The Girl Next Door
By caramelapples
Chapter 2
"Will!"
The young boy dropped his paper plane and ran down the stairs, his shoes thudding against the bare wooden steps. He reached the kitchen almost breathless and leaned against the door frame. "Yes, Ma?" he asked, curious as to what his mother would want him to do.
"Our neighbours dropped Laura off here for the afternoon.," his mother said. "They had to go off somewhere and they needed someone to watch her so I volunteered. She's outside playing with Harris. Go and keep her company."
"But Ma! She-" he started to protest but his mother made a shooing motion for him to go outside.
"I'm sure you'll be good friends."
Good friends! "Humph!" he scoffed and sulked all the way outside. He saw Little Miss Perfect running around in the open field behind the house, chasing the golden retriever and grunted under his breath. Now, he would have to waste the whole afternoon with her instead of playing with his brand new model of paper plane.
Laura saw him approaching and stopped running. She squatted beside the dog and started to scratch the back of its neck. "Good boy!" she said as the dog wagged its tail.
"Harris doesn't like to be scratched like that!" he said.
"He sure does!" she retorted in her all-knowing manner.
William wanted to pull her perfect mane of wavy red hair but decided to be mature. "He does not!" he exclaimed. He would stick to words like an adult.
"He does! See? He likes it!" she said, staring intently at him.
"Fine!" The young boy sighed, as though he had the weight of the world on his little shoulders and sat beside her. "Ma told me to keep you company or I won't be here."
"I don't need you to keep me company," she snapped.
"I have to take care of you," he said and sighed again, shaking his head.
"No, you don't! I can take care of myself!" With that, she stood up and stalked away towards the taller and thicker hedges.
"Hey! Where are you going?!" he called and scrambled after her.
She ignored him and kept walking, her dress brushing against the taller grass near the hedges.
"Hey! Wait for me!" he called and finally caught up with her. "Where are you going?!"
"Exploring the place."
"You can't explore the woods! It's dangerous!" he exclaimed, stomping his foot in frustration. She turned to him and placed her hands on her hips.
"And why not?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes.
"Because I said so! It's my decision!" he countered. "This is my house!"
"Do you even know what 'decision' means, smarty pants?"
"Of course I do!" he answered, indignant that she was questioning his authority.
"The woods are not yours!" she exclaimed, her hands clutched in little fists on her hips. "Besides, I'm bored! And I want to do something!"
He rolled his eyes. "Fine, we'll do something!" He grabbed her hands and crawled into a small opening in the hedges where he had made an impressive den, with the help of his father of course and without the knowledge of his mother. She followed him, not without protesting before completely keeping quiet when she found herself in the strange place.
"Where is this?" she asked, her voice losing the superior quality it possessed before.
"My secret hideout," he said proudly. "Nobody knows this place," he said, and pulled a string, lighting up the place with a bulb in a wooden box that had a glass window built in it. "Except my Pa."
"How did you do that?!" she asked, amazed and wide eyed. "Did you built this place by yourself?"
"Well-uh-My Pa made it for me," he said, reluctant to admit that he did have help in building the place.
He was glad that she had stopped paying attention and had decided to explore his den.
"Do you like it?" he finally asked, his little heart wanting to much to impress her although he didn't know why. He couldn't understand his own actions though since a minute ago, Laura Roslin was the most infuriating girl he had ever known.
She turned to him, illuminated by the light from the box. "Yes. I like it very much," she said and returned to poking around the place. He felt pride tugging at the corners of his heart and beamed. Little Miss Perfect liked his place!
To be continued…
A/N-That's it for this chapter! Reviews are gold dust! Thanks!