The Boy Next Door

ｔｗｏ

Rachel

"AH! WYATT! IM GOING TO KILL YOU!" I screamed as I fell out of bed.

He ran down the long hallway, then down the stairs. I heard him talking to my mom. I attempted to pick up some of the ice he had dumped on me and bring it to the bathroom sink so it didn't melt on my bed. Eventually, I just gave up and let the rest melt.

"Wyatt!" I yelled as I ran down the stairs. I was furious. It was one of my only days to sleep in.

"Oh shit! I'll come back before we leave to go to the neighbors. Bye!" I heard him shout as he ran out the front door to his car.

"I'm sorry, honey," my mom said, "I'm pretty sure he is still an immature teenager even though he is twenty-three."

"I can see that." I said, throwing the ice cube that I was going to throw at him into the kitchen sink. When we were younger, he always used to pull pranks on me to annoy me. That was one thing that I didn't miss.

"Have something to eat, then go do whatever you need to get ready to meet the neighbors." My mom said. Little did my mom know that I already met one of them.

"I'm still going to get back at him for that when he gets back though."

"Whatever." My mom said while laughing. "Go get dressed." I rolled my eyes and headed up stairs.

Once I had done my hair and makeup, I ran back downstairs. Running downstairs is something that I did a lot of. Wyatt came back inside. He thought it would be safe to return. Maybe he thought I would forget what he did to me in the short time he was gone. He was sitting in the living room on his phone, probably sending kissy emojis to his girlfriend.

"Why the hell did you dump ice on me!" I exclaimed.

"Hey, calm down. I was just trying to have a little fun by annoying you. It has been months since I have gotten to do something like that."

"You didn't have to dump ice on me. I'm sure you could have found something else to do."

"You're probably right, but I had to think on the fly. The ice was the best I could do."

My mom told us we were leaving, and that she expected us to behave. You'd think that at our age we wouldn't have to be told that, but after the events of this morning it was well understood why she had to remind us.

The three of us walked to the neighbor's house. I wasn't sure why I had agreed I had to go over. But I didn't tell my mom that I changed my mind just to make her happy.

Ding-dong.

The door swung open, revealing a little girl no older than four. "Mommy, people are at the door." She yelled. I wondered why she was answering the door. For all she knew, we could have been kidnappers. It didn't seem very safe.

"Hello! Come on in." A woman, who I was assuming was the mom of the little girl, told us. All three of us stepped into the house. It smelled like a mixture of vanilla and cinnamon, a strange combination. There were still a few unpacked boxes stacked at the base of the staircase. Their house was the exact same layout as my house, except it was backwards. My staircase is on the left side when you walk in and theirs was on the right side.

The women gave my mom a hug "Oh it has been so long since I have seen you." She said. I couldn't figure out why she had said 'it has been so long' instead of 'nice to meet you' but at that point I didn't really care to question it. My mom knows many people. She's a real social butterfly. "This is Hanna and I'm Jennifer." She said to Wyatt and me.

"I'm five." Hanna said in excitement. She was so cute. "I'm going to be in kindergarten." I smiled.

"It is so nice to see you again. This is my son Wyatt and my daughter Rachel, if you didn't remember... My husband had to work today, otherwise I'm sure he would love to be here." My mother said while handing Jennifer the cookies she had made. "I hope no one is allergic to anything in these cookies. They are chocolate, chocolate chip."