*Edited. Read note at the end of the chapter.*
"What do you want?"
I stood there gawking like an idiot for a minute at the guy who stood in front of me and immediately regretted my decision to welcome my new neighbor.
I stood on the front of my new neighbor's porch while he filled the doorway with his arms crossed over a very muscular chest that did not have a shirt on. He looked to be around my age which meant he would probably be starting school on Monday even though it was halfway through the school year already. Maybe I could show him around this weekend so he would feel more comfortable.
His jet black hair was cut in a short mohawk that was longer in the front, causing it to hang in front of one of his eyes. My gaze traveled lower to where I stared at a six pack above a pair of dark jeans that rested low on his hips. The black studded belt didn't do much to hold up his pants.
"Well?" He said, huffing a breath of annoyance.
My eyes shot up to his green ones that were already glaring at me. He so had just caught me checking him out. My cheeks flamed a deep shade of red and I tried to hide behind my hair.
Damn. It's not my fault that I was a girl and a shirtless boy was standing in front of me. Who wouldn't take advantage of this opportunity to check him out?
I ran my fingers through my shoulder length blonde hair and began, "Uh, I'm Veronica Fray, your neighbor-"
"Great, I live next to an ugly girl," he muttered.
Slam.
The front door to his house flew shut with such force that my short hair was blown back. My mouth dropped open and all I could do was stare.
The jerk had called me ugly and then slammed the door on me while I was trying to welcome him! I clenched my fists and was about to smack the front door when I heard voices arguing inside. I stopped and because I knew no boundaries when it came to privacy, I put my ear against the door so I could hear what was going on.
"-go apologize, right now!"
"No."
"Elijah-"
"I don't like ugly girls. I thought you said our neighbor was hot."
Suddenly, the door was yanked open while I was still leaning against it. I stumbled and crashed to the floor inside my neighbor's house. I whipped my head up and tried to see through the strands of hair that were strewn across my face.
"And she's a stalker."
My face flushed red again as I stared up at the two guys standing in front of me. The one on the left was the one who had slammed the door on my face. The one on the right was slightly taller, but skinnier, with lighter hair and warm, brown eyes, so unlike the cold green ones of the boy standing next to him.
The one with brown eyes reached a hand down to me and I slid my small hand in his much larger one. He helped me stand up until I was eye level with his chest. He placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Sorry about that. My name is Uriah," he hooked a thumb at the guy next to him, "and this is my younger brother, Elijah."
"By a year," Elijah grumbled, looking anywhere but at me.
Oh, so they were brothers. Uriah was a million times nicer than Elijah. And he was cute.
"Uh, my name is Veronica. I came over to welcome you guys, but..." I trailed off awkwardly.
Elijah's eyes shot to mine with intense dislike and I took a step back, crossing my arms over my chest. I matched his glare and he raised an eyebrow. Uriah looked between the two of us with amusement.
"I think you guys will make great friends," he commented with a huge smile. Dimples surfaced on his cheeks and I just about melted. I turned my gaze to him and forced a smile, "We'll see about that."
"No we won't. Don't come over here again, Victoria," Elijah growled.
Uriah smacked his brother on the arm and whispered, "Her name is Veronica. Why are you being such an asshole to her?"
I waved my hand in their faces, standing on my tippy toes and said, "Hello? I'm right here. I can hear everything you're saying."
Elijah gave me a nasty look and took a step towards me. I couldn't help but notice as his muscles rippled over his stomach while he moved. I stood still until the tips of his boots hit the tips of my converse.
"That's the problem," he said so low I could barley hear him.
"Elijah," Uriah warned.
I didn't get the chance to move out of the way as Elijah plucked me off the ground and flung me over his shoulder. The blood immediately rushed to my face as I pounded on his back. Elijah ignored his brother's protests as he continued outside.
He took one step onto the white porch and shut the door behind him. I kept banging on his back and yelling profanities at him as he kept walking.
Elijah stopped once he got to my house. He dropped me like a sack of potatoes onto the seat swing in my front yard. The swing swung back and forth from my impact.
With that, Elijah strutted back to his house.
I clenched my fists so hard that my nails dug into my palms. Elijah had just humiliated me and kicked me out of his house.
This wasn't over.
This meant war.
Uriah stood on the porch, waving to me and yelled, "Sorry for my dumbass brother's attitude!"
I was about to reply when Elijah shoved past his brother to get into the house. He shut the door behind him and Uriah shrugged before deciding to come over to my yard. He plopped down beside me on the seat swing and his long legs stretched out in front of us, stopping the swing from moving.
Uriah ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
"Elijah really doesn't mean any of what he said," Uriah tried to explain.
I lifted a hand. "I don't care," I turned to face him, "Just know, I will not let him get away with this."
Uriah gave me a shocked look for a second before he burst out laughing. Clutching his stomach, he said, "Not many people have the guts to stand up to my brother. He's very, uh-"
"Cold?" I supplied.
Uriah smiled knowingly and said, "Standoffish."
I smiled in reply and sat there swinging my legs.
"You're different, Veronica, I like you," Uriah said, catching me off guard. My cheeks turned pink and I shrugged.
"A lot of people don't like my attitude which is why I don't have many friends..."
Uriah stood up quickly. I looked up at him as he spoke.
"How about you show me around the school? I'll be a senior and Elijah will be a junior when we start on Monday," he said.
I groaned. Elijah was in my grade.
"Let me guess, you're a junior, too?" He asked based on my reaction. I nodded in regret and he laughed again.
"Well," I said, getting up to stand next to him, "When do you want to go tour the school?"
"Now?"
I agreed and let him drive us there since my car was kind of pathetic. He had a nice, white BMW with leather seats. I was in love.
I pointed the directions how to get to the school while he drove. I swept my arm out in an arc when we arrived and announced, "Welcome to Hall's High School, also known as Hell's High."
Uriah got out of the car to join me and snickered at my joke.
"You don't really mean that do you?" He asked.
I put my finger on my chin as if I was deep in thought. I thought about the bitchy cheerleaders, the stinky jocks, the weird nerds, and the fact that I had no friends even though I've been going to school with these people for most of my life.
I nodded. "Yep, I do mean that."
Then, without giving him a chance to respond, I tugged on his arm and led him inside. Hall's High wasn't a magnificent school by any means. It was only two floors with a gym and a cafeteria and that was about it. We lived in a small town so everyone knew each other really well.
I just chose not to get close with anyone. Or they chose not to get close to me.
I brought Uriah all around the school, showed him where my locker was and where his locker was since he had received his schedule in the mail. When we were ready to leave, Uriah thanked me.
I may have just made my first friend. I beamed and told him it was no problem.
We left the school to go to the parking lot so we could go home. The previously vacant parking lot wasn't empty anymore.
Next to Uriah's BMW was a sleek, black sports car. Hard core rock music blasted through the speakers and made the ground rumble.
"Elijah," Uriah muttered.
Uriah walked up to the sports car with me trailing behind and knocked on the window. It slowly slid down to reveal a very pissed off Elijah. His green eyes narrowed on me, completely ignoring his brother who was opening the passenger side door.
"What are you doing with Victoria?" He growled, still only looking at me.
"My name isn't-"
Uriah shoved his head through the passenger side door and turned down the music before stepping back out.
"You better go home right now, Elijah," Uriah demanded.
Elijah rolled his eyes and focused on his brother.
"Why are you with her?" He spat as if I was some nasty creature that he couldn't stand.
"She was kindly showing me around school so I would know where to go on Monday."
Elijah leaned across the passenger seat and rested on his hand so he could easily see out the open window. He squinted at me.
"Usually you go for more sexy girls, Uriah," he said.
I gasped. That was the second time he made a comment about my looks.
Hey, I knew I was nothing special, but I also knew I wasn't ugly. Faint freckles dotted around my nose and my eyes were a light blue. I looked just like my mom with our shoulder length blonde hair, but I wasn't as attractive as her.
I've had enough with this jerk. I stepped forward, plunged my arm through the open window, and grasped the top of Elijah's black t-shirt that he hadn't had on before.
I pulled him right up to my face and his eyes widened.
"Listen-"
He cut me off by pressing his lips to mine. His eyes were open the whole time, daring me to break away.
Which I did.
"Elijah!" I yelled, slapping a hand over my lips and furiously wiped them.
He shrugged and sat back in the driver's seat.
That was my first kiss.
And he had stolen it.
"What the hell, Elijah?" Uriah growled.
"You need to watch your back because I swear, I will get you back for this," I said with my hands on my hips.
"Don't tell me that was your first kiss, Vic," he said.
I blushed hard and stuttered, "N-No, of course not."
"Liar."
I spun around before I could further embarrass myself and jumped in Uriah's car. He shot a look at Elijah that promised he would deal with him later and I was grateful.
Uriah got in the car and turned to me as Elijah sped out of the parking lot.
"Was that really your first kiss?" He asked, not starting the car.
I focused out the window without looking at him and gave a small nod.
"Shit, I don't know how many times I'm going to have to apologize about Elijah. I'll get him back, don't worry."
I turned to him and said, "I will, too."
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