My alarm goes off but I refuse to move. I just lay in bed and stare up at the glow in the dark stars on my roof, thinking if I just lay here long enough, my alarm will shut up and my responsibilities will just disappear with it.

I close my eyes and feel myself drift off to sleep when I hear a fist pounding on my door.

"Alexa, get your lazy butt out of bed! You need to get ready for work," I hear my best friend and roommate yell from the other side of my bedroom door, bursting my bubble. I groan in complaint.

"Go away," I yell back and sluggishly throw a pillow at my door. I roll onto my stomach and hear my door creak open and before I know it, my blankets are being pulled off of me. "Seriously, Mia?" I complain with my eyes still closed.

"Seriously," she responds with a laugh and smacks me on the head with the pillow I had thrown at the door. "Now get up and get ready. The last thing we want is to be late to work."

"Fine. I'll start getting ready. Just give me five more minutes."

"No, Alexa! Get your lazy ass out of bed," she demands and starts pulling me by my leg until I'm literally clinging to my bed to keep from falling off.

"Okay, I give. I give. I'll start getting ready now," I say with a huff and feel her release my leg. "Now go away, so I can get ready."

"Fine, but you better be ready in half an hour."

"Yes, mother," I say with a roll of my eyes and climb out of bed, giving up any hope I had of getting even one more minute of shut-eye.

"Don't give me that attitude," Mia says with lots of sass and places her hand on her hip, but I know she's just messing around.

"Okay, enough. I need to get ready now that I'm up," I say with as much energy as I can muster.

"Thank goodness," Mia says, throwing her hands up in relief. "I'll leave you now. But now you only have twenty-five minutes since you took so long."

"That's fine. Now shoo," I tell her and gently push her out of my room before locking the door behind her, glad that she is finally out of my hair even if it is just for the time being. Don't get me wrong. I love Mia to death. I just don't appreciate when people get between me and my sleep, but in this case, it can't be helped. We both have to get to work.

I quickly do my usual morning routine and get in a quick shower before getting dressed. I give my outfit a once over and simply accept the fact that I'm not going to look any better than I did yesterday or the day before and completely skip the mirror and walk past my stash of makeup on the bathroom counter and grab my hairbrush.

On my good days, I would at least put some mascara on and maybe a pop of color for my lips, but today I'm not feeling it. The last thing I want to do is look in the mirror, so I skip that part altogether and brush my curly hair.

People often compliment my long raven black hair that falls in waves around my shoulders and back, but not even my hair is enough to give me the boost of confidence that I need to feel good about myself, but there are those rare days where I actually do like what I see in the mirror. They are few and far between, but when I have those kinds of days, I cling to them as if they were my lifeline because those days are what help me keep going.

I walk out of my bathroom, refusing to look at myself in the mirror and make my way towards the kitchen with my purse in hand.

"You look really pretty," Mia comments just like she does practically every day, but I feel that her saying it is no different than my mom telling me that I'm beautiful, which she really only says because I'm her daughter. That's basically every parent's obligation, and I feel that Mia feels that same sense of obligation since I'm her best friend and roommate, but I thank her just the same. I never do take her words to heart though, because I have a hard time believing them no matter how many times she tells me I'm pretty and beautiful.

"Thanks, Mia," I respond. I don't even bother putting myself down because I know she'll scorn me. I keep my negative thoughts to myself and simply pour myself a fresh cup of coffee.

"I made you some eggs, bacon, and hash browns just the way you like them," she tells me as she hands me a plate full of delicious smelling food.

"You're the best," I respond gratefully and take my plate to our small dining table.

"You're welcome. Now hurry and scarf it down. We don't want to be late to work."

"Yes, ma'am," I respond with a mock salute and dig into my breakfast, enjoying every single bite that is mouthwatering. "Thanks for this amazing breakfast," I tell her as I finish up my last bite of food and take my plate to the sink to wash it, but she beats me to it.

"You're welcome. Now go warm up the car while I finish washing the dishes."

"Will do. Thanks again." I grab my purse and walk out the front door of our small two-bedroom apartment.

Our apartment isn't big by any means, but I love it because it's cozy and has just what we need. A small living room, kitchen, and two bedrooms and two bathrooms. I have an en-suite and Mia has the bigger bedroom, but she preferred that over having a bathroom in the room, so she gets the guest bathroom to herself.

We also don't have any annoying upstairs neighbors since our apartment is only one story, which is a plus. We do have neighbors, but they are all really great and have never given us any problems. We have a few neighbors to our right and a courtyard to our left. On the other side of the courtyard is more one-story apartments. And on the far back side of the courtyard are even more apartments.

It's kind of a weird layout but we have a huge grass courtyard between the two big rectangles that are made up of one story apartments. The courtyard isn't anything special but it's the outdoor space available to us if we ever want to throw a party. We never have but many of our neighbors do throw parties here and there.

Some of the apartments have backyards. We didn't really feel like we needed one since we don't have any pets, so we went with the bigger apartment instead. It's not that big but definitely bigger than those that have backyards.

We got lucky and got the corner apartment right beside the courtyard. Our apartment is also facing a small grass area that is set up like a park. It has picnic tables and grills so residents can cook and eat outside. Beyond the grassy area is the big parking lot where we all park our cars. Our complex isn't anything special but it is home to us and we love it here.

I make it outside of our apartment and take a few steps when I hear the click of a shutter. I quickly look over to my right and see a guy with a camera in his hand. A camera that happens to be pointed in my direction.

"Can I help you?" I ask him and the guy boldly takes more pictures as I stand there waiting for a response. "Can I help you?" I repeat frustrated and he finally lowers his camera from his face, revealing a pair of light blue eyes and a smirk that I want to slap right off his stupidly handsome face.

"You already did," he finally responds in a deep, baritone voice that is the last thing I expect to come out of him.

"Excuse me?" I respond dumbfounded, not knowing what to say to him.

He simply laughs, completely ignoring what I said and walks towards me until there are only two feet between us. I look up at him and I mean literally look up because he towers over me. I have no idea how tall he is, but seeing as I am five-seven, my guess is that he is over six feet tall. Not that I mind. After all, it's always nice looking at a tall man.

"I'm Nate, your new Neighbor," he informs me and extends his hand towards me. I arch my eyebrow, not believing one word that is coming out of his mouth and simply stare at him, refusing to shake his hand.

"And I'm Britney Spears," I respond sarcastically.

"Look, it's true. I live around the corner towards the back of the complex," he tells me with a shrug and lifts the hand he was holding out to me to rub the back of his neck just as Mia steps out of our apartment.

"I know what apartment you're talking about. It's the one that has been vacant for months and is facing the back side of the courtyard."

"Yes, that one. I live there now," he persists but I don't believe him for one second.

"What the hell! Why haven't you warmed up the car, Alexa?" Mia complains, interrupting our conversation. She walks up to me but doesn't notice the intruder. I nod in the new guy's direction, and she finally realizes that we're not alone.

"I haven't warmed up my car because we apparently have a new neighbor," I inform her.

Mia looks up at him and literally has to crane her neck up because she is shorter than me by a few inches, but she embraces her pixie-like figure.

"So now you believe me?" Our supposed new neighbor asks and I shrug my shoulders.

"Not really," I say bluntly. "But that's not what I care about. Why were you taking pictures of me like a total creep? You don't even know me."

"I'm a photographer."

"Does that give you a right to take pictures of random strangers?"

"I can't help it. Taking pictures is my passion."

"And what does that have to do with me?"

"I saw you and I knew that I had to capture your beauty."

"Oh please," I respond with a dry laugh and roll my eyes, not believing the crap that is spewing out of his mouth.

"I meant what I said," he says with so much seriousness, I almost believe him, but I can't. Not when I know deep down that I'm not beautiful.

"I've heard enough," I respond angrily, and turn to Mia. "Let's go. We don't want to be late," I tell her and push past our supposed new neighbor.

I don't have to look back to know he's watching me as I walk away from him. "Mia, snap out of it," I mutter angrily over my shoulder. The moment she saw him she went quiet and I don't get it. Yeah, the guy is handsome but looks aren't everything.

"Sorry. He's just so...gorgeous," she whispers the last bit as she climbs into the passenger seat of my car.

"I agree to disagree," I lie as I get into the driver's seat, and close my car door. I put the key in the ignition and turn on the car. While the car warms up, I put on my seatbelt and see out of the corner of my eye that he's still standing in the same spot, looking in our direction. I turn towards him and see that his camera is pointed in my direction again, so I flip him off, and peel out of the parking lot, no longer wanting to see his disgustingly handsome face.

I sigh, hating the fact that I even thought he was handsome to begin with and put on the first radio station that I find, needing music to drown out my thoughts of him.

I arrive at our workplace fifteen minutes later and thankfully make it just in time for our shift that is just about to start.

Mia leads the way into the bridal store we work at and makes her way straight to the back where our small lockers are located. We quickly put our belongings away and grab our name tags before heading back out onto the floor where there are already some clients looking through wedding dresses. I put on my name tag just like I do every day and plaster a smile on my face before approaching the nearest bride-to-be, who looks as happy as can be.

I immediately ask her about her wedding, her fiancé, and what she has in mind for her dress. Before I know it, I'm helping her look for her dream dress, which I do every single weekday with tons of brides-to-be and I love doing it.

I can't wait until the day that I get to be one of them. I want to feel that special feeling that brides-to-be get when they try on their dream dress, but first I have to find the man of my dreams, which is proving to be next to impossible, so I no longer even bother getting my hopes up. I just simply help other women fulfill their wedding dreams while mine slowly burn out like a dying flame.

After helping the bride-to-be try on more than thirty dresses we find the one. It literally brings her and her mother to tears. It's always a sweet moment to witness, but I no longer feel the joy I felt when I first started working here. It's not that I'm not happy for the brides to be, I am. I just have a big void in my life that is only getting bigger and bigger the longer I spend without experiencing love first hand. But when it comes to love there's no rushing it.

Love will literally come my way when it's time, but it sure is taking its sweet time, which is really starting to tick me off. Especially since I have yet to have a first boyfriend and a first kiss. Everyone tells me I just need to be patient and wait it out because my time will come. I just don't know when. I always hope it will be soon, but it has yet to make itself known, and it's starting to frustrate me because I am not getting any younger here.

"Hey Alexa, can you come help me with my client?" I hear Mia ask in a panic and snap out of my train of thought, realizing that I had spaced out thinking about my non-existent love life.

"Yeah, sure," I respond as my client pays for her dress at the front desk. I wave goodbye to her and walk over to where Mia is with her bride-to-be. As soon as I walk up to them I know things are not going well.

Her client is literally in tears, which Mia is never good at dealing with, so I usually take over for her when this happens because I am better at dealing with crying brides-to-be. I immediately walk up to the crying girl, who can't be a year over twenty-four, and smile up at her before proceeding to talk to her about what she wants just like I do with every client. Once I have a good idea in regards to what she wants, I go and grab a handful of dresses for her to try on and she seems more than willing to give them all a go. Luckily for me, it doesn't come to that because she immediately falls in love with the second dress she tries on and claims that it's the dress, so I take her word for it and leave her in Mia's hands as I go and help another bride-to-be.

Before I know it, my shift is over and I am finally free to go home, which both Mia and I are relieved about, because we had more than our fair share of crying customers throughout our eight hour shift and it was not easy making them happy but by some miracle we succeeded and found the perfect wedding dress for all of them.

We got lucky though because clients don't always leave with their dream dress and when that happens, it's really disheartening because every bride-to-be comes with her heart set on finding the dress on their first appointment but that rarely happens. We just got lucky today.

When we step out of the bridal store we sigh in relief and make our way to my car, knowing that we are that much closer to getting home. I toss Mia the keys to my car and she happily takes the wheel as I climb into the passenger seat, more than ready to go home so I can finally relax and forget all about weddings and crying clients.

I lean my head on the passenger window and close my eyes, needing a small power nap to hold me over until nighttime when I finally get a good night's rest.

"We're here," I hear Mia whisper and groan in complaint, hating that I have to wake up from my short nap.

"Take my car around the block, so I can sleep a bit longer," I mumble groggily, making her laugh.

"No can do. We have company."

"Who?" I ask half-asleep.

"Our handsome new neighbor."

"Damn it all to hell," I mutter under my breath, and slowly peel my eyes to see that Mia isn't kidding. "What the hell is he doing here?" I ask out loud without meaning to.

"There's only one way to find out," Mia responds with a grin and quickly jumps out of the car, leaving me no choice but to follow her. I sigh, already feeling annoyed by his simple presence, and get out of the car, determined to do one thing and one thing alone.

I catch up with Mia just as she approaches our "new neighbor," but instead of staying by her side I make a beeline for our front door, determined to get into the apartment. Sadly, my plan fails when he steps in front of our door, blocking the only entrance to our place.

"Seriously?" I respond angrily, not believing that he's keeping me from going into my own home.

"I just wanted to talk. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot earlier, and want to make amends."

"Don't bother," I respond with a huff.

"Look, I'm really sorry I took pictures of you without asking. I promise it won't happen again," he tells me and I know he is being honest. I just don't want to hear it. Not right now.

"Fine. You're forgiven. Now can I please enter my apartment?" I plead, which is kind of ironic because I am practically begging to enter my own home.

"Yes, but not before I say one last thing."

"Fine. Spit it out," I respond impatiently, and see a smirk form on his lips, which only aggravates me more for some stupid reason.

"I'm having a housewarming party at my new place this Friday, and was hoping you two could come," he says, looking at Mia and me.

"I-" I start but Mia cuts me off before I can even finish.

"We'll be there," she responds with a coquettish smile that I want to wipe right off her lips. It seems like everything is pissing me off today, Mia included.

"Great," he responds with a broad smile as if Mia had just given him the best news ever. "The party starts at eight but you are both more than welcome to arrive early if you feel like hanging out."

"We'll keep that in mind," Mia responds flirtatiously, making me want to gag.

"Okay, I'm done here," I respond after hearing enough out of the both of them.

"I guess I'll see you around," our official new neighbor says, which I hate to accept, but he clearly wasn't lying. He really is our new neighbor. Just my luck. "And I really am sorry we got off on the wrong foot," he apologizes and looks me right in the eyes.

"It's fine," I respond with a half-hearted smile as he steps away from our door. I dig through my purse and find my apartment key, glad to finally be able to relax once and for all, and unlock the front door. "Goodnight, Nate," I tell him as I step foot inside my apartment, but refuse to make eye contact with him. I can't look him in the eye, not after all the shit I gave him.

As usual, I stuck my foot in my mouth, and am embarrassed because he just moved into the complex and I already gave him a hard time from day one. He kind of asked for it though when he took pictures of me without my permission. He should have known better, but what bothers me most is that he now has pictures of me and to make matters worse, I'm not even wearing makeup in them. I bet they all turned out horrible and I hope he does us both a favor and deletes all of them. They don't deserve to see the light of day.

I also hope he doesn't end up being an annoying neighbor because so far all our neighbors have been nothing but great, but I'm not so sure what to think about him. If he ends up being annoying, I'm going to learn to hate the man, even if he is handsome. Nobody likes an annoying neighbor.

I push aside every thought of him and make my way to my bedroom where my nice, comfy bed awaits me. I smile at the beautiful sight my bed makes and quickly undress before slipping into a large, comfy tee that's perfectly comfortable for sleeping in.