~10-New Neighbors ~

"Hi, I'm Britney" says a short, cheery girl as she walks up to me.

She's about my height, auburn hair, green eyes, freckles..one of those rare beauties

"Danny" I reply with a sweet smile.

Normally, I'd avoid talking to her at all cost. I'm not so big on the making friends deal but if I'm gonna be making a like here, I might as well get some allies.

"You're the new girl" she says and I have to hold back from rolling my eyes "You're pretty good looking"

"Uh..thanks?" I say in a question-like way, I already feel awkward and we only just got talking.

Mom left for Seattle this morning, had a lot of work to catch  up on.

The mere fact that she left all those and came with me down here to help me get settled warms my heart and had me in tears as I bid her goodbye.

Before she left though, she introduced me to a couple of people including the boss at the place I'll be working.

He seems pretty nice. He says to get comfortable and resume to work next Monday.

"Hey Danny, quickly look up ahead"Britney says with urgency evident in her tone.

I lift my head quickly to look ahead but I see nothing of interest.

"What is it?" I ask when I look around for the second time and still see nothing of interest.

She turns her head in the direction and quickly whirls her head back to face me.

"Don't you see him?" She whispers.

"Oh, him" I raise my head again and this time I meet his gaze

"What about him?" I ask, confused as I look back to her.

"I have a huge crush on him" she whispers as her face reddens

"Oh" my mouth forms an 'o' and stays that way because I honestly don't know what to say to that.

This has only ever happened once or twice with Beth and that was different because Beth understands and gets me but to someone totally different... I don't know how to respond.

"Don't make it too obvious you're staring at him" she scolds, but the grin on her face tells me she's not mad.

I immediately avert my gaze from the guy.

From what I saw though, he has a pretty good build and I think ginger-copper hair.

"His name's Jamie" she informs, the grin on her face still wide as ever "Jamie Johnson. He's 17 and already has a college degree, has no girlfriend.. In fact I don't think he's ever had a girlfriend" she whispers the last part.

I nod because what else do you do with information you're not interested in¿

"Oh my manners" she palms her face "come, I'll introduce you"

"Uh..that won't be... necessary" the last part comes out a hushed sound as she's no longer listening instead she's yelling out to Jamie.

"Hey, Jamie" she yells "Come meet the new girl"

Then she grabs my wrist and pulls me towards him.

"Hey, new girl" he mutters with a sly smile.

He's actually really good looking...actually, the word is hot.

He's one hot piece of cake.

He's dressed in a white linen shirt with crazy jeans.

He has unruly dark copper-coloured hair and intense, bright gray eyes that regard me shrewdly.

It takes me a moment to find my voice.

"Hi" I replied quietly.

I blink rapidly, matching the movement of my eyelids to the rate of my heart beat.

"You sure are a timid little miss, aren't you?" He says, his voice is warm with a small hint of amusement though it's difficult to tell from his impassive expression. He hardly looks interested but he's polite above all.

"You could say so" I shrug nonchalantly "but you'll be wrong"

He narrows his eyes at me and shakes his head.

I roll my eyes, I already dislike him and we've only just met.

"Uh...Jamie this is Danny...Danny, Jamie" Britney waves the space between us as she introduces us.

I just nod in acknowledgement while he smirks.

"Danny, Jamie is your next door neighbor" she informs happily

Noooo.

I groan internally 'Speak about a happy beginning'

He bursts into a fit of laughter and I frown.

Britney sends me a glare and I realize I said that out loud.

'Way to go, Danny, pick a fight with your new neighbour' my subconscious rolls her eyes

"Nice to meet you Jamie, Britney. Please excuse me" I say quickly and run off in the direction of my apartment because that's the only thing I could think of.

I get to my door pretty quickly-say about 5 seconds.

I dig out my keys quickly and unlock the door, letting myself in.

I fall to the couch, taking a look around my apartment... Allowing myself to appreciate all my mom did for me.

An incoming video call from Bethany is what jolts me up from my state if being lost in thoughts.

"Hey, girl" she chirps, eerily.

"Hello" I smile-well, I try to smile.

"What's wrong?" She asks, concern etched on her face.

"Nothing" I shrug

"Don't lie to me" she warns, slowly.

"I don't know. Nothing's wrong, I...I just embarrassed myself in front of my new neighbours" I mutter, thinking of why I'm so affected by what just happened.

"Since when do you care about things like that?" Beth frowns.

"Since never" I say too quickly "I don't care about it"

"Oh, Danny. I'm so glad, I think you're opening up to the outside world now" she looks like she's holding back tears.

"Jeez, Beth, don't get ahead of yourself" I roll my eyes.

There's a knock on the door.

My head whirls around quickly to the door and instantly back to face Beth.

"Who could that be?" She asks wide-eyed

"I don't know" I whisper

"Well, go check it out" she says like I'm the dumbest person in the world.

I rise to my feet to go check it out but before I could take one step, the door bursts open and in came Britney.

"Hey, I'm sorry...you took so long, I..I wasn't sure you were fine...I" she stutters, staring down at her fingers.

"It's fine, Brit" I assure her and that's apparently all she needs to get comfortable again.

"Great, so what were you up to?" She asks as she jumps to the front of my laptop.

"Hey, I'm Britney. You're a friend of Danny's yeah?" She greets Beth who as usual replies happily.

In a few minutes, I'm like the third wheel just watching them ramble on and on about meaningless things.

"Oh, did Danny tell you about Jamie?" Says Brit and my eyes widen

"No..who's Jamie?" Beth asks, sounding hurt and curious.

"He's her really hot next door neighbor" Brit informs and they go into a conversation about how nice Jamie looks.

"Oh no" I groan out loud, a sound which they gracefully ignored