Girl Next Door

CHAPTER 4

Good thing he didn't see her blazing eyes as she advanced menacingly towards him. Reaching out, she grabbed the back collar of his shirt, causing him to whirl around.

“s**t!” Tifa muttered as she snapped out of her imagination.

She wasn't sure which exactly made her start building castles in the air: anime or manga toons. She had been watching and reading tons of them recently. Well, they had always been her favorite and there was no going back.

"Such a braggart! I wonder who the hell he thinks he is" She said as she grabbed her glasses from the desk.

She wiped them with the hem of her hoodie before slipping it back on, her fingers brushing her freckles as she did and taking her mind back to Tad's comment earlier.

Well, that was the least of her worries as she had to get to the cafeteria in a jiffy since the worms in her stomach wouldn't stop their gymnasts.

~

Peeling her clothes off, Tifa walked into the shower cubicle. Grabbing the telephone-like shower head, she switched on the faucet.

She closed her eyes as the cold water dropped on her skin, rolling all the way down to the sole of her feet and on to the glass tiled floor. It soaked her hair, massaging her scalp afterwards.

It didn't take long before she concluded her scrub and rinse session. The next minute saw her donning a pair of shorts and a tank top.

Pulling out the chair at her study table, she plonked into it and grabbed some books and a pencil. The homeroom teacher had given an assignment which had to be turned in the next day.

As she flipped the pages of her note, she reminisced on how her day went. After that awkward encounter with Tad, king of the class, she had hurried down to the map just beside the logo and had gotten directed to the cafeteria.

Good thing she had less trouble at the cafeteria and had hurried back to the class immediately she was done eating. Three more classes came right after and the school bus saw her to her house.

She didn't know why, but her mind kept going back to her awkward moment with Tad. He was such a beauty, an Adonis in fact. His teal blue eyes were out of this world: mesmerizing; enchanting even.

But behind those blue orbs, was trouble. Never ending trouble and that was something Tifa wanted to dodge for the rest of her stay in Regis High School.

"And to think that he asked me not to answer a question in class, even when I know the right answer, simply because he doesn't" She said out loud as she remembered how no one knew the answer during the Math Class.

"Tch!" She scoffed.

"Well, beauty without brains gets one absolutely nowhere" She concluded as she tried to take her mind off what happened and concentrate on her assignment.

Soon, she was done with her assignment and found herself downstairs, in front of the fridge. She pulled its door open and after staring at its contents for a while, she settled for a can of soda and some french fries.

Ascending the stairs, she plonked down into her bed, lying on her stomach and pulling her laptop close to her. After going through the different movies on Netflix, she settled for an animation, munching on her fries and downing the soda as she watched.

~

Tifa felt something tug at her hands and felt something slightly slip out right after. Eyelids fluttering open and close, she tightened her grip on whatever thing she was holding which was about to be taken from her.

"Hey" She heard someone say slowly.

"It's Mommy" The voice continued, a caress on Tifa's hair coming right after, causing the latter to open her eyes fully.

"So, it's just you" Tifa yawned, loosening her grip on what she had been holding since - her french fries.

"Yes baby. You had slept off whilst watching a movie".

"Yeah, right" Tifa yawned again, eyes darting to her laptop.

She realized that she had fallen asleep while watching the second animation.

Good thing she had dropped her half consumed soda on her study table else she might have woken up to a drenched bed.

"What's the time?" She turned to her Mom who was now munching on the fries.

"Seventeen minutes to twelve" Her Mom replied between mouthfuls.

"You just got back home?"

"Mm-hmm" Doyinsola hummed a reply.

"Hope you don't mind me taking this?" She continued, referring to the fries.

"Nah" Tifa shook her head.

"Ain't it soft by now? I doubt my grip on it was strong whilst I was asleep".

"Not really. I'll manage. I'm so damn famished".

"Didn't take lunch at work?"

"Wasn't chanced to".

"You can have the soda as well" Tifa pointed to her study table, rising from the bed.

"You're such a darling" Doyinsola beamed.

"You saw my note?"

"Yes I did" Tifa replied, scratching her neck.

"So tell me, how was your day at school?"

As if on cue, Tifa's eyes darted to the clock. 11:52pm.

"Some other time, Mom. The time's eight minutes to twelve and I have school tomorrow".

"Alright honey. If you say so".

"I'd just pee and close my windows. I just realized I hadn't closed it before falling asleep".

"Goodnight baby".

"Sleep tight, Mom" Tifa replied, not bothering to watch her Mom walk out her room, but strode to the john instead.

It didn't take long for her to pee, wipe herself dry, flush and walk back into her room.

Moving towards her window, she stuck her face out and let the cool breeze blow against her face. After getting some kind of satisfaction from the wind, she retrieved her face but as she was about to pull the shades down, she caught sight of something which piqued her interest.

Teal blue eyes.

Moving closer to her window, she peered through the dark night to be sure of what she had just seen. She even went ahead to rub her eyes to be sure she wasn't seeing double.

As she looked on, she took notice of the hair, the aquiline nose and full lips and she knew immediately who it was. No other person than Tad Orson.

She didn't know why but chills ran up and down her spine. She wondered why of all people, he had to be the boy living next door. She suddenly hated having moved to Manhattan.

She wouldn't have had to change school and of course, she wouldn't have had to meet the blue eyed bully.

As if sensing a pair of eyes on him, Tad raised his head to meet Tifa's grey eyes. On seeing that their eyes had locked, Tifa quickly moved away from her window and hid in the shades.

Well, too bad for her because he had already seen her. She had seen his blue eyes earlier because he had raised his head, but had dropped it almost immediately as he had raised it.

He was seated on the sill of his window, his feet swinging in the air. He had his headphones on and his laptop on his lap, fingers scrolling through Twitter.

"Freckles lives next door. Interesting" He said, a smirk gracing the corner of his lips.

Not wanting their eyes to meet again, Tifa was careful not to poke her head out her window as she grabbed the roller and pulled it, the shades coming down as she did.

She slipped into her nighties after realizing that she had been in a tank top and a pair of shorts all along. Plumping into her bed, she pulled the duvet over her body, her mind full of blue eyes that she was starting to hate.