Chapter Two

Elara’s POV

For the entirety of my sophomore year, all I had done was try to make the quarterback of the soccer team notice me. I’d stolen his jersey from the locker room when the guys were out on the field, purchased front row tickets to every game, and even doodled our names at the back of my textbooks.

But right now, Alexander was the last person on my mind.

Nothing moved. Not even Maya and I. Our gazes were focused on the moving trucks across the street, on the people walking into the previously unoccupied house with boxes in their hands.

There were a lot of them. A woman with blonde hair and tired eyes, a bunch of teenage boys with more muscles than should be allowed, an older man who put his arms around the woman, and a certain indecipherable look in his eyes.

But all of them faded into oblivion, because there was he.

He had two boxes balanced easily in his hands as he disappeared through the doors. I kept staring at the empty space until my eyes caught him a moment later. He was in the bedroom right opposite mine.

The windows were without any blinds, so I could see him perfectly. He placed the boxes by the far end of the room and ran his fingers through his dark, tousled hair. Although I couldn’t see him, I could tell that he sighed.

Or rather, feel.

I couldn’t explain it.

Moving closer to my window, with my lips slightly parted, I watched as he walked back out of the room and in a minute appeared by the door again. He said something to one of the teenage boys, and he nodded in obedience.

The respect in his eyes made me lean in, as if trying to understand.

“Damn!”

I jumped slightly. I had forgotten that Maya was right beside me.

“He is like super hot!” She continued, practically drinking him in like water. A part of me wanted to pull the blinds close in that instant and tell her it was rude to spy on our moving neighbours. But I didn’t want to stop watching.

“Yeah,” I murmured, trying to laugh. But it came out as a shaky breath instead.

“What do you mean, yeah?” Maya said, glancing at me for a second. “He is way hotter than Alexander, and I am sure beneath that shirt is a lot of muscles.”

“Maya!”

“What?” she laughed. “Come on. Even you have to admit that. Look at how tall he is. And his eyes… do they…”

She angled her head, then laughed again. “Nah”

“What?”

“I thought I saw something.”

“His hotness. That was what you saw.”

We looked at each other and burst out laughing. We were so loud that if the family had been any closer, they would have heard us.

“Ahh,” Maya sighed. “I am glad I came back to Blackwater Falls. I mean, if I get to look at this every single day, it isn’t entirely going to be an eventful summer.”

“I won’t let you into my house every day, Maya. Go learn sailing or something.” It came out as a joke, but a tiny part of me meant it. And I tried to ignore that part.

“Your Mom loves me.”

“Aren’t you like interested in Ethan?” I asked, my eyes still on my new neighbour. “You’ve had a crush on him since grade school.”

Maya shrugged as she pulled away from the window. “I am allowed to have choices, aren’t I?”

My door pushed open, and my younger brother waltzed in without knocking. “Mom said dinner is ready,” Lorien announced. When his eyes fell on my best friend, he did a double-take, his hand reaching for his hair at once, red patches appearing on his face.

“Em…Shit! Hi Maya!” And then, he turned to me. “You didn’t tell me she was around.”

“Next time, knock before you come in,” I muttered, pulling Maya with me. “And also, quit having a crush on my best friend. She is way older than you.”

“Elara!”

***

Dinner that night was lamb chops, spaghetti and wine. But all I wanted to do was get done with it so I could return to my room. I ate like I was being chased, and the minute my plate was cleared, my chair scraped the floorboards noisily as I pushed it back.

“You seem excited,” my dad muttered, tilting his head. “Anything special happened today?”

“You mean aside from getting burned?” My mother joked, reaching for a refill of her wine glass.

“Mom!”

“What? Too grown for your father to find out you were sunbathing?” She curled her fingers in the air to show how apathetic she was to the idea. “And slept off while at it?”

“I was reading a book on my phone and in my defence, it was really boring.”

“What was it about?” My father asked, always interested in my new reads.

“Werewolves,” I replied, getting to my feet. “That was a lovely dinner, but I have homework to get on with.”

Both my parents’ heads jerked in my direction, but my mother spoke first. “Homework? Aren’t you on summer break?”

I dashed towards the stairs, calling after me. “We were given a project at school and I want to get on with it.”

I didn’t wait for their response as I moved into my room, closing the door behind me. With my night on, I slipped back to the window, peering at the front door across the street. The moving trucks were gone.

No one was outside.

The light in the room opposite mine flicked on, and I saw him. He padded into the room, and I swallowed at once, my room becoming hot all of a sudden.

He had no T-shirt on.

I angled my head, watching as he walked to one end, grabbing an open box. He rummaged inside and then came back up with a towel.

‘’God! He has to be the hottest boy I have ever seen,’ I thought to myself, wondering how often he puts his fingers through his hair.

But in that split second, he looked out of his window, his eyes meeting mine.

As if he’d heard what I had just said.