"Neighbor, seriously, did you ever have a crush on me?" Riel asked with a straight face as she sat down beside me while waiting for our class to start.
Ahh... my best friend and neighbor, Riel. Her attention I will always welcome and want.
I looked at Riel and sighed. This girl is a mold for a perfect partner. I wonder why I never felt anything towards her aside from being my favorite person in the world. Maybe because I care a lot about her to involve her. I manipulate, lie, and use deceit to live my life the way I want.
I placed my arm around Riel's shoulder and gave her a deep sigh.
"Neighbor, I can't possibly crush on someone who heard me fart and seen me jack off. That's like a doomed start."
Riel sighed, pointing a finger at me with her eyebrows raised, "True.... Doomed start but.... could be a field of dreams at the end. Who knows...." She winked at me as she got up to return to her seat.
Riel is neat, smart, and always smells like she bathed in lemons. She exudes this confident aura on top of having an attractive look. She can wear the oldest hoodie and jeans and still emit femininity that other girls envy. Boys have been vying for her attention since we were in grade school but so far, Riel keeps other men at arm's length. Being smart also adds to her popularity at school. From nerds to jocks, Riel holds a strong influence on them.
Since we are each other's shadow, anyone who knows Riel will know me. Thanks to her, my popularity at school is not bad at all. Oddly, as attached as we are in public, no one has ever doubted our relationship to be anything but platonic. Like our school friends, our parents have never maliciously interpreted our friendship as anything else. I believe my sister Grace is the only one set to prove to the world that one day, Riel will be her sister-in-law because she likes her so much.
Riel was my sister's babysitter and playmate growing up. I used to discreetly mess with Grace for monopolizing Riel's time and attention. I didn't like sharing Riel since she already had my parent's attention.
Maybe growing up together as neighbors and friends helped set our relationship with each others' parents and my siblings. Her parents have treated me like their own son, and my parents adore Riel's confident but respectful attitude. They also get to see my fun and cheerful side around her.
I am myself around her and I can tell her pretty much anything without worries. I act without restriction or reservation and I drop my inhibitions around her. I still remember the time she came to my room without knocking and nonchalantly dismissed coming across me jacking off while watching porn.
"So you are a typical teenager - Horniac.", she huffed as she grabbed the towel hanging by the door. She threw the towel at me as she sat by the end of the bed while checking her cell phone. The weird thing was, I didn't even get startled nor did I feel shameful about it afterwards. Of course, I learned to lock my door after that incident whenever I did it.
By the time class ended, Riel already copied a few notes for me to take. I was lucky enough to have a few classes with her since the start of high school. Without her, my socialization time would have been cut in half due to the massive schoolwork.
Romeo came running towards us as we left the classroom.
"Gian!!!Riel my love!!!! Headline news!" Romeo blurted out while his eyes pinned on Riel, proving his decade-long crush on her.
"Everything is headline news to you, Romeo," I said as I teasingly looked at Riel who raised her eyebrow seeing Romeo approach us. Riel is always friendly towards Romeo even though she is aware that Romeo has a big crush on her. He had been friends with us since grade school when he poured his milk on a bully who yanked Riel's hair during playtime.
"Mah Frends, there are new transfers in school. I was at the registrar's office and saw them. They are supposed to start class tomorrow. Bro, he looks a tad more handsome than you but I think the sister is gay. She is a knock-out tho."
"Romeo, didn't I tell you before, you shouldn't assume. You barely looked at them to make that assumption." I hit the side of his head.
Riel asked Romeo what is his guidelines for a person to be gay.
Romeo shrugged, "I guess when you are a girl as beautiful as that one but dresses like a guy?"
Riel shook her head unable to believe what she was hearing.
"So If I wear Riel's hoodie and jeans you will consider me gay?" I am curious for the answer.
"Bro, you are..... cannot....unable... to be gay ever! You can wear any clothes and you will always be a guy."
Riel chimed in "Yes! A charming dumb guy."
I tapped Romeo on his shoulder, "You are aware she complimented me and called me dumb in one sentence, right?"
Our hearty laugh can be heard at the end of the school corridor. We headed to the parking lot as we waved bye to Romeo.
As usual, Riel gave me a ride home after class as a perk of being neighbors. The ride home is always nice with Riel.
After she drops me off, she will help at their small grocery store, eat dinner with her family, and then call me. If she doesn't call, that only means she will stop by and hang out with me for a bit. This has been our routine for as long as I can remember.