The Boy Next Door

Chapter 11

Past

"How was that pedicure the other day, D?" Tyler asked, cracking a laugh with Hayden.

Looking up at Damon, I saw him give an uneven grin while chuckling lightly. "Shut up."

"Are you okay?" I asked lowly as I tightened my hold around his torso. Looking down at me with his bright, green eyes, he simply nodded and kissed my forehead.

I gave him a questioning look before just dropping the subject, for now. I turned my head slightly at the sound of Hayden's voice mixing in with everyone else's in the parking lot.

"What's got you so excited?"

Once he asked his question, my eyes travelled over to a giddy Adeline; a smile plastered on her face as she adjusted the strap of her book bag. She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, her smile only growing by the second. I had fully turned around now, my back now pressed against Damon's warm chest.

We were all anxious to hear what had her all excited, just when Cole came walking towards us. Hayden's face instantly turned sour, making Adeline give him a sad, pleading look. Of course he complied and fixed his look, right before Cole joined the circle.

"What's up?" Cole greeted us as he wrapped an arm around Adeline's shoulder. "Hey, babe."

Hayden and Tyler stayed relatively quiet, most likely stifling themselves from saying something they might regret. Damon gave a short 'hey' back, before mindlessly scrolling through his phone.

"Hi, Cole." I said, discretely looking at Kristen.

"So," Kristen unnecessarily dragged out, while waving a finger between the two of them. "This is a thing again?"

"Yeah, we talked it out." Cole replied, clearly not taking Kristen's comment, or disapproving tone, to heart. "It was a misunderstanding, right Ads?"

Playing with the hem of her jean jacket sleeve, Adeline gave an unconvincing nod. I noticed Hayden shake is head in disbelief, before turning and unlocking his car.

"You ready to go?" Cole asked while fishing his phone out.

Her sad expression after Hayden left perked up slightly at his question. "Yeah, just let me give these to Cameron." She said while pulling a few papers out her book bag. "Here, these are for Grayson. He's okay, right?"

"I guess so. He didn't reply to any of my texts." I replied, referring back to this morning.

Grayson didn't come to school today, and I've tried texting him about it, but he never answered. Assuming this is his homework, I'll just drop it off when I get home.

"Oh." She said before glancing over her shoulder to see Cole a few feet away, talking to some of his friends. His light brown hair blowed in the slight wind as Adeline adjusted her strap again, "Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Straight bullshit," Tyler mumbled under his breath once she was out of earshot. With a roll of his eyes while adjusting his bag for football practice, he dapped Damon up, "I'll see y'all later."

With Tyler and Adeline gone, Kristen sighed before walking around the car towards the passenger seat. "Answer your phone when I text you. I mean it." She stated, referring to the conversation about Cole we're going to be having later, before opening the car door.

"Bye," I meekly said, waving at their car as they drove out of the parking space. I looked back up at Damon as we stood in the emptying lot, "Are you sure you're okay?"

He nodded, lacing our hands together tightly as we walked towards my car. "Yeah, I'm alright. You wanna come over tonight?"

The lot was losing cars by the minute and I couldn't wait to get home to take a nap. The air was noticeably getting a bit cooler, but nothing major. "Yeah," I began in between yawns. "Just let me talk to my mom."