apartment 384

                                                                                   Ella

  I gaze out the window of my apartment, 384, not expecting to see anything unusual. As I look out over my small neighborhood I see something, apartment 383. People inside it. I grab my phone. I casually pull up the photo app. I zoom in to see the new people. 
    There's a mother, a father and a son. I zoom in on the son's face. He looks like he's 16, 17 maybe. I feel a smile spread over my lips. I hop off my old couch and run to my bedroom. I untie my robe and pull on my cutoff shorts and look through my closet for my blue skin tight tee shirt. 
    I walk to the bathroom and pull my hair into a topknot and I lightly reapply my mascara and lipstick. Enough to see but not too much so I look like I'm trying too hard. 
    I walk down the stairs to my basement and dig through my wide spread of gift bags for a good one. I grab a new candle from my shelf and place it in the bag along with a boatload of tissue paper. I whip up a quick Welcome to the Neighborhood card and shove it to the bottom of the bag and I wait. 
    While I'm waiting, I climb into the small alcove in my bedroom. The window there stares directly into one of the rooms. I see boxes sitting on the floor. I take out my phone and zoom in on the boxes. Ethan. I spit out a small giggle. 
    Once my waiting is over. I grab the bag and walk out the door. I see where the parent's cars were parked and I'm guessing the one in the garage is Ethan's. I rap my fist on the front door and peer through the small window and see a figure coming to the door.  
    The door opens. Ethan. I plaster a phony smile across my face and introduce myself. "Hi. I'm Elloise Wilson, or Ella for short."  I extend my arm out to shake his. Ethan slowly shakes my hand. "I'm Ethan Williams."
     I bite back the urge to say "I know" Instead I cough up a cheery, "Nice to meet you Ethan!" He nods. "Yeah, you too... Ella" He tells me I can come in. 
    I step inside the house. He leads me to the kitchen. I hand him the small bag. He looks confused, but opens it. "Thanks," He says. "Mom'll love it." I smile.
    He tells me he'll be back. I nod and say OK. When he leaves I sit down on the couch and study the room. Picture are already on the walls and the fireplace mantel. I pull out my phone and take quick snaps of the pictures. 
    When Ethan comes back I stand up. "I should be going." I say and I walk to the door. He follows me, opens the door for me and as I'm walking out he hands me a slip of paper and then closes the door.
    I walk into my living room and sit on my own couch.I look at the paper. He's written his number on it. I laugh. Yeah OK, like I didn't see that coming. I pull out my phone a type in is number and send him a quick "Hay!"
    After sending the message to him I scroll through the pictures I took. I smile a toothy grin. This is gonna be good.