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Annoying Neighbor

Chapter 7

Evie’s POV

I think that is an older lady thing talking to plants, but Helen seems to think that they respond to it and grow better from it. She is always talking to her plants in the sunroom. She swears that they grow better because she speaks to them. She is such a gentle soul, and I don’t want to upset her, so if she asks, I always tell her I spoke to them. It makes her happy, and to make it true I always mumble goodnight to them before I leave the garden. It may be a silly thing to do, but if it keeps Helen happy, then it is worth it to me.

I looked in the fridge to see what I could make for dinner and I decided to just make us sandwiches. I head out with a basket to grab what I need to make a side salad to go with it. I grabbed a couple heads of lettuce, the tomatoes that are ready, a red bell pepper, and two carrots from my grow bags. I have two carrot grow bags, and two potato bags that are new to us this year. I got a head start on my plants by unsing the sunroom while it was still cold outside. It gave me a great jump-start for my veggies.

Helen also has two Meyer lemon trees in the back yard and I grabbed two lemons off the tree to make a citrus dressing for us. The salad can be used for dinner for at least tonight and the next few nights. I like the reward of growing my own food. Plus, it saves money that we don’t have to spend on this, making our money stretch. I don't want Helen to ever go without anything that she needs. I would rather do without, instead of her, but we always seem to manage just fine. I will come back out before dusk to water the garden. It is only 4 pm right now, it is too hot to be out here for long anyway. It is always humid in the south, and in the direct sun, it can take your breath away.

I turn to head back into the house and movement from the upstairs bedroom across from mine catches my eye. I see Preston standing there, watching me with a smile on his face. He had taken off his shirt, and I know he wanted me to see him standing in the window. He doesn’t step back, or close his curtains. He just stands there watching me and then flexes his arms when he leans forward and grips the top of the window. I realize that I have a bigger problem now, and I mentally curse Rhett in my head again. I hurried back towards the house. Preston seems interested in me now that he has realized that I am not quite as big as he thought I was. Which sucks for me, as I have hidden my figure away from the whole school for years by buying ill fitting clothes. I like to wear band t-shirts or one with sarcastic phrases to wear. I don’t need name brands, and the shirts hanging on me have always kept me hidden away from prying eyes. I want to scream out my frustration at this sudden interest in me. I already know that he will not just let it go.

I quickly made supper for me and Helen, as it was already way to hot to try to cook anything. Helen is cold natured, as the lowest setting that the air was set on was 71. This doesn;t really cool the house when it is almost 100 outside in the summer. It had not officially started just yet, but the house was already a little warm for me. I set the table for dinner before going to get her. She gushes over the salad, I am happy that she likes it, and the dressing I made. She is one of the sweetest people that I know. I was glad when she told me that she wanted to come out with me to watch me water. Some days she is not up to it, but Helen loves to be outdoors, and in the sun. Her happy face makes me smile as we head out to water. I am glad that she wanted to come out with me because as soon as we exited the back door.

I heard a loud thud, and looked over to see Preston sitting up on his weight bench, under a tree to be in the shade. He deliberately dropped the weights to get my attention. He had been out here conveniently been working out, waiting on me. I have not seen him out here in a while, so I am not going to lie, I was not happy to see him. He smiled and waved at Helen, like he was a nice person, and then leaned back over to pick his weights back up. He gave me a smirk and then settled back down onto the bench to continue working out. I have never noticed him out here before when I come out to water. I realize that the bus ride tomorrow will not be a good one for me. His smile lets me know that I need to make sure that I sat up front to try to avoid them in the morning.

I believe that I can probably avoid problems on the way to school, but in the afternoon my last class is on the other end of the school. I will be one of the last people to get on the bus, and the chance of a problem occurring then is much higher. I will see how things go in the morning, and I may have to try to beg a ride with Gracie for the afternoon. Even if Preston decides to get along with me now, his sister, Trinity, won’t be giving me a pass. She has always had it out for me, since the day I moved in with Helen.

My head actually hurts with how big of an eye roll that I just did. I am frustrated with this entire situation. This is all Hillary’s fault, no scratch that, it is all Rhett’s fault. Him not stopping to let me out where I asked him to, was the direct reason for why my day went so badly. Yes, Helen held me up, but she can’t help the fact that she was not remembering things like she used to. I am going to tell Rhett about himself tomorrow, he cannot put me in that kind of situation ever again, if he wants me to help him. He needs to make sure that he keeps Hillary, and her viperish friends away from me.

I can feel Preston's eyes on me the whole time I am outside. I am not even going to let him know that he is stressing me out, and believe me, he is. I focus on the job at hand, and although the garden isn't huge, it still takes a little while to get it done. I let my mind wander as what I am doing doesn't really require my focus. I wonder how my life would be if my parents had actually wanted me. Did they end up having more children? Do I have siblings? Maybe they were too young, and not married and just unable to deal with a new born. I would have liked them to have at least tried to find me, and make sure that I was OK. Maybe have some weekend visits with me. I don't ask for much, love doesn't cost them anything.

It took about 10 minutes to water everything, and by the time I was done, I was upset. Me thinking about my parents and all the "what-ifs' in my life was hard. I can wish all I want, but the cold, hard truth was that I was unwanted. Nobody wants me, and the people who did love me couldn't keep me. I refuse to even think about that, I just can't. I need to focus on Helen loving me, and bringing me into her home. She loves me like I was her own grand-daughter. Even if no one else cares about me, she does, and she shows it to me all the time. That is the reason why I am willing to take care of her while I go to college. She brought me in, when she didn't have to. It is my pleasure to make sure that she is taken care of in the same way.

I heard the thud of the weights hitting the grass, and I kept my eyes latched onto the back door of our house. I am not going to look over at him, no matter what he does. I will not encourage Preston’s decision to try to catch my eye. I have never had any interest in him before, and I have even less interest in him now. Whatever he is thinking, or hoping, is not going to happen. As far as I am concerned, he is invisible to me. Nothing that he can say, or do, is going to be changing my opinion of him. “Goodnight Ms. Helen. Goodnight princess” I heard him call across over us. I did not respond, and he knew I wasn’t going to as I heard his laughter float across the yard. Helen was looking at me curiously about the nickname he called me, he has never done it before today, so she was confused. I was on the stairs assisting her so I told her, “He started calling me that today, Ms. Helen. I don’t know why, but he seems to be interested in me."

“That boy has always tried to push the line, Evie. He always does what he wants to, so be very careful of him. He comes from a good family, but even good families can have bad seeds in them. I think that he is just enamored of you now, too bad that couldn't come earlier. It would have kept you from everything that eh put you through the last few years.” Helen told me and got a faraway look in her eyes. I knew that she wanted to tell me something important, some days she remembers better than other days. She is not that old, but with her health deteriorating so quickly, I worry about her. I just nodded in response to her, and locked the screen door, and back door as quickly as I could. I heard Preston laugh again, a short time later I heard the back door to his house shut. I am so glad that I am done with him for the day.

I head up to my room to do my homework. I need to get a plan together for tomorrow, as I already know he is not going to leave this alone. The only good thing about Preston is that he has an extremely short attention span when it comes to girls. He doesn;t date them for long, before he is off to find the next "best" thing again. I know that I just need to lay low, keep my head down, and stay out of his line of vision. He will get bored, and then move on to the next girl. I am not insulted. I do not want to date him, or have him thinking those kinds of thoughts about me. I am perfectly content to wait, and then hopefully find the man of my dreams who will love and value me. I don't think that is too much to ask. We all want to be loved, and appreciated. I just hope he can be patient with me. It will take a long time for my boyfriend to be able to get through all the barriers around my heart.

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