Chapter 1 - Her

Those few seconds were pure heaven.

Jenny’s jaw dropped when she saw her new neighbor step out of his truck and start strutting a little way up the path towards his front door. Out from the corner of her curtains, she gasped at his beautiful face and imposingly strong body; his t-shirt fitting impeccably well, the biceps on full show and the delicious pecs thrusting themselves forwards. Never in her life had she seen a man she had admired quite so much. But then he turned, giving her a great shot of his tight, muscular glutes and strong thighs on full display in only a pair of tight gym shorts. He was going back to the truck, the passenger door opening where a girl was just getting out as well. Like a gentleman, he went straight to her, took her hand and eased her out.

That was when the moments of bliss ended. Just as Jenny was getting over the disappointment that her hunky new neighbor was not single, the image of his partner made her breath catch in her throat. It was a face she hadn’t seen in almost ten years and had dearly hoped she would never see again. She could feel her heart racing and her eyes bulging. It couldn’t be! Andrea? The girl who had made her high school existence an absolute misery. Was she going to be moving in right next door? Jenny wouldn’t be able to cope with that. Surely she wasn’t such a bad person that she would be deserving of this?

As if to rub salt in the wound, the beautiful, incredibly tall guy stooped down to kiss Andrea on the lips and he wrapped his strapping arm over her shoulder; both of them gazing upon the house they had just purchased. In her shock, Jenny hadn’t realised that she had strayed out from behind the curtain, only noticing how exposed she was when the guy caught her stare and smiled at her, waving politely at her through her window.

Instinctively, Jenny threw herself back, filled with embarrassment. She couldn’t let Andrea see her. No way! Everything she had done in life seemed to evaporate: her successful career, her weight loss. She was reduced to being that shy, overweight, 250lbs eighteen year old girl no boy would take to the prom.

Jenny swallowed. She really had come a long way since those days. College had been awesome and everyone in the neighborhood loved her here. So why hide out and pretend that she didn’t have the courage to face her old demons head on? Without even registering what her body was doing, Jenny found her feet were suddenly leading her out of the door. It was, once again, that ridiculous side of herself, so desperate to please; the part of her that had made her such a target in high school; that made her open her own front door and smile at them both warmly in greeting.