3. Bruises

I reach over to grab my bike and head over to Neil's. I don't even  know if he's home yet but I couldn't care less, I miss hanging out with  his mom Sarah. She is so great and hopefully won't mind my small  surprise.

Today is a clear and sunny day, to which I smile. I  put my earphones on and "Love is a losing game" By Amy Winehouse starts  playing on shuffle as I start biking along the streets. Most people are  at work as it is a Thursday, but many kids are out playing in my  suburban neighborhood.

Neil lives closer to the city center  and the change of atmosphere is apparent as soon as I leave the suburbs.  A darker atmosphere filled with traffic settles upon me and I find a  part of my happy mood slowly evaporating.

After a short while, I find myself in front of his front door and ring. His mom opens and smiles widely when she sees me.

"Alex! Sweetie, what a surprise" She says as she gives me a heart-felt hug

"How are you Sarah, I missed you" I say although it has probably been a week since I last saw her

"I'm  good darling, come inside!" She motions as I come inside, leaving my  bike in the hallway of her house as I always do. I shove my earphones in  my pocket and make my way to her kitchen.

"Would you like a coffee dear?" She suggests

"I'd love to, thank you" I kindly smile

She  nods, still smiling, and makes her way over to the coffee machine.  Sarah is rather a simple woman ; she divorced Neil's dad when he  was a child. He cheated on her and it was a rather painful breakup, from  what she told me. She works two jobs, as a kindergarten teacher during  the day and in an ice cream shop during her spare hours to save up in  case Neil decides to go to college, which she really wants to, but  knowing her, she won't pressure him. I have a lot of respect for her,  for raising her son as a single mom and not giving in to the obstacles  that life caused her.

She had told me once that she knew my mom.  They worked together and eventually hung out. She was devastated about  her passing, especially knowing that I was 10 at the time - Sarah and my dad now know each other thanks to Neil and I's friendship, and they get along pretty well, but for some reason we never find the time to get all together. Neil and I even made a plan when we were younger to make them go on a date together. It didn't really work out, but it's fun to look back to.

"Neil's not home yet, I wonder where he's off to" She laughs and I do too

"He's with a girl" I ask, knowing that Sarah wouldn't mind but that Neil wouldn't like me telling on him, as his mom is the noisy kind

"Oh is that so??" She seems overly interested "He doesn't tell me much lately, it makes me sad" She pouts

"Aw, he's just being typical Neil. It's okay" I make fun of him and Sarah agrees

"Who's being typical Neil?" We hear his voice at the door and both laugh out loud.

He shows his face and messy hair at the door, skateboard in hand, rolling his eyes at me and his mom hanging out without him again

"You could warn your mother when you don't come home" Sarah says, not being too worried, she trusts him

"Sorry mom" He makes his way over to her and gives her a kiss on the cheek

"How was it" I tease him, knowing he wouldn't want to talk about it

"Was okay" He says while showing me a middle finger and smiling like an idiot

I giggle and thank Sarah when she hands me a coffee.

"So what did you do this morning darlin'?" Sarah asks me while I add milk to the coffee

"Nothing much, just met my new neighbours and decided to come say hi to my favorite mom" I smile like a kid

"Aw you're too sweet. How are the neighbours?" She asks, interested

"They're okay. They're called the Spencers. They have three kids so, you know, that's about to be noisy but it's okay. The dad is kind of intimidating but his wife is.. really nice" I say, taking a sip of my coffee and leaving out the thoughts of Eve that I've had ever since I met her and how attractive she is..

"Really nice" Neil repeats, making fun of me while his mom hands him coffee as well. I curse internally, considering he probably noticed my body language.

"Yeah" I say, trying to divert the subject but I feel my blood rushing to my face. I sigh internally, knowing that I'm bound to blush. This happens way too often and I've tried controlling it, in vain.

Neil laughs at me, expectedly and proceeds to point at my face so Sarah takes a look at me, which makes me raise a middle finger at him so I don't punch him. I roll my eyes and try thinking of other things so the blood stops rushing.

"Why are you so red Alex" Sarah asks slightly smirking at me

"Not red" I take another sip of my coffee, trying to divert the subject as soon as possible

"Milf?" Neil says, still making fun of me, making me almost choke on my coffee

"No!" I cut him off, half laughing, half angered and a little uncomfortable

"What's milf?" Sarah innocently asks, to which we both laugh. She's cool but thankfully she's not too updated on the terms

"Nothing" I laugh, praying that Neil won't say anything, but

"It means mom I love f-" He says and I cover his mouth as fast as I can. He has no filter.

"Stop" I urge, half crying because of laughing at this point

"I see you, we'll talk about it later" Neil winks at me and I roll my eyes at him.

Sarah shakes her head, knowing that these types of interactions are completely normal when it comes to us.

After a while of talking Sarah heads out to work and Neil and I go up to his room. We figured we would spend the day together before meeting up with his friends since none of us have anything to do.

"I really don't want school to start" he says while rolling a joint while I play around with his nail polish.

"Yeah, same" I say, choosing an orange one and trying very hard to apply it well

"It's gonna be fine. Senior year. Always the one people look forward to" He says. He often does this, trying to persuade himself that some things that he doesn't want are actually not that bad.

"This summer was great tho, I kind of don't want to leave it behind" I say, feeling nostalgic about it. This summer was truly so beautiful for no particular reason. Neil and I took a trip to California early July which was absolutely insane but other than that we haven't done much. We both have the feeling we have grown so fast, yet we're both so lost. The beauty of being teenagers.

"Yeah it was cool" He says, emotionless as always, although I can see a sly smile on his face.

We spend hours laying on his floor and talking about the most random things, eventually ordering pizza because we got hungry. Neil has a window on his ceiling which leads to the roof ; we got high and decided to climb up. It was most probably not a good idea safety wise but I remember lots of laughing.

The evening went well too, but I was so high that I practically fell asleep on Neil's shoulder in the parking lot. The time passed so fast but I was happy to see Ryan and Jordy. I've always gotten along so well with them, they're Neil's childhood friends. I did hate Ryan for a short while ; but under the fact that he fits the characteristics of a high school jock, he has a truly kind heart.

To be completely honest, my weed consumption has been getting out of hand lately. I pride myself in not getting addicted to anything, but I know that I can't continue like this. It turned from twice a month to once a week to,, basically every day.

Am I addicted? I ask myself while I take a ride home. My eyes feel heavy and the world around me spinning. Most probably not a good idea to be on a bike right now. It's okay, I'm almost home. Time feels like slow motion. I didn't even see the day passing. How is it already dark outside. Shit, is that a cat? Fuck, I need to stop.

My stupid brain stops the bike too suddenly and I find myself flying out of it.

Everything hurts. Did I just break my right arm? Please, god no. School starts soon and I really don't want my arm broken. Blood. Is that blood? I roll up my sleeve and see that my entire forearm is bleeding. Gosh, this stings. It's not too bad. I check for bruises everywhere and find that the right part of my waist is heavily bruised. In what position did I even fall?

I return on my bike, thankfully I can ride normally. This fall made me come back to my senses a little bit.

After what seemed like an eternity but was actually five minutes, I finally arrive on my street. As I come close to my house, I leave my bike in front of the garage and check my bruises again. This looks worse than before.. I should get some ice on it.

Suddenly, keys in hand, I turn my head to the side and see a figure sitting on their front porch. Eve, my mind immediately thinks.

She seems to be sleepily looking into the darkness, a glass of wine in hand. I hope she doesn't see me, I probably look so awful. Besides, I don't want her to get the wrong idea of me seeing me in this state.

Unfortunately, just as if she was able to feel my presence, she looks in my direction. It's too dark and she's too far away, but I'm pretty sure I can almost see a smile on my face.

I wave awkwardly so she doesn't think I'm ignoring her. She motions for me to come.

I gulp, and sigh, happy that she wants to say hi to me but hoping that she wouldn't judge me too much. If it was her husband he would probably call the police on me.

I make my way over, feeling a slightly bit of stress wash over my body, but quickly disappearing thanks to the weed still being in my system.

"Hi, where are you off to so late?" She softly says, legs crossed and looking intrigued. I'm pretty sure it's not even midnight yet.

"I was um- I was out with some friends." I say, cursing myself for not finding my words in front of her.

She smiles at me and nods her head. She seems tipsy - maybe just tired and lost?

I sit next to her, not really thinking about it.

"What are you doing out so late?" I tease, although she's just on her porch.

That gorgeous smile of hers appears again. "I like sitting outside. It's refreshing. It's my favorite moment of the day when the rest are finally in bed." She rolls her eyes jokingly and takes another sip of her red wine

"Why does your husband go sleep so early, last time I checked he isn't 6 or 12" I joke and realise I probably shouldn't have said that. Shit.

To my surprise she chuckles "He likes going early and waking up early." She responds and takes yet another sip.

I nod and prepare myself for an awkward silence. To my surprise, none of us talk for at least a minute but it feels nice. The air is so fresh and sound of crickets is one of my favorite things about summer.

"Cindy has been feeling better. She talks to me now, at least" Eve says and I look at her. She seems sad but a little relieved

"That's good, I'm happy" I say honestly.

She looks at me in the eyes and I feel my entire heart sending a cold chill down my spine. Her eyes seem to focus on me and her hand reaches my face, which makes me explode. What is happening?

Surprisingly, her hand ends on my eyebrow

"Alex you're bleeding" she says and gets closer to my face. Shit.

"I-it's okay I fell from my bike earlier" I say as she takes a tissue out of her pocket.

"No it's not, we need to disinfect this. She says and looks over my body, probably looking for bruises "Does it hurt anywhere else?" She says in a worried tone

I nod, not really wanting to lie. I move up my t-shirt to reveal my bruised hip

"That's all there is I think. I'm okay" I say, trying to reassure her? I don't know why she would be worried in the first place, but I'm thinking that her mom instinct is probably kicking in. I sigh at myself, definitely not wanting to be seen as a child from her perspective.

"Come," She says and stands up, going inside her house. I follow her, the bright lights messing with my head more than they should. I hope my eyes aren't swollen and red anymore.

"Sit" she motions the living room table, which is set in the middle of tons of boxes and kitchen sets.

I sit on the table, not really knowing what to do. Eve takes out a kit with a cross on it and takes out a spray and bandage and everything else that is needed

"That's such a mom thing to have" I make fun of her

"Well... I did give birth to three" She chuckles, going along with my tasteless joke

She lifts up my shirt to see the bruise closer and lifts it up a little more. I can't help but shiver at her touch and feel full of butterflies. I get angry at myself, if she knew how I was feeling when she is just trying to help me and be a nice neighbor she would be so disgusted. I hurt myself by thinking that and try coming back to my senses.

"Alex that looks bad.." She says as she pours some of the liquid on a cotton. I bite my lip at the painful burn as she connects it to my skin. It's painful, but I hope I'm not letting it show

"It's okay, almost done" She says

"Are you sure there isn't more bruising above?" She asks me, sounding a little worried

"I think so" I say, the bright light of her living room making my head feel heavy

"Can you take off your shirt for me, if that's okay?" Eve asks, her shining blue eyes asking me in the softest form

I comply, trying to keep a neutral face through it all. I shy away as I try not to look into her eyes, feeling a little too exposed in only a bra. As I persuade myself that she most probably isn't even looking at my body, I see her eyes lingering for a second. Her left hand places itself on the right side of my rib cage, as I look down and see that it is in fact bruised on the same side as my hip. She touches my skin and I shiver softly. She notices and her eyes look up to me, making sure I'm okay.

"It's just swollen but there's no need to disinfect.." She says as she takes a smaller part of the cotton and gently places it upon the right side of my right eyebrow. I close my eyes as the sharp pain takes over and can't contain a soft whine that escapes my lips because of the pain.

"Almost done.." She whispers, her face awfully close to mine. I close my eyes for a second, and when I open them again I am taken back by the beauty of her features, focused on what she's doing, her lips slightly parted.

As if she feels my eyes on her again, she looks right back at me, creating an immense wave of emotions within me. Suddenly, she raises an eyebrow at me : "You smell like weed" She explains, as if she's asking me to explain

"Sorry" I say, disappointed that she noticed, knowing that she will probably have some prejudice against me now.

"It's fine, be careful" She says chuckling, probably making fun of me. I don't say anything for a while.

"Thank you" I mumble as I put my shirt back on and see her eyes lingering over my chest again, as I smile internally. The chance that she is actually checking me out is very slim but I'm way too tired to overthink it, so I decide to just go with whatever version makes me happy.

"I-Of course, I hope they don't hurt too much" She says, remembering that she had to reply.

I smirk at her, feeling suddenly playful. I have mood swings sometimes and figured that if she's so chill around me, might as well push some barriers a little?

Her eyes cross mine and she quickly diverts them, focusing on other parts of the room. I feel her clearing her throat, knowing that my look worked. I make my way to the door, hoping that she won't let me leave.

She doesn't follow me to the door. It's okay, I assume myself, a little disappointed

"Goodnight Alex" I hear her say and I turn around and take a look into her eyes. She is leaning against the wall, glass of wine still in hand, seeming tired and.. confused? Her voice staying soft and grounded, as usual.

"Goodnight Eve" I say, wishing that there was a way she could feel all the thoughts going through my head in this exact moment. A small part of me is convinced she does.

As I cross the street and get home, I notice that my dad is asleep. That's okay, he has work tomorrow. I climb up the stairs and make my way to my room. I look over to my window, and to Eve's house. I find her so intriguing. I know that I was quick to judge her husband..

Right, her husband. She's a married woman. I see her as such but something is so different about her. I roll my eyes at myself, remembering that I only met her this morning. Then why do I feel that we established a dynamic so fast? Why do our conversations run so smoothly?

Suddenly, I see a light turning on in one of the rooms of her house.

My eyes grow wide as I see Eve going in, I didn't know that I would have such a full view of her house from mine. I hope she doesn't? She probably does. I get self conscious at the thought of her watching me watch her.

She seems too focused on her thoughts to have a look around, besides my lights aren't on. I can't see much of the room she is in ; only a giant cupboard around, but my view is too high to see a bed or whatsoever.

Suddenly, she takes off her shirt, giving me a full view, which makes my entire body feel like it just melted. I can't believe I'm seeing this side of her privacy, I feel so bad. She takes off her bra and my mind is telling me to look away, but my body is having a hard time complying. She turns around as she undresses and lays down on a surface that I can't see, getting out of my sight.

I suddenly start thinking.. if this is their bedroom, wouldn't her husband be bothered if she woke him up by turning on the lights? Or maybe he isn't sleeping?

Maybe he isn't even there?

I decide to stop questioning and go sleep, my head still spinning from whatever happened tonight. How do I tell Neil about this without him getting the wrong idea..

I quickly do my night time routine and my eyes start drifting off.