The Girl Next Door

Sick (Nathan’s POV)

It’s Monday morning and I still feel like s**t, in fact, I feel worse than I did yesterday. There’s no way I can go to school today. I called my mom, asking her to call the school on my behalf. Mom leaves for work in the morning before I even wake up, and is exhausted by the time she gets home in the evenings, so she often goes to bed before the sun goes down. My dad travels for work 11 months out of the year, so my house is always dead silent. Jack’s family has kind of adopted me as their own, so we usually hang out at his house after school, I even sleep over there a couple times a week.

After I hung up with my mom, I shot off a text to Jack, letting him know he needs to find a different ride to school. My phone chimed: damn bro, feel better! as I nodded off to sleep again, hoping to get enough rest to heal me.

-

I woke up again at 3pm, and felt ten million times better. I checked my phone only to find I had 42 new messages. Damn, what did I miss?

Jack, 10:23am: dude! that sophie girl u like looks so fuckin ? today holy shit

Jack, 11:50am: jess is missing too? u guys better not be hooking up again. if I find out u blew me off for her, i swear to god, ill uninvite u to my family vacay this summer.

The Boys group chat, 12:15pm: anybody know this new girl!? goddamn, what i wouldnt do for a piece of that ??

There were a ton of other messages in the group chat that I quickly scrolled past, most of them derogatory and offensive, but one message caught my eye. Alex, a guy from the baseball team, had taken a sneaky picture of Sophie and Emma eating lunch. Sophie sat, munching on an apple, her other arm wrapped around her body. Half of Sophie’s hair was piled into a cute little bun on top of her head, and the rest of it trailed down her back in loose waves. I had never seen her show so much skin, but it wasn’t in a distasteful way, she looked very elegant and put together, almost confident. I stared at the photo on my phone screen, my body having a physical reaction between my legs.

I felt guilty for the feelings stirring inside of me. I just wanted to be Sophie’s friend, that’s all. I was too damaged from the toxic relationship with Jessica, Sophie deserved better. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if Sophie’s newfound style had been influenced by our moment at the dance. Could she be… trying to… impress me? My mind flashed to her lips at the dance, how badly I wanted to kiss them. I imagined Sophie’s little sweater and shorts on my floor, I wondered if she had ever been with anyone before. My d**k stirred again, and this time, I rubbed it, letting the lust take over.

I jumped in the shower and cleaned myself up as I heard the garage open, my mom was just getting home.

I sent out another text, this time to Emma. Nick was a mutual friend so I had hung out with Emma a few times.

hey emma, do u think i could get sophies number? i was sick today so im hoping she has the homework

I’m sure Emma has gotten this question multiple times already today, but I had a good excuse, right? I could even act like I didn’t hear about her best friends glow up, I mean, I wasn’t in school today, how would I have known?

Emma: hey nathan! im sure my girl would would love to help you, with any of ur needs ? 482-6192

I got butterflies as I read the text. Am I imagining those s****l vibes, or does Emma know something I don’t? No, there’s no way, I’m definitely imagining it. I splashed my face with water and typed out the message to Sophie as I walked back to my bedroom.