Fallen in Love with a Criminal

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My name is Aspen Rosebay. I just moved out of my parents house upstate, and moved downstate to the big (-ish) city, Valley Road. Valley Road is like it sounds, in a valley. The buildings weren’t skyscraper tall, and the apartment building I moved into was only four stories tall.

I moved into a little apartment with a big window. The window led to a grate porch kind of thing. I mean it wasn’t truly mine and I had to crawl through the window, but at night I sat out there and looked at the stars. And sometimes I could hear the high pitched song of the fiddle coming from the high rise apartment down from mine.

My apartment wasn’t much, it had two rooms. The kitchen and the bedroom. The kitchen is two pantries, a kitchen, stove, and two dog bowls marked with the word "Frank". Connecting the two rooms was a wall with a sliding door.

My bedroom was simple. The large window was above my bed (the sun was my alarm). A end table was next to my bed, and the bottom shelf was removed. Instead was a fluffy dog bed, again marked with “Frank”. You may be asking who Frank is. Frank is my bulldog. I’ve had him since I was 16. On the wall next to my bed is my closet. Lastly the wall parallel to my bed, is all bookshelf, and not one spot was empty.

This story begins out on my “porch”. I looked out at the stars, brushing my hair after a shower. I wore pajama pants, and a tee shirt. The man in the next building over, the one who played the fiddle, wasn’t playing. I sighed and ran the brush through my hair again.

“One last stroke.” I said, and sighed. I brushed through my hair once more and threw the brush back through the window, it landed on my pillow. I blinked up at the stars. “When tomorrow comes.” I remembered a song I had loved in sixth grade. “I look up to the sky. Feeling frightened of the things that I don’t know.” I paused. “When tomorrow comes, when tomorrow comes, when tomorrow comes. I know the road is long, I look up to the sky. Feeling darkness when it is all around.” I smiled softly. “Look around you and see a sweet light, stuck in the darkness you’re my flashlight getting me through-”

“Hey” I jumped. I yelped, my voice echoed slightly in the quiet night. "Didn't mean to scare you." The voice came again. I looked around. My eyes locked on the light emitted from the window. I followed the light to the window of the man, the man who played the fiddle! He was leaning on the window sill, his chin on his hand.

"W-who are you?" I asked. The man in the window smiled.

"My name is Nick, Nick Young." He grinned. I smiled.

"Aspen Rosebay." I looked at my clothing. "I didn't think I would be meeting anyone tonight, especially my neighbor." I could feel my cheeks grow red.

"Oh, that's fine." He waved it away. "I heard you singing." He said, resting his chin back on his hand.

"Y-you did‽" I could feel my face get even redder.

"Oh no, it wasn't bad, you sounded like an angel." He looked surprised, then grinned. "I've heard the sung before, but not as well as that." I didn't think that it could happen, but my face got hotter. Nick didn't seem to notice, he stood quietly waiting for a response. I ducked my head and buried my face in my palms. I started to laugh. I looked up at Nick, who was looking at me, clearly confused. As I tried to talk my speech was plagued with laughter.

"I'm sorry...I don't mean it like....that." I laughed. "But this is hilarious to me." My laughter had died down now, but I gasped for air in between chuckles. "I'm in my pajamas when I meet my neighbor for the first time, and I was singing." I put my face in my hands for a second then looked up again. I was smiling, I wasn't laughing anymore though. "Okay, enough about me. You're amazing at playing the fiddle." at this Nick blushed. Just slightly, hard to notice in the dark, but still there.

"Okay, Okay enough of the flattery." He grinned.