"Tell me more about this hot neighbor of yours!" Emily grinned as I told her about that guy.

"Well, I haven't seen his face yet so I can't comment anything." I shrugged. "But damn that sculpted back."

Emily and I were on our way to our last class. She had physics while I had to bear AP calculus. The subject itself was not as bad as the fact that I had to share this class with Noah. And after what happened with Adam yesterday, I was not looking forward to our next encounter.

"Bye." she said when we reached her classroom. Mine was just at the corner of the hallway so it didn't take me long to reach there. Mrs. Dale had not arrived yet so I didn't have to bear her bored face.

Looking around the class, I finally spotted an empty seat. To my utmost annoyance, it was the one beside Adam.

Great.

I quickly walked towards the back of the class. The chair was occupied by a notebook which probably belonged to Adam. I looked at him and found his attention solely focused on his calculus book, his foot tapping the floor in a slow rhythm

"Excuse me." I spoke slowly. He turned his blank face towards me and narrowed his eyes.

"I need to sit here. Can you please pick up your notebook?" I said flatly.

He chose not to reply and turned his eyes back to his book.

Rude much?

"Adam?" I spoke.

"Excuse me?" I added after a moment.

"Are you deaf or what?" I roared angrily and his jaw clenched tightly. His eyes travelled to my face once again, his gaze showing his utmost displeasure. Yet, he still didn't move.

"What is wrong with you? Pick up your damn notebook." I half-yelled.

"Hey, that's mine." a short redhead guy appeared out of nowhere. He picked up the notebook and walked away from the seat, leaving me standing there awkwardly.

Adam averted his eyes back to his book but not before casting an annoyed glance at me. Without speaking further, I slided into the seat next to him.

Mrs. Dale entered the class and wrote an equation on the white board. "Lets see which one of you will solve it quickest?"

I quickly pulled out my notebook and jotted the equation down. By the time I was on the second step, Adam's voice echoed from my side.

"y is equal to minus 2 cos x plus 3 by 2." he responded and a huge smile replaced the frown on Mrs. Dale's lips.

"Well done Adam." she appreciated.

But.. But is it even possible? How did he solve the equation in a minute?

I angled my neck to look at his notebook but unfortunately, my neck was not long enough.

"Stop looking around Miss. King and solve the equation on your own." Mrs. Dale scolded and I muttered a quick apology. My eyes involuntarily moved to Adam once again and this time, he caught me looking at him. My cheeks turned crimson and I moved my eyes back to my notebook. Unfortunately, my thoughts were still lingering on him.

Dangerous? This guy? Yeah! Only if he is in some gang of Calculus geniuses and we are against each other in a quiz. Haha.

...

"So high waisted denim jeans or black tights?" I asked Emily as I looked around my wardrobe.

"Black tights." she spoke from the other side of the phone. I threw the tights on the bed and started searching through the top drawer.

It was Sunday evening. After helping Dad in preparing the dinner, I took a long shower and began searching for something to wear. The task was rather difficult, given that my dressing sense is a little, umm, boyish. I tried calling Rachel but her phone was off. Then came Emily to my rescue.

"Red turtle neck sweater or royal blue tank top?" I asked again.

"Why are you even asking? Red turtle neck of course." she responded.

"Great." I spoke and then cut the call after ensuring her that I would give her every juicy bits.

Dropping the towel to the ground, I slipped into the sweater and tights. After drying my hair with a blow-dryer, I let them down in natural waves and applied nude lipstick to my chapped lips.

After I was satisfied with my appearance, I made my way to the lounge where a blonde woman was sitting on the lounge and talking to ny dad. A wide smile appeared on her lips when she noticed my presence.

"You must be Alicia." she exclaimed and walked towards me. I pulled out my hand for a shake but she enveloped me in a big hug instead.

"Yeah." I breathed out, feeling a little suffocated because of her hold around me. When she pulled away, I heaved a sigh of relaxation.

"I am Tiffany. I live in the neighborhood with my boyfriend and my nephew." she responded when she noticed my confusion.

"Oh." I nodded, forcing a smile on my face.

Nephew? Means that guy is her nephew.

"So mam-"

"Call me Tiffany sweetie. I am just twenty nine." she chuckled as she sat down on the couch. Dad moved aside to make some space for me.

"Umm.. Tiffany. Are you here alone?" I asked, looking around.

"Well, Joey had to go back to his office last minute." she was probably referring to her boyfriend. "And my nephew must be here within half an hour."

"Great." I smiled.

We all sat down in the lounge. Dad left to check the food and Tiffany and I engaged in a casual conversation. She told me about the night life in New York and how could I easily access entry in those through a fake ID.

"When I was your age, I used to be the head cheerleader in Redwood high. Would you like to try it out in the auditions too?" She asked in her enthusiastic voice.

"No. I don't want it to affect my studies." I reasoned.

"Well, that's nice too. Which college do you want to join?" she asked.

"Harvard. I'm looking forward to a career in medicine." I told her.

"Really? Wow. You must be a nerd. Umm.. I mean.. You must have good grades." she grinned. "Adam wants to join Harvard too."

"Adam?"

"Yeah, my nephew." she informed.

Could it be the same Adam? No. Probably not. There must be hundreds of Adam in New York.

"He is a senior in Redwood. You must have seen him." she further added.

You gotta be kidding me woman.

"Uh..I.."

"Look who is here. When did you come inside?" Tiffany spoke to someone behind me and I turned around, only to meet with the familiar grey eyes.

"Just a minute ago. Mr. King let me in." he spoke in a flat tone without casting another glance at me.

"Adam! Meet Alicia. She is in your school." Tiffany introduced us and I forced a smile on my face.

"I know." he said coldly.

"Yeah. He gave me a warm welcome in the school." I added sarcastically.

In the meantime, Dad announced that the dinner was ready. We all sat down on the dinner table. I helped Dad in serving the dinner. Throughout the time, I could feel Adam's glare on me. Though he didn't speak anything, I could feel the irritation and arrogance radiating off him.

"So Adam, how old are you?" Dad asked in his authoritative voice.

"Nineteen, sir." Adam replied, looking into Dad's eyes. Though his tone didn't get any better, he had corrected his resting bitch face. Well, good for him. My dad was not someone you could mess with.

"I've heard you want to join Harvard too." Dad said while cutting his steak.

"Yes sir. I am aspiring to be a theoretical physicist." he replied.

"Good for you." Dad commented and turned his attention back to his place.

After we were done with dinner, Tiffany's boyfriend Joey joined us too. Dad engrossed in his boring business talks with him. When he noticed my bored face, he asked me to show Tiffnay and adam around. We left the lounge, Adam and Tiffany were silently following me.

Suddenly, someone's phone rang when we were on our way to climb the stairs.

"Alicia! Take Adam with you. I need to answer this call." Tiffany excused herself, leaving me alone with Adam.

I silently ascended the stairs and trudged into my room, followed by Adam's muffled footsteps.

"Thats.. That's my room." I said awkwardly. His eyes roamed around the room, finally resting on my face. For some weird reason, my heart was wildly thumping inside my chest cavity.

Before I could embarrass myself in front of him, he walked past me and stopped near my guitar.

"So it is you who plays those awful lyrics at night." he commented as he touched the strings lightly.

"You know, it won't physically hurt you to be nice for once." I crossed my arms in front of my chest and groaned.

"I don't want to take a chance." the corner of his lips lifted a little as he finished his sentence.

"Well, you don't hear me complaining. The view of a someone so desperately working out is not a delight either." I retorted in a weary voice.

"I bet it isn't." he narrowed his eyes at me and answered.

"I might ask Dad to have someone permanently close these windows." I added.

"I bet you do." he continued, making me frown deeper.

Ugh.. Why is he so damn annoying?

"Take your arrogant ass out of my room." I scowled at him, pointing towards the door.

With small steps, he walked towards me. I took a step backwards when he neared me. He was invading my personal space, making me a bit uncomfortable. The urge to push back his golden-brown hair covering his forehead was increasing with every passing second.

"Gladly." he mumbled against my face and then walked past me out of my room. It took me a minute to calm down my racing heartbeat.

Jerk.

By the time I made my way to the lounge, Adam was nowhere in the sight. Tiffany and Joey left after few moments, but not before inviting us to have dinner sometime at their house. After Dad left for some work, I rushed back to my room and called Emily.

"Wow. That's like news of the month. Adam McArdle is your neighbor. I don't know what to say." she exclaimed when I told her about Adam.

"I don't know either. He is so rude, annoying, irritating, arrogant and, and, uhh-"

"And freakishly handsome?" Emily teased.

"No freaking way." I yelped.

She laughed at my reaction. "Well. Like I told you before, he is dangerous. Just be safe." she instructed.

"I will." I replied.

After I cut the call, my feet inadvertently took me to my window, I peeked through the curtains towards Adam's room. Strangely, I found him staring at the sky from his window. His eyes were closed and his eyebrows were drew together, as if he was in some deep thoughts.

After a moment, he sighed and opened his eyes. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to duck back inside the room so he caught me staring at me. Our eyes locked in an awkward encounter and I felt frozen on my spot.

"So much for not a delight?" his voice rose from his window.

"Shut up." I yelled and closed the curtains.

"Shut up? SHUT UP? You call this a reply?" After cursing my awkward self, I lay down on my bed and clenched my eyes tightly.

_____________________