.

She grinned. "So you just invite him to your house because he's what, helpful?" She said.

My doorbell rang and I exhaled with relief. I closed the newspaper rising from the chair. "That's my client" I said. Maya huffed knowing what that meant. "You can entertain yourself in town for a couple hours. Unless you wanna watch-"

"No!" She interjected. I chuckled. "I'll go get changed."

I walked over to the front door, then opened it up.

Will

I ducked just as a cell phone flew past my head, smashing into the wall beside me. I gasped, looking down at my phone which now had a cracked open screen. My eyes widened and I scrambled to pick it up.

"Ivy, Come on!" I said trying to turn it on. There was no use. The phone wasn't turning on. I looked back over at Ivy who had her arms crossed. Her eyes were turning red, but not from tears, but from pure anger. She was fuming. Smoke was literally pouring from her ears.

I could understand why. If I found out that she was doing what I had been doing I would've been fuming too. 

I bit my lip.

"I can't believe you!" She said. Ivy balled her fist. "How could you be cheating on me with a bitch named Jamie?!"

I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. I didn't know what to say. My heart beat at a steady pace. Ivy thought Jamie was a girl so I wasn't worried, and I didn't feel guilty either. 

"Listen-"

"Don't even!" She said. "You'd rather bang some side-chick then your own girlfriend?"

I didn't respond. I didn't know if it was a question or a statement. I just stood there chewing on my lip trying to avoid eye contact.

"Hello?!" Ivy said. "Do you even care?"

I gave her a nice warm smile. "Of course I do." I said, though I didn't fully mean it. I mean sure I didn't want to lose her. She was my girlfriend, and she had been for a long time. When I held her, I didn't feel the urge to text Jamie.

"Ivy please..." I said taking a few steps closer to her.

Ivy shook her head. "You know what." She said. She grabbed her purse and threw it over her shoulder. "I'm done." With that she walked out of my room, slamming the door harshly.

I took in a deep breath, running my hand roughly over the back of my neck. I looked down at my phone. It was completely destroyed. See what happened was that I'd gone downstairs for five minutes to grab a drink and when I come back up, Ivy had blown through my phone messages. She saw what Jamie had sent me and flipped out. There wasn't anything I could say or do to save my ass.

I inhaled sharply. Great. No girlfriend and no phone. I threw it into the trash can. 

I tapped my foot against the floor. I was supposed to be meeting up with Ian right now. We were supposed to go out. He was waiting for me to give him a call but there was no way I could. My parents weren't home, and my car was still acting up. I wasn't going to risk driving it and end up stuck in the middle of a highway. 

I chewed on my lip, looking out of my window. I glanced over Mr. Harrison's house.

My mind flashed back to the hazy night.  I didn't remember everything from yesterday exactly, but I knew he got me home safely. I vaguely remembered him pulling me through my front yard and up the stairs. I had been black out drunk. Never did I ever get that wasted over wine. His sister must've put something in it. 

I turned around and grabbed my jacket, throwing it on. I trudged out of my room and headed out of my house and over to David's. When I got to his door, I knocked a few times then waited for it to open. 

It took a while. My body was starting to shiver. It was freezing cold. My teeth were starting to chatter. Even my cheeks were starting to burn. I was starting to think he wasn't going to come to the door. Maybe he wasn't here. Or maybe he was asleep. But then the door creaked open. My eyes rose to meet the person who was behind it. 

I felt my stomach begin to twist and turn when I saw who exactly it was. My ears started to heat up and my stomach dropped down to my toes. 

I gulped. 

Jamie smiled at me. "Will?"