'And I won't tell my mother.
It's better she don't know
And he won't tell his folks,
Cause they're already ghosts.
So we'll just keep each other,
As safe as we can.'


==============================




The first thing that crosses my mind are the words; not again.
Then comes the pain of the impact as my body hits the ground. Papers go flying everywhere as they spill from my arms. I groan, rubbing my knocked elbows. Jack and Emma laugh behind me.

"God, Mia. You're so clumsy," Emma says, leaning down to help me up. I gather all the papers up to my chest before allowing myself to supported by Emma.
"Are you alright?" Jack asks me, his brown eyes rolling.

"Yeah." I smile, patting my hair back into place. My ankle pulses in pain, reminding me to push out my chair from the table before I get out of my seat, that way I can maybe avoid tripping over again.

"Klutz," Jack says, poking me in the ribs. I pout and swat his hand away before following my friends out of the class room and into the swarm of students.
I knock elbows against Emma as we weave through the crowd to our lockers. I blush as I pass Sam's locker.

Of course he doesn't look at me, he never does. He's always too busy making out with some girl.

But today him and his friends are silently packing their books away into their bags. It is an unusual sight, normally they shout and holler at any girl that has a chest above size D.

As I bustle past, I self consciously cross my arms over my barely size C breasts.
Emma often tells me that small is better. But I seriously doubt it. Emma is one of the most beautiful girls in the school. She has amazingly shiny hair and has curves that you could drive a toy truck up and over. I don't believe her that small is better, especially since all the male attention she gets with her double D cups.

I stack my books into my locker. I look into my small mirror on the inside of the metal door, I brush my light brown hair over my ears and I sigh, looking into my blue eyes.

So plain.

This is of course why I have never had a boyfriend, ignoring the fact that I have a horrible reputation of a ditzy daydreamer. No one wants to date a girl who can't keep keep focused for more than two minutes.

I swing my bag over my shoulder and close the door. I remembered when I was little, there used to be a boy who lived next door. Two years older then me, he was the closet thing that I have ever had to a boyfriend and even at my young age of four, he still wasn't even that.

After waving goodbye to Emma at the gate of the school, I climb into Jack's rusted car. Emma is lucky, her mum picks her up everyday after school where as I have to either catch the bus or get a lift with Jack in his stupid tin can on wheels.

"I know she's old but she'll grow on you," he had said the first time I laid eyes on his car. It was fading, the white paint peeling off. The exhaust pipe was dropped so low, it nearly scraped the ground.

The inside was even worse. The brown leather ripped and faded, when the fan was turned on it made a horrible rattling sound, as if something was caught inside. The window winders were stiff and a pain to wind down.

It had looked like a disaster next to the shiny, expensive cars that belong to rich students of Deltern Private Secondary School.

Jack has to be from one of the poorest families at this school. Since he is here on scholarship and scholarship only. He told me that his poor mum almost fainted at the sight of the fee of the tuition.

I throw my bag over my seat and into the back. Jack swings into the car next to me and miraculously starts the engine.

"I think it's time to get a new car," I tell him as the car makes a strained sound as we pull out of the student parking lot.

"I think it's time for you to get a car, instead of hurting poor Stacy's feelings," Jack says, putting the dashboard in front of him.

"You finally came up with a name." Jack has been brainstorming for weeks since he got his car, trying to come up with a decent name to call the old rusted thing.
"Not yet. Struggling between Stacy or Jessica."

"I told you, I like Lucy," I smile, looking out of the front window as we pass through the familiar neighbourhoods.

"Lucy is a name you would call a cow," Jack says distractedly, pulling into my street.

"You just offended my grandmother," I scold but laughing all the while. "All the more reason to not call my car, Lucy."

I snort, but say nothing in response. My grandma is not the most loved person on the planet. With her uptight smile and her distasteful voice. Jack met her once at a family gathering. He was mistaken as my boyfriend and was judged and scolded the whole night.

Only at the end of the night did I tell my grandma that he was just a friend. She eventually stopped her strict teachings but kept a close eye on him.
My mum is nothing like nana, and thank God for that.

After growing up in a limited environment, mum wanted everything she couldn't have as a kid for her daughter. I'm not sure if that makes her a good parent or not but my sane father is never around to tell her otherwise.

Jack rolls up by my home and eases into the driveway of the house next door. The house is empty and has been for ten years. After the boy and his family moved away, no one has bought or moved into the house. It's now an old memory of my childhood.

I reach over my seat and get my back from the bag. I push the hunk of metal for a car door open and step out.

"See ya tomorrow, klutz," Jack calls and I laugh and shake my head at the nickname. "Bye, Jack."

I shut the door and head towards my house, hearing Jack pull away behind me. I unlock the house and dump my bag beside it. Mum won't be home until later tonight, dad won't be home at all. We only see him every other weekend.

I head upstairs to my room where I get started on my homework but after ten minutes of writing maths problems and solutions I feel my mind getting side tracked and I settle into one of my famous mind trips.

I am thinking about the boy as I almost always do.

We were both young when he told me he was moving away. I cried and cried. I was a toddler at the time, I didn't understand that his family didn't have enough money to be able to pay for the bills and expenses of the huge house they lived in.

Mum told me all about it when I was old enough to understand.

She didn't know where they had moved to. Whether they were even in the same state or not. She told me how everyday since I had met that boy that I begged for to take me over next door just to see him. Neither of us can remember his or the family name. I only hold a few memories of him.

He had green eyes and dimples. I was always so fascinated by them, I remember wanting to poke them but I was too afraid of being rude. He was strong for a kid his age, I once scraped my knee while playing over there. He picked me up and carried me into the house. Running for his mum while I sat in the kitchen and wailed.

I flush at the memory. I was so needy.

Now days I like to think of myself as independent. Mum pretty much lets me do my own thing, she believes in making your own mistakes and learning from them. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

I barely hear when mum comes home. Like normal I am too wrapped up in my own world. Mum smiles when I make my way down stairs and into the kitchen. I place a kiss on her cheek and settle on one of the stools at the kitchen table.

"How was school?" Mum says in her raspy voice. When she was much younger she used to smoke just to defy Lucy's strict rules.

"Slow," I reply, watching mum chop carrots on the bench. She smiles at me.

"That's exactly how I remember school being," she says, tipping the carrots off the board and into the slow cooker with the rest of the casserole.

"Dad's coming home next weekend." I look up to meet her gaze. Donna Scotts may have been a tough rebellious teen when she was younger and an unmovable mother now, but she is a sucker for my father.

"I was thinking we could maybe go out for dinner or something. Some place nice."

"Sure," I say, nodding, "how about Dugeeni's?" Dugeeni's is the local Italian restaurant. They make their waiters wear suits with ties- including the waitresses. The place is one of the most top market restaurants in the city.

"Yeah, we'll see if I can hire a dress or something." Mum doesn't own a dress and normally won't be caught dead wearing one. Except of course, when my dad is in town.

I nod and get up to help her cook.

We work along side each other in silence. Once the food is cooked, I grab a plate and head up stairs to my room. I finish my homework and my dinner mid daydream.

I brush my teeth and get into my pyjamas which consists of an old t-shirt and pyjama bottoms. I watch crappy tv on my telly until twelve when I fall asleep to a re-run of The Bold and the Beautiful.

~~~

"Mia, Mia!" Emma snaps, shoving me roughly out of my thoughts.

"Mmm?" It's lunchtime at Deltern Private and it's time for the animals to come out. Students are stuffing food down their throats like they've been starving for weeks.

We are sitting in the cafeteria, Emma, Jack and I. I'm tired, having stayed up too late last night therefore increasing my habit of daydreaming. I've been in and out of my thoughts all day.

"Sam's staring at you," Emma tells me excitedly, looking from me to Sam's table. I look over as well and to my surprise and delight, I find that he is indeed, intently. Jack groans.

They both know I'm soft for him. Those blonde locks and blue eyes. Oh how I've fantasied about them looking deeply into mine.

Jack finds it annoying, where as Emma finds it adorable. She's never really had it bad for anyone at this school. All the guys she's ever dated have been in college, luckily her parents don't know.

Her stay-at-home mum would go nuts and sign her up for ultra sound appointments, just to check that Emma wasn't pregnant. Her dad would probably beat the shit out of the unlucky guy.

Emma's main goal in life besides finding the right dress to the formal, which is over four months away, is finding me a boyfriend.

I flush when Sam meets my eyes and smiles. I've never talked to him before, besides that one time last year when he asked if I could move out of my seat so he could sit next to his girlfriend.

This is my first encounter since.

I'm stunned when he waves me over to his table. Emma's jaw drops and she squeals next to me in her seat. I don't move, not sure if in fact he's waving to me, or someone behind me.

I look around, just to check before I make a fool of myself.

"It's you, Mia!" Emma says, slapping me on the back, "go talk to him."

Jack drops his face into his hand and groans, "Make it stop."

I get up slowly and make my way over, carefully making sure I step lightly, trying so very hard not to trip and fall.

Sam is the most popular kid in the school. He's on the soccer team and has great grades. He hangs around with the other popular kids. Every girl wants a piece of him and almost everyone of them has. He's got a reputation of a manwhore, but that doesn't matter. I hear he's a really nice guy.

You haven't even met him. A nasty voice says to me at the back of my head. I immediately shut it up as I have reached his table.

"Hey," he greets me. His lips turned up into a smile. The others at his table look up at me. Curiosity burning in their eyes. I shift uncomfortably under their stares.

"Hi." My voice wavers a little bit.

"Are you Mia?" He asks me.

Holy shit, he knows my name! I nod, maybe a little bit too quickly. His smile widens.

"You're really pretty," He says, looking at me intently, carefully. I nearly faint when he says this. The others smile at me, obviously if Sam approves of me, then so do they.

"Th-thank you." I can feel my face heating up as I blush furiously. No one has ever called me pretty besides my family. Oh and Emma.

"I just wanted to let you know that, okay?" Sam smiles and nods. I nod along with him a small nervous smile set on my lips.

"Do we have any classes together?" He asks and I shake my head. "No."

"That's a real shame, Mia," Sam leans back against the table his arms crossed over his chest, "cause I would really like to get to know you better."

"Oh," I say cause I have nothing else to say. I'm so flattered.

Here's the hottest boy in the school complementing a girl who's invisible to everyone else. I wait for him to ask me to sit down at the table where he would ask about me and I would return with a flirty comment that I know I can never muster outside my daydreams.

But he doesn't ask me. Instead he just sits back and stares at me. I'm starting to feel a bit uncomfortable but then the bell rings and Sam looks up as if he is not aware of the time.

"I'll be seeing you around," he murmurs to me and me only. He smiles and stands up. He brushes past to join the throng of students heading out of the doors and I just stand there. The others at the table smile at me as they follow him out.

Emma pounces on me.

"What happened?" She yells in my ear. I wince as her voice rings in my head.

"We just talked." I smile at Jack when he comes to my rescue.

"Emma, we have maths and I am not going to be late again," he says and pulls Emma off me.

"You and I are going to have a little talk later," she tells me and it sounds like a threat, a very frightening threat.

I finish school in a haze. I have been waiting for the weekend for a while now, I'm in a need of a long session of Tumblr and sleep. And that will be my highlight this weekend.

The bell rings and I jump out of my chair, all too anxious to get out of school. I grab my bag from my locker, feed Emma with enough information about Sam before I bail with Jack in his small tin can on wheels.

"I've got it!" He shouts as we pull out of school grounds. I jump in my seat and turn to look at him.

"What?"

"Wanda!" He beams at me, nodding his head. It takes me a minute to realise that he's talking about his car.

"It fits." I shrug.

"Of course it fits. I came up with it." I roll my eyes and snort. Jack pulls up beside my house and both our jaws drop when we take in the sight.

There is two large moving trucks parked outside the large house next door. Men in uniform are hauling and lifting expensive looking furniture into the house. The once empty driveway now has a black, sleek car parked on it. A Lamborghini.

"Holy shit," I curse loudly as I gape at the house.

"Stole my parking lot," Jack says, sounding seriously bummed but slightly amused. Jack drops me off the side off the road right in front of my house.

"Find out who the millionaire is and tell me on Monday," Jack instructs me as I climb out of the car. I nod wordlessly, still gaping.

I shut the door and run into my house, ignoring the looks I get from the movers. I hastily unlock the door, dump my bag beside it and run up to my room to change out of my school uniform.

A million questions are buzzing in my head. Who is it? Have the family moved back? Are they millionaires? What the fuck?

I pull on some blue skinny jeans and a clean tee. Sprinting down the stairs, I head out and across the yard to the house.

I approach the mover who is instructing the others where to put furniture. I smile sweetly and he waves at me.

"Hello," I say and beam at him, "is the owner of this house here?"

The mover nods, "Yes, he is. You would the young lady who lives next door?" He points to my house and I nod.

"Yep."

"The owner is inside. I'm sure he won't mind you saying hello, just try to keep out of the way of my workers," he finishes with a smile. I grin at him and head off towards the front double doors.

I haven't been here in over ten years. I think idly to myself. I stand by the side of the doors as a pair of movers walk out. They smile and nod to me and I return the smile. I ease inside once they pass.

I stare at the inside of the house, memories returning to me. The floor beneath my feet is warm brown stone, it's so glossy I can make out my reflection in it. I gape at the stairs that descend towards me, I remember sliding down the railing.
The house is so warm and comforting, but huge. Just like I remember it.

My eyes fall on a group of people discussing paperwork over near the entrance of the living room. A blonde haired woman who is dressed smartly- she looks to be the real estate agent- and a tall, big man dressed in a grey suit.

They are both leaning over a boy who is haunched over on a chair. In his hands are pages of paper, they seem to be all talking as he signs and reads over the writing.

I can't seem to stop staring at the boy. He'd have to be around the age of eighteen, curly brown hair erupts from his head. But the curls are styled in a certain way that just makes me want to run my fingers through it and mess it up. I take in his lean, long frame. I know that just by looking at him that he'd have to be at least a head or more taller then me.

I think that I am staring so hard at him that he feels it. He looks up at me in surprise. To my delight I find that he is jaw droppingly gorgeous.

"Mia?" He asks me, smiling a little bit. The woman and man look up as well, waiting for my response.

Mia? What is that? Oh, right, my name! I blink and blush.

"Yeah," I mange to answer. How does he know my name? The boy stands, placing the paperwork on the side table next to him. My breath leaves me as he walks towards me. I can feel the blush advance all the way to my hairline.

Stop blushing!

"My name's Harry. I used to live next door," He says and stops before me. I was right, he is at least a head taller then me and I am pleased to find that his eyes are green- my favourite colour.

It takes a minute for me to comprehend what he had said and by the time that I do, Harry's frowning at me funnily.

"Oh!" I squeak in an embarrassing tone, "yes, I remember!" As if I could forget, I add on mentally. Harry looks familiar, even as a kid he had curly hair. Harry smiles at me, those dimples of his appearing.

"I'm buying back the house, I'm moving in," he declares, looking at me intently with those big green eyes of his. I frown, isn't this interesting.

"You're buying the house? Where are your parents?" I ask curiously. Harry shifts uncomfortably and smiles tightly.

"Uh, my parents- they passed away about a year after we moved." I gasp and cover my hand over my mouth.

"I am so sorry, I never should have asked," I mutter, my eyes wide.
Imagine that, living without parents for nine years of your life.

Harry smiles sadly and shrugs, "I won't be the only one in this big house though. I've got other people coming in to live with me. Help and friends."

I nod, I don't want to say anything else that might embarrass me further. Then Harry smiles at me, beaming like the sun.

"I'm so happy to see that you haven't moved away," he says softly and reaches towards my face to brush my hair from my eyes to behind my eyes. I still when his fingers brush across my cheek.

I've never been touched like this before and with Harry it makes me feel like I want him to do it again. He smiles a secret smile and something lustful sparks deep in his eyes.

"You can come over and we can play." His voice is deep and low when he speaks.

I- what? Is he trying to make a pass at me? I honestly wouldn't know. I've never been flirted with before. But when he talks about playing, I don't think he means the way children do.

My eyes widen and I can't say anything in response. Harry smiles wickedly down at me and my breath leaves me.
He's so...hot.

"Mr Styles!" The blonde woman calls, "We need to finish these papers."
Harry sighs in frustration but then smiles again at me, "I'll be seeing you around, Mia."

My name sounds like heaven on his lips and I watch him turn around and head back to the woman and man. Two boys in one day have told me that, I'll be seeing you around.

Sam and Harry.

Oh, Sam. I have completely forgotten about him. I shake my head in frustration. I've never had any experience with boys and now two incredibly attractive males are interested in me.

I leave Harry's house and head back to mine. I sit in the living room and call up Emma. Telling her all about the boy next door.

Notes

So I didn't write this, it was writing my an author doily on another site. It's like my favourite all time fanfic, so I thought I would upload it on this site so you can all read her genuis work. Please keep reading, this is a brilliant story she has written.