Prank Me Love

Come Meet The New Hot Neighbor

 "I wanted to punch him and understand him at the same time."  

- Shannon A. Thompson, "Take Me Tomorrow"

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CHAPTER THREE:

"Let's go meet this guy."

I inwardly slapped my face for not telling Beth everything before this had gone worse. I could no longer make up any kind of excuse as I dreaded what was about to come later on. And that was why I was standing here with my other best friend, Evan, feeling the whole weight of the pressure. Cause I know way better than anyone how Evan would be like once the situation includes guys and me... And a 'guy and me' was not something to look forward to.

I could already see the signs blinking above me saying, "Danger ahead! Danger ahead!"

Oh, no.

"E, you know what? It's not really a big deal," I said right away, stalling him as we walked away from the gymnasium where he had come out after sending me a message to meet up with him by the entrance, "I don't really know this guy, to be honest. Dad just seemed to like him and I don't think this would happen again. So you don't have to worry... This is the only and the very last time he'd drive my car... There's no nee--"

"I want to know this guy, Shai," Evan stopped on his tracks to give me a look, ignoring my excuse, "If it's no big deal, then it's good."

Great, just great. It's no big deal.

"Okay," I said tightly, trying to catch up to his long strides as we headed for the parking lot, "But you should know that we're not 'like that', okay?"

"What?" Evan halted again and frowned at me, "What are you talking about?"

Damn... Wrong choice of words.

"Nothing," I smiled nervously, "It's nothing... I mean, it's not what you're thinking, we're just neighbors."

"Why are you so nervous?" Evan smirked and walked again without even missing a beat but this time we're now nearing a few meters from the parking lot where the upcoming trouble was waiting.

"I'm not nervous," I said reassuringly, a bit too defensive, "What would I be nervous about?"

"Right," Evan nodded, stopping short as he stared straight at something from a distance. I stopped too and when I followed the line of his gaze I immediately saw my red beat-up truck, failing to blend in with the other small ones around it.

But surprisingly, I did not see James inside the truck... Neither anywhere around the truck. Did he leave then? Where was he?

"Where's the guy?" Evan asked too.

As we moved closer to the truck, we heard someone chuckling from our left, making both Evan and I turned in that direction. I frowned right away when I found Miranda, leaning on the side of her Honda Civic, grinning down on a shirtless guy under the opened hood of her car. The guy seemed to be fixing something in there. But given the state of underdress, it looked more like a cliche movie scene. This made me snort out loud.

I could see Miranda enjoying everything, obviously because the guy was shirtless and got a hot backside. The said guy also had an incredibly large and striking tattoo over the expanse of his whole back, captivating my interest for a moment because it kinda looked familiar somewhere. I honestly thought I had seen it somewhere already. But, Miranda's presence immediately distracted me when she moved and looked over her shoulder, catching the sight of me and Evan from afar. Meeting her gaze put a cold look on my face instantly. And she raised a brow back as if like a challenge. 

I knew that she was trying to test me out but when she suddenly leaned over the hood next to the guy, I squinted my eyes. I did not really mind that sort of display and I was already about to look away but something inside my mind immediately reminded me that the guy next to her was very much familiar.

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"Who's that? A mechanic?" Evan asked out loud, crossing his arms beside me, but Miranda didn't bother to give him a response. She just smirked back and shrugged and when the guy in question moved away from the hood, I quickly recognized who he was.

"James?"

The shirtless tattooed guy suddenly stopped working and dropped whatever he was doing beside Miranda. He quickly looked up, away from the hood and when our eyes met, it stayed there for a few seconds. I held my breath and felt a little too affected by those eyes. The shirtless tattooed guy was James. And it took me a moment to process all of that.

He's shirtless. And tattooed! And I can't stop staring at his chest. Oh, damn. That's one very good chest. Worth drooling... But wait... Why am I drooling? No, I'm not drooling! Wake up, Shane! This is not the right time to ogle him! Damn it. Why is my heart beating so fast?

Miranda butted in, "Look, who showed up. You got great timing, Shai."

"Hello, Miranda," I greeted back in the same coldness. Can I just say that I don't like her flirting around here? But, just so we're clear, I'm not jealous that she was trying to get James's attention. I'm not that into James (Cause hello? we just met?) or will I ever be in the near future (no matter how attractive he was though).

This is not jealousy. And why would I be even jealous?

"You know that guy?" Evan turned to give me a glance from the side.

"Class done, princess?" James asked me on the other hand, smiling back as if unbothered that there was some kind of tension hanging around the four of us. He just nonchalantly dusted his hands off and smoothly took his shirt that was hanging by the side of the hood as if all of this--him fixing a car, a bombshell flirting with him, and us looking--was just a normal occurrence in his everyday life. I almost wanted to laugh.

I must give him the credit for rejecting Miranda's advances. Seemed like, it's not only Evan who's immune to Miranda's charms after all.

James looked at me and Evan when I kept my silence and just watched him put his shirt on, which was quite a disappointment now that it had covered all of that gorgeous sculpture from the world to see. So sad... But, why do I even care?

"Shane?" Evan's voice gave a shake to my thoughts, waking me up from my reverie. I returned my attention back to him and smiled. Whew, I just almost lost my sanity there. Way to go, Shane.

"Uhm, yeah," I cleared my throat, trying to sound calm as I said, "Evan, this is James, the one Beth had told you," I introduced, gesturing at James who was now approaching us with a smug smile.

"James, this is Evan," I told him, pointing at Evan beside me, "My best friend."

"Hey," James stopped short right in front of Evan for a second. Their eyes fixed on each other but Evan did not say anything. And with a wary smile, James looked at me, "I'm Shane's neighbor." 

I tried to return the smile but with a tight one and watched as James offered his hand to Evan, who just simply stared at it with a raised brow before flitting his eyes back to James's face.

For a moment, I really thought he was going to treat him rudely so I elbowed Evan discreetly and gave him a pointed look when he glanced at me. He let out a sigh and finally accepted the handshake from James after a few seconds of staring.

A clearing of throat disturbed the three of us and we all looked at Miranda who had been watching us from where she was standing beside her car, still not leaving. I almost forgot she was there. But why was she still there? 

"Uh, James?" Miranda looked expectantly at James then at me. Somehow, I got a really weird feeling about why she had looked at me as if she was trying to check if there's something going on between James and me. And hell, why would she even think that? Do we even look like that we are? 

I turned away, stepping back and that seemed to reassure Miranda that I don't have any interest at all. I really did not want her to think that much of me being in the picture. The last thing I needed was to deal with another yet argument or tension with her.

"What?" James replied to her in a cold manner, scratching his arm and I paused for a second, trying not to look too surprised. He was really a jerk.

"About my car..."

"It's fine," James cut her quite rudely, turning his back on her while adding, "There's really no problem with it. You can go now."

"But--"

"Is there something else?" James finally bothered to look over his shoulder, sounding annoyed all of a sudden. Miranda just opened her mouth and finally shut it again, lost for words. She looked torn to be embarrassed in front of us as she gave James a bitter scowl before stomping her foot as she opened the driver's seat of her car and settled right in.

Whoa, that's a first there. Even Evan wasn't that harsh on her.

As soon as Miranda's car passed us and sped away, Evan hollered aloud, his laughter filling the silence.

"I don't believe you, man," he regarded James with a smiling face, patting him on the shoulder as he continued, "That's some confidence you got there."

"Well, she gave me no choice," James just shrugged back, smirking, "It was really a waste of my time fixing nothing on that car but I got bored. That thing's good as new. She's lucky I wasn't rude enough to flip her off."

Well, I felt a little too cautious about that. This right here was James, folks. I can't say that I did not feel slightly wary that he might act that rude to me as well.

"This guy's a good one, Shai," Evan suddenly told me, grinning as if he had just seen a new best friend in the image of James. And my eyes did a double-take, "He's fine with me." 

Uh-oh. That suddenly sounded a little alarming.

I didn't need to turn my head to see James smirking at me as well after what Evan had just said. I knew he was giving me that annoying look that he also had this morning and I feel irritated. I didn't expect this one. Of all people, now. I can't believe he actually got into Evan's good side in just a few minutes. I did not really understand what this guy got for him to quickly make the supposedly strict men in my life trust him completely.

"I guess, there's really nothing to worry about," Evan said after a moment and I widened my eyes at him as he went on.

"I told you, Shai," he spoke to me as if to acknowledge my befuddled reaction. "I just want to meet the guy and he turns out to be nice. I'm okay with this. Just drive home safely, okay?" Evan grinned again and winked at James, taking his leave as I watched him helplessly. "Keep him, Shai. I trust him." 

I fervently shook my head and Evan just laughed. He just laughed! The hell?!  Wasn't that a little bit too fast to trust him already? Really, Evan?

"I'd take care of her, don't worry," James, however, earnestly promised with a hand over his chest, tipping his head at Evan in an incredulous way of courtesy. Did I even get a say in this? 

I watched Evan walked away, leaving me hopeless and stuck again with this creep. Now, it's just James and me at the parking lot, still facing the same spot where Evan had just been standing a while ago.

"Let's go home," James broke the silence as he turned to me and he moved to walk back to my car. He stopped beside the driver's side of my truck and looked at me again when I did not attempt to do the same.

"I can't believe this," I muttered to myself, shaking my head in utter disbelief. I heard James snickering but I ignored him as I went silently to the passenger's side of the truck and sighed loudly.

I guess I really have to endure spending the rest of this day with this annoying creep. How charming.