Girl Next Door

Her

(Author as narrator)

It was Friday, late afternoon, you just arrived home from the gym. You were all sweaty from the intense workout. You decided that you want to get into shape for summer, since your friends want to hang out at the beach, well so they said. "(Y/N)! Have you showered already? Your dinner's getting cold!" Your mom yelled at the top of her lungs. You yelled back "In a minute ma!" You shut your curtains, while taking your shirt off from over your head as you noticed the lights turn on in the empty house next door, or so you thought it was empty.

You peeked through the curtains to see, standing outside, a girl with bright red hair, small waist, and a pretty face. You couldn't help but stare at her. Next to her, stood another girl, maybe older, could be her sister, you thought to yourself.

The bright red haired girl was loading boxes off the U-Haul truck with her, you assumed sister. She handed boxes to an older woman, and a man. Perhaps her parents. She then carried something on her own, what looks to be a guitar case. "She plays the guitar... Nice." You whispered to yourself. As you watched this family get settled in, you were interrupted by a couple knocks on your bedroom door. The sound startled you, and you jumped up as a reflex. It's your mom, holding your plate of dinner. "It's getting cold, sweetheart." She set the plate of food on your desk and you turned around to see what was for dinner. Mashed potatoes and salmon filet, with a side of sautéed veggies. Your favorite. You turned back to the window and noticed the light in the upper room of the house next door, turn on. It was the red haired girl. Her window was right across from yours. If only you knew her name.

Your mom noticed how concentrated you were, looking out the window, and realized what you might have been focusing on. "They're the new neighbors. The Parks. They moved from Australia, I heard. Well that's what Sandra told me today." Sandra, my mom's best friend for over 34 years. "Park." You said to yourself. You wondered what her first name is. The light turned off, and you stopped creeping too.

You turned to your desk, and took a few bites from your food. You dug into your mashed potatoes, but all you were thinking about was the girl next door. "Girl Next Door Park." You said and chuckled a little. "What am I even saying?" You finished up your plate of food, and hit the shower.

After you're all cleaned up, you went downstairs with your empty plate, to find your parents in the kitchen doing the dishes together. Your mom was washing each glass and ceramic plate, and your dad was putting them on the drying rack. You always found it cute that they still did that. Twenty years of marriage and they still enjoyed doing the dishes together. Your thoughts wandered to Girl Next Door Park. As you placed the dirty dishes in the sink so your parents could wash it, you wondered if her parents were like yours. If they enjoyed each other still, or if they still looked at each other with a spark in their eyes. You started to wonder if Girl Next Door Park ever had a boyfriend, or a girlfriend. You wouldn't be surprised if she did, she's breathtaking.

"Hello??? Earth to (Y/N), are you there sweetheart?" Your mom waved a kitchen towel in your view, and you snapped out of it. Your mom let out a small laugh, and turned to your dad. "I think she's got a little crush on the new girl next door." Your mom said with a little teasing tone to her voice. "I do not!" You claimed. Your dad's eyes widened, as he looked shocked. "Does our little (Y/N) have a crush?" He said playfully. "I don't! I-I-I just think she's pretty, and has pretty hair, and- I-I don't have a crush!" You tend to stutter a little when you're lying, so your parents knew already. You've never brought up any love interests before, because no one in school was that interesting or great for that matter. The only people you could tolerate were your friends.

As your mom made her way out of the kitchen, your dad sat across from you, and said with a soft voice, "I think you should talk to her. Get to know her. If she got your attention, she must be something." You've never really had feelings for anyone, well no one ever caught your attention the way Girl Next Door Park did. You didn't say anything, you just nod to what your dad said. He got up and kissed the top of your head as he walked passed you. You stayed there for a couple seconds, then got up and grabbed a ginger ale from the fridge. You walked out the kitchen into the living room, where you saw your parents on the couch, watching Jeopardy. It was their favorite thing to watch, even though they would only get 3 or 4 answers right, but somehow that always satisfied them. They were simple, you love your parents and they love you. You joined them and sat right between the two.

It was the final round during Jeopardy and your mom cleared her throat, and said to you while keeping her eyes planted on the screen "Could you take the trash out, sweetie? Tomorrow's garbage day." Without a second thought, you got up and emptied the kitchen trash can, and walked to the front door and slipped into your Adidas slip-ons. You closed the door behind you, and noticed how prettily the sun was setting. You walked towards the dumpster and flung the trash in. You looked around, to see if anyone's outside, and saw the elderly man who lives three houses away, watering his roses. "Hey Mr. Williams! How are you sir?" You shouted. He turned and waved. You always forget that he probably didn't hear you, because he never answers your "how are yous" but he said "Say hi to your parents for me!" You smiled.

You stood there to take in the beautiful sight. It's never been so pretty outside. You wondered if Girl Next Door Park liked sunsets. Your thoughts kept leading back to her. You couldn't get her off your mind. You took your phone out to take a few aesthetic pictures of the sky, and without looking, you bumped into someone and dropped your phone. Luckily, your phone had a protective case. You didn't see who you had bumped into, but all you heard was a sweet voice, with an accent, an accent not from around here. You got down to pick your phone off the ground, as she kept saying sorry. She asked if it cracked, and you shook your head and said "it's alright don't worry about-" you didn't finish your sentence as you saw who you had bumped into. Your mouth stayed open for a bit, you swallowed and finally said "...it."

It was her.