At eight-thirty the next morning, I found Stella sitting in our chair, knees pulled up to her chest, petite body enveloped in a sweatshirt nearly three times her normal size.

I didn't need a verbal explanation to know her broken state had something to do with Alex. My stomach churned when I realized that he had either broken up with her or some misconstrued story had floated around to her about the kiss the night before or worse...both.

Her black beach waves interlocked in a fraying bun, and her cheeks were blotchy when she lifted her face. Any prior sadness morphed into seething anger when she saw me.

"I feel so pathetic, Hanna," she choked out, dragging the backs of her hands against her wet cheeks. "I should've just broken up with him first. Do you know degrading it is to have your relationship end over text?" She fished her phone from her sweatshirt pocket, grumbling a few curses. Unlocking it, she opened up her messages app and thrust the screen into my line of vision. "Just look at it!"

"Stella, I think it'd be best if we ended things. I don't know about you, but as for me, it's over," I read, my jaw dropping a little more with every word. I may have accused him of lying yesterday, but this kind of brutal honesty was another level of low. "The asshole can't even talk to you in person after yesterday?"

Her head popped up. "What do you mean 'yesterday'?"

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. Maybe she hadn't heard the gossip from that party after all.

"It's a little complicated—"

"Hanna."

"Stella, I need you to—" I couldn't even begin my warning out of fear of her burning glare, the amber tones in her brown eyes morphing into raging flames. Pressing my lips together, I thought for a few seconds about how I should approach this topic and decided to go with good-old-fashioned honesty.

"I saw Alex at my next-door neighbor's house party yesterday. I didn't even expect to run into him, so we spent a few minutes talking. Something was off about him—the way he was looking at me, getting so close, and then.... Then, he kissed me."

"Wait, wait, hold on, he kissed you?" Her eyebrows formed a continuous line. "What happened after that?"

My hand gravitated to my chest, my heart still thumping in the same erratic way. Stop getting so worked up over this, Hanna. "I worry you'd think I'm making this up at this point."

"For God's sake, Hanna, just tell me. Could it get worse anyway? It's not like you're gonna tell me the two of you went inside and banged!" She clutched her stomach and winced, lurching forward. "Okay, that thought makes me want to barf."

I felt a little bile slide up my throat at the idea as well. "Actually, what really happened was Jesse slammed Alex against a window and sent one nice clean punch to his face. Weirdest of all, Alex didn't even hit him back."

"You're joking, right?"

That's when I knew it was going to be one long morning, and this time, not because of this job.

***

The verdict: Alex is an asshole.

After a day of venting, crying, and eating (her plate and half of mine at lunch), Stella had decided to move on from Alex. In her words, he was simply a "four-month stand," to add to the pile of one-nights, one-months, and the single one-year she'd had. I'd offered my congratulations for deciding to move on so early, reassuring her that nothing concrete tied her down to him, anyway.

To my relief, Jesse hadn't been on duty today. I was still a little embarrassed at my damsel-in-distress show, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized his ire had a lot less to do with me than I would have wished. The broken look in his eyes, the pure hatred that had replaced it, the way his face had contorted into what appeared to be a mixture of rage and pain, there had to have been something else driving those emotions...or was I reading way too much into the scene?

I didn't have more time to mull over my undeniable interest in my coworker, as my neighbor took a free pass to walk across my grass to where I lounged on a patio chair.

"Excuse me, but those trees exist for a reason." I pointed to the large pine trees separating our yards, upset they hadn't served their feeble purpose this time. "What are you doing here?"

"Relax, sweetheart," he said, holding his palms up in innocence. "I'm not here to invite you to another party. I actually came to apologize."

"Apologize?"

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his light-wash jeans and nodded, standing awkwardly on the edge of my patio. "That was rude of me to not at least turn down my music the first time you asked me to."

"Do you really feel guilty about that, though, or did Mr. Murphy threaten to call the police on you after the party?" I referenced the bitter, old man that lived two houses down the street, who may have been more allergic to fun than I was.

Colin cleared his throat into his fist. "Well, I mean, I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a berating from the man, but that's not really why I'm sorry. I didn't expect that Alex would cause any trouble, especially to you."

I looked up at the mention of him. "Wait, do you know him? Know him well, that is."

He shook his head. "Truth be told, these parties just started as get-togethers with some old high school friends before my internship started. And then those people just started inviting people they knew, and Alex was one of them. He wouldn't be a friend in any case."

"Same," I mumbled, though I wanted to forget Alex for the night, so I gave Colin a sympathetic smile in concession. "Alright, I forgive you. You're not really as bad as you seem."

He chuckled. "Well, thank you, Hanna. I'm glad you're not the grudge-y type at least."

I snorted uncontrollably in response, clamping a hand over my mouth. If there was anything I was deep down, it was a professional grudge holder. Occasionally, I wondered if I should have been born a Scorpio just like Stella, as my bitterness knew no limits.

But for Colin, maybe I could let some of it go.

"Did I say something funny or...?" Confusion washed over his face as I contained myself, and I shook my head, running my hands through my wind-tousled hair.

"No, it's nothing," I said, wanting to stray away from the subject. "Did you know I've been calling you 'Neighbor from Hell' in my head for the past couple weeks? To be honest, I'm starting to think it suits you better than Colin..."

"Oh, shut up." He nudged me slightly with his elbow, goofy smiling overtaking his angled face. "You know you love me."

I glanced at him with the corner of my eyes. "I really don't, but you know, whatever floats your boat."

"I meant it more as a saying, but yeah, that does sound kind of weird." He tilted his face up to the dimming sky to hide some of the pink of his cheeks, folding his hands behind his head. "You know, being honest with you, I may throw these parties for the momentary thrill, but I'm still an awkward computer science major at heart."

"You're a computer science major?" I'd always had the impression that they had to be just as weird and nerdy as my dad. "Are you gonna tell me you're not in a frat either?"

"Computer science major wasn't enough of a hint?"

I laughed out loud, finding that question funnier than it was. "I guess you're right. For what it's worth, I was lame enough to not even get a bid when I rushed freshman year."

He smiled again, this time showing more of his white teeth. "See, Hanna, that's why I didn't try." He adjusted the hem of his black T-shirt, revealing a sliver of his toned stomach, and stood up, looking down at his phone. "Gotta go pick up my dinner, but I'll see you around. Nice talking to you, Hanna."

"See ya, Neighbor from Hell," I called as he ambled to his house.

With a smile on my face, I settled back into my chair, content for the first time in the last two days, wondering if maybe, just maybe, I'd made an unexpected new friend.

***

as I mentioned earlier, this book is already complete, so updates will be coming several times a week! get ready for a wild ride!

- Gina