My Home Away From Home

Chapter 1 - Knock, knock

As my eyes begin to bear a heavy weight, I shut my computer and set it on my cluttered walnut-wooden desk. At 12am, I finally put my body to rest. I flutter my eyes shut, as my vision becomes a colorless black void. The house is silent; only the chirps of the crickets can be heard, and the occasional hoot of an owl. The humming of the wind combined with the symphony of disparate noises, soothes my mind into a similar lullaby. The ancient sliding door that leads to the balcony can be heard shaking in the wind, and continues to shake, this time more vigorously. It is obvious; the shaking of the worn sliding door is not caused by the wind...

My mind abandons its soothing lullaby, and instead, unsettling thoughts creep into its corners. My heart's fast-paced beating pulsates throughout my body, leaving me frozen on my bed. My eyes, too, are fixated on the ink-black door, concealed by a curtain. What is, or is not there, I don't know. The only trustworthy instinct at this point is my hearing, but so far has proven itself unhelpful. After some time, it has stopped – Silence. A quiet, deep voice breaks the agonizing stillness.

"Please, let me in," he coarsely whispers. At this point, my confusion is stronger than my fear.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" I question him, my eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm a neighbor, and I need to stay here for the night. Please, just trust me," he seems almost scared. I continue questioning him, unsure if it's safe to let this stranger in.

"I still don't know who you are," I reply, attempting to sound intimidating, but failing.

"OK, fine. I'm a 17-year-old guy who doesn't have a safe place to go, and could really use your help," he replies, losing patience.

"If I let you in, just... don't do anything weird. You know?" The little confidence I once had has now left my body, leaving me a confused and awkward mess.

"I won't do anything you don't want me to do," He coaxes me, and I can nearly hear his smirk forming.

"Ew. Fine, get in. But you have to be very quiet," I give in, truly not believing he will do anything to me.

At this point, I'm right in front of the curtain, anticipating the moment I pull it aside, to reveal who this man, or technically boy, is. As anticipated, I pull the dark grey curtain, and the voice I have been talking to has been given a face, and a body as well. His broad, muscular build towers over me. His dark brown wavy hair falls over his eyes. His head moves to the side, swaying his hair out of his view, revealing a set of dark blue eyes, like the dark, deep lake I used to live by – like home.

His full, pink lips curve into a smirk, and his eyes move up and down in the smoothest way imaginable. His smirk reveals a single dimple on his left cheek – my right. His tan body swiftly walks past me, not waiting for me to let him in. I close and lock the door behind him, and as well lock my bedroom door. He smirks, implying something...

"What are you locking it for? You scared someone would walk in on us?" He asks playfully, doing his best to remain quiet.

"Are you serious right now? Do you know how my parents would react if they knew a guy was sleeping in my room? Actually, you know what, maybe I should go right now and tell them, I'll save myself the trouble," I threaten him.

"No, please, don't do that. I'll explain everything, but only if you don't ever tell another soul..."

Hi! Thanks so much for reading this, it means so much to me. I'll be uploading a new chapter every week at least, most likely a few times a week. If you have any feedback or comments at all, please say them, I'd really appreciate it! 

-Author