The boys all stare at me with smirks on their faces. They're obviously expecting something although I have no clue what the hell that is. I do know however that I won't be giving it to them anytime in the near future.
"Give me my iPad back," I force from my lips, trying to ignore the pounding in my chest as they all continue to stare relentlessly at me.
Greyson appears again, brushing his curly hair out of his face with a smirk. Much to my distaste, my device is no where to be seen. "Why should we?"
"Because," I lean forward through the window and glare as harshly as I can. "It was a present for my eighteenth birthday from my uncle. My parents will be pissed if I lost it."
"Hmm," the boy with the black hair-his name is Lennox, I remember-pretends to think. "Then I suggest you give us some incentive to want to give it to you."
I refuse to lock eyes with any of them, to give them what they want. "Please."
Craig laughs. "Oh, stop worrying, Hay. Just entertain us for a little while, and then we promise to give it back."
I frown and cross my arms. "And how am I supposed to do that, exactly?" there's no way I'm going over there and allowing them to…
Lennox shrugs. "Well, I'd say I'm pretty entertained right now. What about you guys?"
A sigh escapes my lips as the other boys nod. So, they're immature enough to be entertained by a mere conversation with an angry girl. Well, not that I'm much better. But unlike them, I don't need to steal a five-hundred dollar iPad to get the conversation I want.
A part of me can't help but wonder why they chose me to entertain them. Sure, I'm easy access, being just a few feet away and Greyson and I have some sort of weird history, but it still seems like so much trouble when all they have to do is call just about any other girl and she'll be there as quickly as possible. I just want to sit in my room and drown in the bliss of not having school for the next month.
I slide out so that I'm perching on the edge of my window precariously. I've never done this before, seeing as the only person who's ever lived in the window it faces is Greyson, so the drop below makes my heart pound but I push it down before I have a chance to form a panic attack.
"Alright." I say, hanging onto the sides for the life of me. "What do you wanna talk about?"
The boy with dark brown hair leans up against the side of Greyson's window. "Why don't you start by introducing yourself? I'm feeling out of the loop here, being the only one who doesn't know."
I frown deeply and lean back slightly. I don't have to give it to him. I shouldn't give it to him. But I know that if I don't, I can kiss my iPad goodbye. "My name is Hayden Scott."
"Thank you," he smiles with a nod. "Jameson Carlton."
I focus my gaze on Craig as a thought occurs to me. "I have a phone, y'know. What if I decide to text Leo and tell him what you're doing?"
Craig lets out a barking laugh. "You're going to tell on me? What are we? Five?"
I cross my arms and raise an eyebrow. "If the shoe fits."
He chuckles and shakes his head, before crossing his arms. "So why don't you allow us to catch up. It's been a long time."
Yeah, if you considered forever a long time. "What do you wanna know?"
He shrugs. "Anything. What have you been up to?"
I raise an eyebrow and keep from glancing downward as if considering if the fall would be enough to kill me. "I'm studying to be an English major, and minoring in child psychology."
Greyson rolls his eyes. "Obviously we're asking about your personal life. Like have you and Leo finally done it?"
A blush works its way across my face. Everyone assumes that me and Leo are together, so that's nothing new but nobody ever asked straight out if we've ever had sex before. "We're not even going out. So no."
He suddenly bursts out laughing, covering his face with his large hand. "You mean you're nineteen years old and you're still a virgin in every sense?"
I frown and shift uncomfortably, upset with how right he actually is. It's true. I have yet to have sex, or a boyfriend, or even my first kiss. Which, in this day and age is practically unheard of.
"Look, if you're just going to make fun of me-"
"No, no!" Jameson shouts, holding his arms out as if to stop me from slipping back into my room. "I promise, we won't laugh at you anymore. We were just taken aback, that's all."
I consider not listening to him and just heading straight over to Greyson's house right in the morning, but the thought of being alone in a house with Greyson is even scarier than this. So we talk well into the night, until my eyes are beginning to droop and I sway dangerously on the edge.
"Okay, guys," Craig smirks. "I think we've pushed her far enough." he produces my iPad somewhere from the other side of the room and leans far out the window to thankfully hand it to me. "Don't think you're completely in the clear, though. We all have your number and will be texting you whenever we get bored."
On any other occasion, that would've been enough to send me into a raging panic, but at this point I'm just too tired to care. So I simply take it from him and stumble back into my room, making sure to shut and lock my window and collapse on my bed, falling asleep in the same second somehow.
I'm woken up the next morning by Jeremy jumping on my bed, demanding a ride to school.
I crack an eye open to see his sandy blonde head over me, a giant smirk framing his face. He's already completely dressed but that means little to how long he's been up. He's the type who is able to get ready in five minutes notice.
"God, Jer," I groan and smack away his hand. "This is my break. Let me sleep in."
Instead of listening to me Jeremy just shakes his head and jumps a couple of times on my bed. "If I don't get to sleep in, than neither do you."
"Jeremy!"
"Hayden!" he shoots back. "You get to come back and go to sleep after you drop me off!"
"Oh, fine!" I realize I probably won't win this fight a second time; he had done the exact same thing the day before. He let me win then but I doubt he's going to be so nice today.
I kick off the blanket and slide out of bed, before ushering him out of my room with promises to be down as soon as I'm ready so that I can change. As I get dressed, I check my phone to find a text from Leo sent from the night before, probably when I was talking to the boys.
Meet you at our other job at noon?
I smile to myself, before shrugging on my jacket-a red trenchcoat that falls to my knees-and walking out. But not before sparing an unwilling glance out my window.
Greyson and any guests he had stay the night seem to be still asleep; his room is dark, despite the fact that the shades aren't drawn. Typical. They're probably hoping to wake up to find me anxiously waiting for their company.
Yeah, like that was going to happen.
I storm over and yank my neon green curtains shut as harshly as I can, effectively cutting off any view they can get of my room. If that didn't scream "Stay away!" then I don't know what does.
The drive to Jeremy's school is short and uneventful. We get into the usual argument we always used to the year before when this was a daily thing. I have never been a morning person which makes me very... feisty... to say the least and when accompanied by him and his constant questions that all need to have answers definitely always make for interesting car rides.
Once he''s been dropped off, I run home and change again, this time into clothes that are more suited for going out. It doesn't matter that I don't have any intention whatsoever of winning Leo over; i'm just determined to get a boyfriend before this year ends. Of course, that may be easier if I ever left my dorm but there's only so much one can do in a day and I would rather read than party at any time.
As I spin in front of my mirror, looking myself up and down, I notice just how stuffy it is in this room. I open my door to allow some air flow throughout it but that barely helps. All of a sudden, i feel myself craving to do something crazy. Not insane but... crazy like opening a window in the middle of winter while I'm in nothing but my underwear.
I move over to my window and peek around the curtains. Greyson's room is still dark no signs of life in it whatsoever.
So I cracked my window open ust a bit and smiled lightly as the cool breeze touched my bare skin. I don't open the window all the way-don't want to risk another runin with the boys next door-just enough so that the winter air freezes my room.
After a minute I close it and smile to myself, shivering slightly.
This year is going to be different. I can feel it.
If you like this story, you should check out my new one; Deep in the Woods. It should be up soon.