The Neighbor - Don't Hate Me

Olivia gave me a quick nod. “Stay.”

“Ugh, fine. But call me as soon as you can,” I ordered, as I followed them to the front door.

“Promise,” Tori said before leading her down the porch stairs.

I felt awful for not going with them. But I was also not going to complain because I was so freaking tired from my trip and then the weight of getting fired still resting on my shoulders. I still hadn’t fully absorbed everything.

How was I going to pay for the house? Grandma had left my dad money and me the house. It made my stomach turn to even think about having to ask my dad to borrow money… again.

I was too old to ask my dad for money. I should have had more in my savings but it seemed like every time I got ahead in life, something would go wrong, and it would cost an arm and a leg to fix it.

There was a reason I didn’t have a car. I had to sell it the last time I needed money.

Tori was undoubtedly sick of chauffeuring me around. But she kept doing it with a smile on her face.

She was a good friend. A great friend. A far better friend than I was.

I walked over to the window and pulled the curtain back. The bright sunlight felt like pins stabbing my eyeballs. My eyes narrowed as I peered out the window, watching them make their way to Tori’s car.

As I was about to turn away, Olivia dropped to the ground.

“Oh, shit,” I said, letting the curtain fall back into place.

My feet pounded the ground as I made my way to the front door. By the time I was on my front lawn, my neighbor was crouched down next to her, checking her pulse.

“What happened?” I asked between quick breaths as I approached.

“Oh, my God, Hope, I don’t know,” Tori said, rubbing her neck with a shaking hand. “She just fell. I tried to catch her, but I’m afraid she still landed too hard.”

“She’s okay. She just fainted,” the neighbor said, pulling her hair away from her neck. He didn’t look up from her. “Could you go inside and get her some water?”

I didn’t question the guy who’d just been a complete asshole. Instead, I ran inside the house and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

When I got back outside, Tori was on the phone, giving out my address.

Olivia was on the ground, with tears rolling out the corners of her eyes. “You’re all overreacting. I can’t afford this. I’m fine.”

Her breathing seemed to have returned to normal. Tori held up her hand to silence her.

“We’ll figure out how to pay for it,” I said, lowering myself down to the ground.

My neighbor grabbed the bottle from my hand and helped her take a drink. Olivia was only able to take little sips.

“What happened?” my neighbor asked.

“Panic attack,” Olivia said. “That’s all it is.”

“Do you get them often?” he asked.

Olivia bit her lip. “I used to. Sometimes.”

“Let’s just get you checked out to be sure, okay?” he said. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. What’s your name?”

“Olivia,” she said, wiping away one of her tears.

He smiled at her. The smile was so incredible I almost took a step back. He was so utterly different than the man, who’d basically just scolded me for having an upset friend only minutes ago.

“Hi, Olivia, I’m Max,” he said. “I know people at the hospital, and I’ll make sure they’ll take good care of you, okay?”

Olivia sniffed and offered him a sad smile. “Okay.”

Great. Now both Tori and Olivia were going to think he was some amazing guy because he helped her and smiled at her. Big deal.

It didn’t take long for the ambulance to show up. Max helped the guys get her onto the gurney. He even helped Tori into the back of the ambulance after she handed me her keys.

He whispered something to the paramedics before they drove off, leaving us both standing there staring after them. The only thing between us was a dreadful silence.

I cleared my throat, wishing I could magically disappear and reappear inside my house. “Um, thanks for helping my friend.”

“Yeah, no problem,” he said. “She’s going to be okay.”

“Thanks,” I repeated. “What did you say to them about her?”

I couldn’t believe the intrusive question had escaped my lips. My talking before thinking was probably one of the reasons I’d gotten fired.

“Just some buddies of mine,” he said. “They’ll see what they can do about reducing the cost.”

“Are you serious?” I asked, my hands dropping to my sides as if they’d been holding twenty-five pound weights.

Max shrugged. “Don’t tell your friend, though, can’t promise anything, of course.”

“Wow, that’s really kind of you,” I said. “After your complaints about her being upset, I was pretty surprised to even see you out here.”