The Boy Next Door

Chapter 25

"I've been looking for job openings." Adeline states as she sits down at the foot of my bed. I've spent the past two days with Adeline, and I'm casually getting things ready so I can pack my bag to go to Aiden's tonight.

"Really? What have you found so far?" I ask while laying my toothbrush on the counter.

"Nothing," she blandly says while putting her head in her hands. "Dad said he'd try and give me a job at the company, but I can't rely on them for that too."

"Your mom's on board with it?" I ask, faintly remembering she told Adeline she didn't have the credentials for much of anything at their company.

"No," she spat, "but I'll take up as a janitor, something. Then she'll complain her daughter's working as a custodian."

I should really start job hunting, too. "We'll you've got me, so we can go looking together."

She nods her head, her eyes showing she's lost in thought as she looks straight ahead. I sigh and walk back into the bathroom, putting all my toiletries into a small bag. "You wanna look tomorrow? My dad said he'll watch Lily."

"I-I'm actually not gonna be here tomorrow." I reply while setting the bag down on the bed.

"Where're you going?" She asks, her voice much happier than it was a second ago. Her eyes scan over the bag and small suitcase on the floor, "are you staying with Austin?"

"Something like that." I mutter while walking over to the closet. What am I supposed to wear to this wedding? I know formal, but what if there's a even more specific dress code? I know the more fancier things Aiden bought me are in the back of the closet.

"Something like that?" She repeats with a chuckle, "what's that supposed to mean."

Just tell her. "Well I'm...I'm not going to Austin's." She looks at me confusedly. "I'm not seeing Austin either, like romantically."

"What do you mean? I thought you were just with him?"

I shake my head, "I was out with somebody, just not him. Pretty much any time I'm not here, I'm with him."

"Him?" She asks before standing up abruptly, "you're seeing someone? Why didn't you tell me?"

She sounds like her giddy self, so this is going good so far. I simply nod my head, a grin growing across my face as she hugs me. She squeals, "Cameron! I'm so happy for you!"

"Thank you." It's all I can really say as we pull away from each other. Her smile doesn't fade, but something shifts in her mood.

"So...why'd you go out with Austin? You didn't cheat, did you?"

"No, no, no," I quickly say, "we weren't together then."

"But you haven't been staying here as often for like a month. How long have you been dating him?" She places her hands in her back pocket, the small crease between her brows really showing how much she's thinking about this.

"Three days..." I trail off. Officially, that's how long it's been but it's been so much longer than that. Her eyes get a bit bigger as she looks at me even more confused.

"I'm sorry, w-who is this guy?"

"His name's Aiden. I've kinda been seeing him for about...six or seven months. He's kind of the reason I can go to therapy."

I walk over and sit down on the bed where Adeline had been moved to. "How is he the reason you go to therapy? I thought my dad talked you in to it."

"Yeah, he did, Aiden just pays for it. Well, he gave me money and I put it towards therapy."

"But you've only been going to therapy for almost a month. So...you had sex for money?"