FALLING FOR THE HOTTIE NEXT DOOR

This may begin to demonstrate to you just how pitiful my typical day-to-day existence is in precisely two ways.

One will be humiliated by a former best friend who is now the queen bee and despises me to the core of her being. (I promise, it will arrive later.)

However, the other will be smitten with the man who lives next door.

As I peered out my wide French windows to the room in front of me in the home, I said to myself, "Come on." The door of that room opens, and I scurry to the side in the hopes that he won't see me.

Okay, I'll admit it. It was kind of stupid to spend my Friday night trying to get a glimpse of him by looking into his room.

Put it away.

I mean, it was kind of pathetic that this was how I spent my Friday night and all the other nights of the week.

How pitiful.

Holden Austin.

My heart was tapping to the tune of his very existence. Every school has that one man who 90% of the females lust over. He's a few steps up the social ladder and not the haughty jerk that every other decent-looking guy is.

Austin most certainly met that requirement at our school. His blonde hair, emerald eyes, and his status as a football player were all signs of perfection. I was in love with him because of this. Austin is not a typical jock; he's not a jerk. The talented quarterback has a golden heart.

My phone's notification alarm went off abruptly. I scrambled to get to my phone on the dressing table, tripping over my massive canopy bed. Alright, I did like Austin Holden. I'm using the term "liked" a little loosely since, to be honest, I was in love with him. He had captured my heart from the moment I could remember.

Even while he was dating some of the prettiest, sexiest females in our class.

I leaned over immediately to see that Austin had left a note. I stumbled over my fingers to read his letter.

Would you please come to your window so we can talk?

I immediately combed my bushy blonde hair and glanced at my image in the mirror as my heart skipped a beat. tall frame, grey-blue eyes, and blonde hair. Unless I was with Austin, I was the kind of person who never received a second look-and even then, it was usually a death gaze. I had on trousers and a basic green t-shirt on. As usual, when I was very delighted or enthusiastic, my normally dull eyes would twinkle with enthusiasm.

Basically, whenever it had to do with Austin.

I raced to my window once I was happy with how I looked-basically, I was attempting to smooth out the creases on my t-shirt.

With his legs hanging outdoors, Austin was seated on the window ledge.

I said, "Austin, get back in, you'll fall!"

Austin raised his head. He had dark rings around his drooping eyes. His toned arms were bared by the black V-neck t-shirt he was wearing.

That's hot, for crying out loud.

Cindy, pay attention.

He stammered, "Cindyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

I said to him, "Oh my god, are you drunk?" Austin nodded sluggishly, almost tripping over.

I yell as I dash out of the home and down the stairs, "Stay I'm coming."

It doesn't take me long to swiftly unlock the door of his large, three-story home, which is precisely like mine, by finding the extra key beneath the mattress. I run upstairs and into Austin's room, a room I've been in a million times. The color blue served as his room's signature. everything from the carpet to his bed sheet to his curtains. There were areas of the wall that were a dark blue color that weren't covered with plaques or shelves containing his football awards.

"Austin, come down from the window sill." I called out. Austin looked around, perplexed. His large green eyes were fixed on me.

"Come and get me," he murmured in a childlike manner.

Come on, you know you really adore this man when, when he gets drunk, his inner four-year-old comes out and you think it's "cute".

I calmly said, "Austin, you know I can't do that. With my luck, we'll both fall."

If you have seen me up a flight of stairs, you really don't need an explanation for that statement. Not often times do I stumble and fall while going up.

Therefore, it would not be the best idea to add a window to that equation.

He smiles, which makes me feel lightheaded, and adds, "Right." Austin descends the window ledge gradually, but he stumbles and falls into his bed, with me underneath him.

I mutter, praying he hasn't heard my heart racing a million miles per hour, "Get off me." Austin shifts to the side quite fast.

Cindy, please, could you please just shut up for a bit?

Austin gives me a sly smile and I answer, flushed, "Good."

Then it seems to me that something was lacking.

Melanie King was a bitch and the vice captain of the cheering team, but she also dated Austin for three months. I asked, "Where is Melanie?" His grin vanished.

Austin said plainly, "I broke up with her."

I'm shouting 'thank the lords' inside while trying to seem empathetic as I add, "I'm so sorry." Who could blame me, really? Natalie, Austin's ex-girlfriend and my former best friend, was a better person than Melanie, who was a genuine class act. Thank heaven for the boyfriend before the relationship.

He waves his hand and replies, "That's okay, she was a total possessive bitch anyway."

Cheers to your belated realization.

I smiled at him and put the blanket over him. Thank goodness he realized that. I would hate to see the Natalie drama come up again, so it's better sooner rather than later.

With his innocent green eyes fixed on me, he wonders, "Cindy, why is it that all the girls I date are such sluts?"

"Err..." I start, unsure of how to respond. I say, figuring that the following morning he won't remember anything I said, "Well, I guess you haven't found the right girl yet."

He asks, "Where will I find her?" as his eyes sag. After a few minutes of waiting, he begins to gently snore.

I murmur, "She's standing right in front of you."

*********************************

"Oh my God."

My closest friend, Rebecca, who was seated across the table from me, spoke these three words to me. Her eyes were shining under her black hair.

She utters hesitantly, "Austin broke up with Melanie King."

Look who showed up for the party at last.

Samantha, a friend of mine, lifted an eyebrow next to hers.

She grabs the Seaview High Gossip Review and says, "Show me that."

The most widely used gossip source was The Seaview High gossip Review. Every week, everything from breakups to conflict between boyfriends and girlfriends and who is cheating on whom is placed into just one publication. Basically, it's a depressing parody of the gossip lady from our high school.

Let me assure you, however, that these revelations were just as delicious.

I quickly scan the paper's front page, where the following is printed in large, bold letters:

King is dumped for another girl by the Golden Boy.

Samantha asks, "You already knew that didn't you?" as her gray eyes scrutinize me.

I give a nod. There was no need in lying to my buddies since I am the world's worst liar when it comes to them.

"He came home drunk on Friday and he only told me that he had dumped her."

Rebecca cries, "What happened? Tell me everything."

I tell her everything that occurred, without really thinking about it. I could not take my eyes off the table where Austin and the football squad were seated.

"I can't believe you helped him like that," Samantha responds, "its like every time he comes home drunk and sad you coax him like he is a little baby and then the next day he has another girlfriend."

"Well, I think its sweet, she knows everything about him and then he finally realises that she was the right girl for him," adds Rebecca, giving Samantha a sharp glance.

Samantha rolls her eyes and says, "GOD Rebecca, Cindy's life is not a romance novel just waiting to happen."

She looks at me and says, "Oh please. I think he dumped Melanie for you."

"Yeah, like he dumped Kate and Christy for you," Samantha quips sadly.

Cindy raised her hands in front of me and remarked, "There's a big difference between what you are doing, which is shamelessly staring, and subtly glancing," when she saw I wasn't giving her even the tiniest attention.

That caused me to awaken from my daze.

Samantha and Rebecca were the farthest apart. Rebecca was the kind of girl who thought she would find her happily ever after in a castle, riding into her life on a white horse, at any moment. Samantha, on the other hand, would be the kind of lady to just tell the guy, "I detest horses," while looking him in the eye.

The fact that I am friends with them also puzzles me.

Rebecca rolls her eyes at Samantha and says, "Oh as if. It's not like you are the role model to follow because you are shamelessly staring at Matt when you aren't giving us big, long lectures to stop staring and talking about guys."

Her gray eyes enlarge.

"I DO NOT," she argues.

Matt Hendricks is a jock who plays football but is not particularly popular since he is not very controversial. He has sandy brown hair and is beautiful, but he is not as smart as most of the other players on the team-Austin, of course-having an IQ in the single digits.

We both say, "You so do," Rebecca and I.

With a crimson face matching her hair, she replies, "Okay, so how long have you known?"

I mean, even with her cynical views on both of our aspirations in love-mine being Austin, Rebecca's being a guy right out of a mills and boon novel-Samantha did date more than any of us. Rebecca and I adore making fun of Samantha when she shows signs of attraction.

I like teasing her about boys, "Well, its quite hard to miss." "With both of you staring into each other's eyes across Mr. Murdoch's class," I continue.

Just as Samantha opened her mouth to respond, someone cut her off.

When I turn back, Natalie Anderson is standing in front of us, grinning at us, and I ask her, "So how are my favourite losers doing?"

Natalie Anderson, the school's most beautiful and popular girl and queen cheerleader, had one goal in life: to make my life as miserable as possible.

Natalie and I used to be best friends in junior high and were close during the first few months of high school, but something happened on the night of Nick, her boyfriend's party, and she started acting like a total bitch. It was as if one fine day she had just woken up and decided to ruin her ex best friend's life.

I was turned down by Natalie and her gang of followers, who were formerly my pals, when I went to ask her. I'm not sure precisely what occurred that day.

Four years later, I'm the shy, introverted girl who no one would have noticed if it weren't for Austin, who constantly said hello and engaged in conversation with me. Natalie is now the school's cheering captain.

Natalie is the one who detests it the most, however, since it didn't help me gain any popularity points-all I got was glares from females who liked me but had a thing for him.

Ultimately, she and Austin had dated for two years before Austin ended their relationship because she had teased me to the point of tears and made the grave error of doing it in front of him.

Prior to that, not many people were aware of how well Austin and I knew one another. Natalie had carried out her daily activities in front of Austin, which effectively put an end to their romance.

Goodbye.

After that, everyone knew who I was, but my fifteen minutes of fame quickly passed as he moved on to someone else and my heart splintered into a million small pieces.

Since then, anytime Austin wasn't around, Natalie turned my life into a nightmare.

"Cindy, I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry about everything I've done to you."

What just happened?

If my memory serves me well, she called me a loser around five seconds ago.

With a stern expression, Samantha says, "You called us losers like five seconds ago."

We seem to be psychic.

Natalie continues, "I said "favorite losers," and then she turns to face me with the most genuine expression she can conjure and says, "I truly am sorry."

My buddies share my face of disbelief. I immediately touch myself to confirm that what I had heard was real, and sure enough, she is still standing there with her large eyes beseechingly aimed at me.

When I turn around, Austin is observing the two of us. That explains why she was acting in this way-she was trying to get Austin back. I stare at her and try not to laugh, telling her that her pathetic effort to win him back will fail.

"I apologize so much, Cindy," she adds once again. "I promise to make it up to you, but I have to go right now-my boyfriend is calling." She uses the term "boyfriend" loosely before skipping over to Austin's table.

Rebecca barks, "Why is she going to Austin's table?"

All eyes are on Austin and Natalie. Austin grinned when he saw her and stood up. He murmured something in her ear, and she nodded.

He then gives her a kiss.

People are taking photographs with their cellphones, which are already out of their pockets.

We now know what the paper's headlines for the next week will be.