Page 7 of Don’t Love the Boy Next Door (Hotties Next Door #2)

Chapter Six

Eric

As soon as Miss Diaz dismisses us for the day, Katie throws her backpack over her shoulder and rushes out of the room like there’s a fire.

Flinging my backpack over my back, I hurry after her. She’s fast, halfway down the hallway by the time I leave the auditorium.

“Katie!” I call. “Wait up!”

She skids to a stop and slowly turns around, her eyes growing large with shock and confusion—and maybe unease—as I edge closer to her.

“Hey,” I say, playing with the straps of my backpack.

Her gaze drops to her shoes. “Hi.”

Can she…not even stand looking at me now? It makes me feel…I don’t know. Not good. I didn’t realize it matters that much to me how she views me.

“Um…” I rub the back of my neck. “Can we talk?”

A mixture of relief and trepidation dances across her face. “I guess. I mean, sure.”

I peek into the classroom near us, thankfully finding it empty. Then I pull it open and motion for her to enter.

Her eyes look past me nervously, and she bites on her bottom lip. A breath gets caught in my chest. What did I do to make her feel so uncomfortable around me? It’s really messing me up.

After swallowing hard, she moves past me to enter the room, her arm brushing against mine. She jerks back like I contaminated her.

“Sorry,” I say.

“It’s fine,” she mutters as she walks into the classroom.

I lower myself onto one of the desks, gesturing for her to do the same. She takes the one across from me, tucking one leg behind the other and playing with her hair. Her hand shakes a bit.

We sit in silence for a little while. Actually, it’s more than that.

She stares down at the writing part of the desk.

I look at her, look away, look at her, then away again.

I open my mouth a few times to say something, but the words just get jumbled in my head.

I’m worried I’ll say the wrong thing and make things even worse than they are.

But if I don’t say anything soon, I might lose the only chance I have to make things right. Pinning my eyes on her, I say, “We need to talk about what happened.”

She slowly lifts her eyes to me.

“I can’t handle what’s going on between us, Katie. We’re ruining things with the band. Rehearsal was a total wreck. I just…” A heavy sigh seeps out of my lips as I toss some hair away from my face. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”

She tears her eyes from me and stares at the spot before her.

I can only see her profile, but I catch a mix of emotions passing over her face.

They fly by so quickly I can’t make sense of them.

I do manage to pinpoint one. Confusion. Almost like…

she herself doesn’t understand what’s going on, either.

I don’t know how much time passes, but it feels like hours. Maybe she doesn’t plan on answering. She might just march through the doors without saying a single word to me. I don’t want to think about what that’d do to me.

But she doesn’t leave. She slowly turns to me, regret burning in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispers.

“I’m sorry, too.”

Her brows spring up in confusion. “What are you sorry about? You didn’t do anything wrong.” She twists her face back to the spot she stared at before. “I was the one who freaked.”

I shift in my seat. “Um, what exactly did you freak out about? I didn’t…” I squeeze my eyes shut. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, of course not,” she quickly assures me.

“I told you, you did nothing wrong. I guess…” A breath escapes her nose.

“I guess I’m a little overwhelmed and stressed.

I mean, I wanted Belle so badly, but now that I got the role…

I don’t know, I guess I didn’t realize how much pressure I’d feel.

Coming in so late in the game and having to replace Harper… ”

“I get it,” I say, offering her a smile. “It can’t be easy. Is there anything I can do to help?”

She looks up at me, and for the first time I don’t see the panic and anxiety she’s been carrying around the past couple days.

It makes me feel like a huge load’s been lifted off my shoulders.

“Thanks, but I don’t know if there’s anything you or anyone can do.

I think this is something I have to figure out on my own. ”

I nod. “Okay. But just so you know, you have Belle’s character pinned perfectly . I don’t think you need to stress about it—you’ll be amazing opening night.”

Her cheeks growing as red as Phoenix’s hair, she drops her gaze to her lap. “You don’t have to say that.”

“I’m not trying to flatter you or butter you up. Honest. I’m really excited to share the stage with you.” I lean forward with a grin teasing my lips. “And just between you and me, I’m so freaking happy I don’t have to deal with Harper again.”

Her face lights up as she bursts out laughing. “She was a drama queen, wasn’t she?”

“Just a bit,” I say with a laugh.

“Phoenix and I call her…” Her eyes widen and she smacks her lips shut.

“What?” I ask, leaning even closer.

“No.” She shakes her head so quickly it might snap off her neck. “I can’t tell you. It’s kind of awful.”

“Now I have to know.”

“No way.”

“I can keep a secret,” I promise.

She shakes her head resolutely.

I pout.

She shakes her head again, this time trying to hide a smile. “Are you giving me puppy dog eyes?”

I pout even more, batting my eyelashes.

She presses her palm to her mouth as she tries to hide another smile. “Okay. But you have to swear not to tell anyone.”

“Woof.”

That makes her laugh. It’s a really cute laugh, and it makes her eyes go small. I get this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach—that I want to hear this laugh over and over again.

She leans over her desk to whisper, “Phoenix and I call her The Harpy.”

I stare at her for a few seconds. Then I laugh so hard my desk nearly tips over. “Harpy? That’s awesome.”

“Shh!” She motions for me to keep it down as her head spins toward the door.

That just makes me laugh harder. “That’s the perfect name. She really does screech like a harpy.”

She joins in the laughing, and we’re both rolling so hard that my stomach is on fire.

“Stop,” she says between laughs. “It’s not funny.”

“It kind of is.”

We both stop and look at each other. Then we start chuckling again.

“You’re so bad,” she says as she clutches her side.

“You’re the bad one. You gave her that name.”

“Actually, it was Phoenix.”

“So let’s blame Phoenix.”

And we start laughing again .

It feels so…good to have fun with Katie. The last few days have been so awkward, and I thought she and I would never be friends again. I can’t remember the last time I had such a belly laugh. I think she feels the same, because she massages her cheeks like they hurt.

“We seriously need to stop,” she says.

I wish we didn’t. I love seeing her face brighten like this. She always seems so sad.

“You’re right,” I say. “We’re being a little mean. Even if it’s true,” I add with a chuckle.

“Don’t you start again,” she warns.

I hold up my hands.

The room has gotten so quiet. Painfully quiet. What a difference it was to thirty seconds ago.

She glances at me and I glance at her. Then we both laugh lightly.

“Sorry,” she says. “About everything.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” I assure her. “I told you I get it.”

“But I ruined band practice on Saturday.”

“Well, I was the one who ruined practice.”

“Because of me.”

I shake my head. “How about we forget the last few days?” I suggest. “They never happened.”

She raises her eyebrows. “What never happened?”

I grin. “Cool.”

“Cool.”

We sit in silence again.

“Um, maybe we should head home,” she says.

“Yeah,” I say as we get up and make our way to the door.

Then we bump into each other as we try to leave.

“Sorry,” we both say.

I motion for her to go first.

“Thanks.”

We’re quiet as we walk to the door. I open my mouth a few times to say something, because I want to talk to her.

I’m so relieved things are good between us again.

But I don’t know what to say. I’ve never been shy around a girl before.

But I don’t have a chance, anyway, because we step through the doors.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” she says.

“Yeah. Tomorrow.”

We stand there looking at each other. Again, I wish I could say something, but my brain flatlines.

“Right. See ya.” She turns around and heads to the city bus.

“Katie?” I call.

She spins around.

“Can I give you a ride? I think I’m headed in the same direction as you,” I add with a laugh.

She raises a brow. “What? You live in my neighborhood?” she jokes.

I rub my chin like I’m trying to solve a hard math problem. “I think so. I’m pretty sure I moved in next door to a pretty cool girl.”

That makes her cheeks go red. “Pray tell me about this cool girl,” she says in a heavy, low-class British accent. “I daresay the maiden does sound quite intriguing.”

I laugh again. “Wow, that accent was amazing.”

She does a little curtsy. “Eliza Doolittle, ninth grade.”

My brows rise.

“ My Fair Lady ?” she asks.

I give her a blank look.

She releases a heavy, exaggerated sigh. “You’re lucky you’re a great Beast.”