All Chapters of The Guy Who Lives Next Door : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

68 Chapters

Chapter 1 — The Move

“Mom… do we really have to move?”Ruby asked the question even though she already knew the answer. The highway stretched endlessly in front of their car, New York license plates passing them every few minutes, reminding her that they were getting closer. Too close.Her mother exhaled in that tired way that made Ruby feel guilty. “Ruby… we talked about this. The job is good for me. It’s safer. It’s a fresh start for us.”A fresh start. Everyone kept saying that, but it felt more like a clean erasing. Everything Ruby knew—her old school, her friends, the street she grew up on—was being wiped from her life like chalk from a board.Ruby turned her face to the window, watching trees blur into concrete. “I just… I don’t fit in there. I know I won’t.”“You haven’t even tried yet.”“I don’t need to try. I know.”Her mom’s silence said she didn’t agree, but she also didn’t push. She rarely did anymore. Not since the divorce. Not since everything fell apart.Ruby hugged her backpack closer, the

Chapter 2 — First Encounter

Ruby balanced a cardboard box on her hip, her fingers going numb from the weight. Morning heat pressed against her skin as she kicked the front door shut with her heel. The moving truck had already driven off, her mom had rushed out early for paperwork at her new job, and now it was just Ruby—sleep-deprived, disoriented, and drowning in boxes.She took a steadying breath.Okay. Two more loads. I can survive this.But when she stepped outside, her resolve dropped straight to the floor.There, parked diagonally across the driveway like it owned the entire property, was a shiny black car. Sleek. Expensive. The type of car someone buys when they want everyone within a two-mile radius to know they have money.Ruby blinked at it.“Seriously?” she muttered. “Of course this would happen.”Because why wouldn’t her very first morning in this new neighborhood start with someone blocking the driveway? Why not add that to the growing list of things testing her patience?She shifted the box higher

Chapter 3 — First Party Night

Ruby had been in the house for five hours.Five.That was all it took for the universe to personally target her.She had just finished unpacking the last of her clothes and collapsed face-first on her bed when the shaking started. At first, she thought it was construction—because why not? The universe had a sense of humor. But then the bass hit, a low, vibrating thump-thump-thump that rattled her wall like someone was repeatedly kicking it.It wasn’t construction.It was a party.Next door.Her new next door.Ruby rolled onto her back, stared at the ceiling, and tried to breathe through the pulsating music. People shouted, splashed water, laughed the kind of loud, chaotic laughter only possible when alcohol was involved, and for some reason—because why wouldn’t this be happening—someone kept blowing a whistle like they were refereeing a pool Olympics.Ruby grabbed her pillow and shoved it over her face.It didn’t help.Not even close.After twenty minutes of trying to pretend she was

Ch. 4 — Balcony War

The next night, it began again.Ruby had barely finished brushing her hair when she heard it — that familiar, taunting clink of a balcony door sliding open. She froze, staring at her reflection in the mirror. No. No way. She wasn’t doing this again.But then the muffled laughter.And the voice she was learning to hate on a cellular level drifted across the humid night air.Ruby sighed, marched toward her own balcony, and pushed the door open.Right on cue, Kai stepped out of his — as if the universe had written them into the same script and was determined to see what chaos they’d create. He leaned casually on the railing, a bottle of sparkling water dangling from his fingers like it was part of his personality.“Princess,” he greeted, smirk firmly in place.Ruby didn’t even hesitate.“Spoiled brat.”Kai actually laughed — a low, warm sound that carried across the space between them. “Wow. Upgrading already. Last night it was ‘annoying.’ I feel honored.”She crossed her arms. “Do you a

Chapter 5 — First Day of School Disaster

Ruby knew—deep in her soul—the morning was cursed the moment she opened her eyes and saw sunlight where sunlight absolutely should not have been.“NO,” she gasped, bolting upright.Her alarm hadn’t gone off.Correction: she’d forgotten to set her alarm because she’d been too busy replaying Kai’s creepy, smug warning in her head until 2 a.m.She tumbled out of bed and nearly face-planted into a box labeled “WINTER CLOTHES,” then scrambled around her room like a panicked raccoon.She brushed her hair.She hated it.She brushed it again.Still hated it.As if summoned by chaos, her mom called from the kitchen, “Ruby, honey! You’re gonna miss the—”“I KNOW!” Ruby yelled back, tripping as she tried to pull on jeans that suddenly felt two sizes too small.She sprinted downstairs, grabbed the nearest travel mug, and—Spilled hot coffee straight down the front of her only clean shirt.“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” she shrieked.Her mom blinked at her. “Maybe you should change?”“I don’t have time to

Chapter 6 — New School, New Enemies

The whispers didn’t stop.By second period, Ruby felt like she was walking with a spotlight glued to her forehead. Everywhere she went, conversations paused. Heads turned. People leaned together like she was a rumor that had suddenly grown legs and started walking around.“She lives next to Kai.”“She yelled at him.”“She thinks she’s special.”Ruby wanted to scream, I’m not special! I just want to survive the day!But screaming would only give them more content to gossip about.By third period, she was exhausted—mentally, socially, physically, spiritually. She just wanted to shove her books into her locker and breathe for five seconds without someone whispering her name like it tasted sour.She didn’t even get one second.As she opened her locker, a shadow moved into her peripheral vision. Ruby glanced up—and her breath stuttered.Brielle.Tall.Perfect hair.Perfect makeup.Perfect everything.She looked like the kind of girl who woke up with naturally curled lashes and a fan club.

Chapter 7 — Ruby Tries to Lay Low

For the next two days, Ruby avoided Kai like he was radioactive.But Kai made that impossible.He took her usual seat in class.He “accidentally” bumped into her twice in the hallway.He stole her pen off her desk without even looking at her.Ruby gritted her teeth and kept her head down.It was working… until lunch.She tried to slip past Kai’s table unnoticed.Except someone said, “Kai, isn’t that your neighbor?”Ruby froze.Kai turned lazily, gaze sliding over her with calculated boredom.Ruby tried to mutter, “I’m not your—”And that was when it happened.She accidentally insulted him.Right in front of his entire table.He’d said something—something arrogant and smug—and Ruby snapped, “Maybe if you used your brain once in a while, you’d—”The table went silent.Kai’s smirk sharpened.Ruby’s heart pounded.Oh no.Oh no, no, no.“She had just declared war.”Silence.The cafeteria didn’t usually go silent — not even when teachers yelled — but somehow, Ruby managed to shut down an en

Chapter 8 — Cafeteria Humiliation

Ruby tried to forget the moment. Kai didn’t. By the time lunch rolled around, Ruby was exhausted from dodging him in every hallway. She felt like a mouse living in a school filled with very large, very smug cats.She stepped into the cafeteria clutching her tray, eyes scanning the room for one single safe place to sit.Zara spotted her first.“Ruby! Over here!”She waved with a bright smile.Ruby exhaled with relief and started walking toward her. Zara was kind, sweet, and actually warned her about Brielle yesterday. She felt safe there.But halfway to the table, Ruby’s stomach dropped.Because sitting right behind Zara…Kai.Beautiful, infuriating Kai Kingston.Leaning back in his chair.Laughing with his friends.Eyes flicking upward—catching hers like a magnet.Ruby froze.Zara mouthed, It’s okay, but Ruby wasn’t sure.She gathered her courage and kept walking.One step.Two.Three.Almost there.Then—A shoulder brushed against hers.Hard.Ruby wobbled—but didn’t fall.Kai had s

Ch. 9 — Ruby’s First Breakdown

Ruby waited until Kai was completely gone—until his footsteps faded, until the echo of his presence dissolved into the noisy hallways—before she let her body move again.Her hands shook. Her knees felt weak. Her lungs burned with the effort of holding everything in.She needed to hide.She needed a door. A lock. Silence.Somewhere she could fall apart without an audience.She pushed through the bathroom door, and the second it swung shut behind her, she ran into the nearest stall and locked it.The metal click sounded too loud.Her breath sounded too loud.Everything was too loud.Ruby slid down until she was sitting on the closed toilet seat, burying her face in her hands.And then—She broke.---Breaking QuietlyTears spilled fast, hot, uncontrollable.She didn’t sob loudly. She cried the quiet, shaking kind—the kind that tightened her throat and made her chest ache like she had swallowed a stone.Her mind replayed everything:The spilled lunch.The laughter.Zara’s panicked face.

Ch. 10 — The Girl Who Helps Her

Ruby didn’t leave the bathroom stall for a long time.She stayed there, knees pressed to her chest, listening for that silent person who had knocked. Nothing. No footsteps. No voice. Just the strange pressure of knowing someone had stood on the other side of the thin metal, breathing, waiting, then disappearing without a sound.Her pulse wouldn’t slow. The whole building felt colder. The light hummed above her, sharp and bright against her headache.When she finally forced herself to unlock the stall and step out, she did it slowly, like she expected someone to jump out from behind the hand dryer. Her fingers shook. Her throat hurt from holding back tears.She splashed water on her face. It didn’t help.Her reflection looked wrong—fragile, scared, red-eyed. The kind of girl she never wanted anyone to see.She grabbed her bag and pushed out of the bathroom.The hallway wasn’t loud anymore. Most students had gone to lunch, leaving only echoes and scattered footsteps. She kept her head d

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