The Player Next Door

RYLIE

My eyes peeled open as a full blast of sunshine hit me in the face. I groaned as I turned over, trying to get some sleep when my brother sauntered into the room.

"Rylie! Wake up!"

I ignored him, keeping my eyes closed so he thought I was still sleeping. He called me a few more times but eventually left when I didn't budge only to return a few moments later. Before I knew what was going on, he was pouring a bucket of icy cold water all over me.

"Myles!!!" I yelled, shooting up off the bed.

With a maniacal smile, he said, "Good morning to you, sis."

"I am so going to kill you," I yelled, running after him.

"Guys! Guys! What is it now?" my mom asked. Myles had ducked behind her and was now sticking his tongue at me from behind her shoulder.

"Myles poured cold water all over my bed!"

"Only because she wouldn't wake up," Myles yelled back and I growled.

"Rylie, go get ready for school. Myles, go up to Rylie's room and clean up the mess you made."

"But Mom…" He tried arguing but swallowed his words on seeing the look on Mom's face.

Instead he sighed and groaned, "Yes Ma'am."

As he passed by me, I stuck out my tongue.

"You're such a child."

"And you're such a jerk," I replied, heading to the bathroom.

I had a nice, hot shower which was a relief after being doused in ice, and came out to find my room all cleaned up and Myles lugging my mattress out of the room. He was struggling to get it out and I watched him do it all alone with a smile. Once he was out, I headed to my closet and picked out clothes to wear.

Once I was done dressing, I packed all my necessities into my backpack and headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Morning Mom. Morning Dad. Morning butthead brother of mine."

"Morning to you too, fish face," Myles retorted but before I could reply, my mom jumped in and said "That's enough you two. Eat your breakfast."

"Yes mom," we replied in unison, still giving each other the stink eye.

"So Mom, what's with the noise next door?" I asked, halfway through devouring my plate or waffles.

"We have new neighbors."

"Really? Who are they?" I tried to ask as casually as I could manage.

"I haven't had time to meet them yet because they got here late yesterday. You were already asleep."

"Oh, right," I replied going back to my food as I took an unwanted trip down memory lane.

The house next door had belonged to my boyfriend, or rather ex boyfriend. He and his family had to move away during the summer and despite all my hopes that we could do it long distance, it didn't work out.

A few weeks after they moved, he uploaded a picture of himself and a girl kissing. I tried calling him to talk it out but he didn't pick my calls and basically ruined my summer.

I told myself I was over it but it was kinda hard to get over something like that.

"Thanks for the excellent food, Mom. Now I gotta go," I said standing up from my chair and heading to the kitchen sink where I dumped my plate.

"Bye Mom. Bye Dad. Bye butthead," I said as I headed out of the house, not waiting to hear my brother's response.

I made my way to my car, got in and then started making my way to school.

Okay, a little intro. I'm Rylie, 18 and a resident of a sleepy town in New Jersey called Willow Creek where I live with my mom, dad and my dumb twin brother, Myles. We live a pretty comfortable life and I'm mostly happy with it. I also have two best friends, Olivia and Mason who I'll be meeting at school.

That's about all there is to know about me. Oh, and I'm never going to fall in love again.

"Hey Liv."

"Hey Ry. What's up?" Olivia asked as we both stepped out of our cars.

"Nothing much... I have a new neighbor," I added in what I hoped sounded like an offhanded comment.

"Someone moved into Asher's apartment? Who?"

"No clue. Haven't met them yet but I'm guessing I will soon enough. Knowing my mom, she's gonna have them over for dinner or something."

"I hope they're nice," Olivia said, squeezing my shoulder.

"Yeah, I hope they're nice too," I mumbled.

We continued talking as we made our way to our lockers where Mason caught up with us.

"Hey girls."

"Hi Mace," I responded while Olivia waved at him. "How was your summer holiday?" I asked.

"Totally amazing!" Mason answered giddily. It didn't escape my notice that his usually pale skin had gotten a bit tanned.

"Of course it was. Not everyone is lucky enough to win a lottery to go to The Bahamas," Olivia said with a playful roll of her eyes.

"Well I did ask you to come with me…"

"Yeah, but you only had one extra ticket and it was only right that you spend it with someone special."

"Yeah. My cousin and I did have fun on the trip..."

"Of course you did." Olivia ruffled his hair playfully and Mason smiled but I could see that it was forced and I could almost predict the words on the tip of his tongue. That she was someone special to him.

Mason had a secret only I was privy to. He'd had a crush on Olivia for years but Olivia saw him as a friend and nothing more. I've asked him to tell her how he feels countless times but his answer is always that he doesn't wanna ruin their friendship so he has to deal with stuff like this. It was really sad.

To help out Mason, I shifted the topic to a lighter one and soon we were all laughing together.

Suddenly, I heard someone screaming at the end of the hall. I was about to run over to see if someone was in trouble when several girls began to scream as well. I took in their expressions and the way they held each other's hands and knew that there was no trouble. There was simply a new guy in school and judging by their reactions, he either looked like a movie star or actually was one.

The screams continued to grow louder, there were giggles and some girls even began pretend fainting, all of which was comical to me as I waited with my back to the locker to see the cause of everyone's excitement.

When he finally appeared in my line of sight, I was taken back. He was hot. Like drop dead gorgeous. With his high cheekbones, perfect lips, skin that looked like glass and silky brown hair that stopped just above his shoulders, this guy was the embodiment of every teen heartthrob ever. He was quite possibly the most attractive guy I'd ever seen.

But at the same time, as I watched him walk by, there was something about him that I didn't quite sit right with me. Maybe it was the fact that he reminded me too of a certain someone or maybe it was the haughty smile on his face as he took in all the attention he was getting... Whatever it was, it stunk and I already wanted nothing to do with him.