All Chapters of My Bully Next Door: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Ella I make the mistake of waking up hopeful. Honestly, that’s probably where everything starts going wrong. For the first time in weeks, I don’t wake up confused. I don’t wake up wondering whether Beckett likes me. I don’t wake up replaying every mixed signal, every argument, every moment that made me question myself. Instead, I wake up remembering his voice. I just know one day she became the first person I looked for. The memory hits before I’m even fully awake. And stupidly… my first reaction is a smile. My second reaction is panic because I’m smiling. My third reaction is deciding that Lila is absolutely never allowed to know about this. Ever. I drag a pillow over my face and groan. Because this is getting ridiculous. I’ve spent weeks questioning Beckett Carter’s feelings, and now somehow I’ve ended up lying in bed smiling like an idiot because of one conversation he didn’t even know I heard. Pathetic. Completely pathetic. Still smiling though. Which is somehow w

BeckettI stare at Ella’s suitcase for a solid thirty seconds before I realize I’m being creepy.Not serial-killer creepy.Just regular emotionally unstable creepy.The suitcase is sitting on the edge of her bed through the crack in her bedroom door. Half packed. Half full of folded hoodies and t-shirts and all the things that somehow became normal to see around my house.Tomorrow.The word keeps hitting me over and over.Tomorrow she’s gone.Not forever.She literally lives next door.I know that.But somehow that doesn’t matter.Because tomorrow she won’t be downstairs eating breakfast.She won’t be arguing with Mason about dinosaurs.She won’t be stealing food off people’s plates and pretending she wasn’t hungry five minutes ago.She won’t be here.And for the first time since she moved in, the thought feels unbearable.I don’t even realize I’ve started walking until I’m standing outside her door.My hand lifts.Drops.Lifts again.Jesus Christ.I’ve played football in front of tho

BeckettThe thing nobody tells you about finally getting the girl is that it doesn’t magically make you less stupid.If anything, it makes you worse.Case in point:I finally asked Ella Monroe out in front of my entire family, half my football team, her mother, and God himself.She said yes.And somehow, now I’m even more nervous than I was before.Which feels unfair.Very unfair.Because for weeks I’ve been fighting for this.Fighting myself.Fighting my reputation.Fighting every dumb instinct I’ve ever had.And now that I’ve actually won?My brain has apparently decided to short-circuit.“You’re smiling again.”I look over.Sean is standing in my living room holding a soda.“Go away.”“You’ve been smiling for ten straight minutes.”“I have not.”“You absolutely have.”Across the room, Tyler nods.“Honestly, it’s creepy.”“I hate all of you.”“No you don’t,” Sean says cheerfully.Unfortunately, he’s right.Mostly.The room is still recovering from what just happened.Mom keeps looki

BeckettI don’t remember what we talked about for the rest of dinner.That’s probably a problem.A serious one.Because I’m pretty sure Ella told me an entire story about a professor who accidentally emailed a test answer key to the wrong class.I know she did.I remember watching her laugh halfway through it.I remember the way her eyes lit up when she got excited.I remember the way she used her hands when she talked.I remember every single expression on her face.The actual story?No idea.Not a clue.Which means I’m either hopelessly distracted or suffering from a medical condition.Honestly, both feel possible.The waitress drops off the check.Ella immediately reaches for it.I immediately pull it away.Her eyes narrow.“Absolutely not.”“I was going to say the same thing.”“You invited me.”“And?”“And that means you’re not paying.”She looks genuinely offended.“I have money.”“I know.”“Then why can’t I use it?”I grin.“Because I’m trying to impress you.”Her cheeks immedia

EllaI should have known.The universe had allowed me approximately twelve hours of happiness before deciding to humble me.That was apparently the limit.Because the second I stepped into school Monday morning, I knew something was wrong.Not wrong wrong.Not emergency wrong.Just…everyone-is-looking-at-me wrong.The parking lot looked exactly the same as always. Cars. Students. Teachers trying to pretend they weren’t already exhausted before first period.Normal.Everything should have felt normal.Instead, it felt like I had accidentally walked onto a stage.People kept looking.Not staring outright.Just those quick little glances people make when they think you’re not paying attention.Then whispers.Then more glances.Then somebody actually pointed.My stomach immediately dropped.“Nope.”Lila looked up from her phone.“What?”“Nope.”She followed my gaze toward a group of girls standing near the entrance.The second they noticed us looking, they turned away.Too late.I had al