- Aria's POV -

"Fuck all your ABC's, Alphabet Boy!" I dance around my room, blasting Melanie Martinez's Alphabet Boy on the stereo and grab my hairbrush, pretending it is a microphone.

Lydia and Paul are both coming home late tonight, so I have the place to myself for the next eight hours. Liz and Zoe are supposed to be here in twenty minutes, and I am still in my clothes from school.

I run to the shower and use my honey scented shampoo, wrap my hair in a towel and pulled my robe on after I finish, then go back to my room and throw on an oversized black shirt and black shorts. I braid my hair into two and let them rest over my shoulders, then apply some lip balm and pull the curtains back open. Finally, I go downstairs and grab a glass of cranberry juice.

The door bursts open and my two best friends step inside, throwing their bags on the couch and taking off their shoes.

"Hey, idiot." They say in unison.

"Hey, weirdos," I laugh and offer them a bag of Doritos.

Liz snatches it from my hand and Zoe turns Netflix on. I decide to order pizza while she picks a movie, which turns out to be Napoleon Dynamite. I make two bowls of popcorn and twenty minutes into the movie, the pizza finally arrives.

"Oh my gosh, I totally forgot, what was that between you and Miles today?" Liz exclaims, her attention turning onto me.

Zoe's eyebrows shoot up at the question and she seems to forget about the movie too.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I shrug, savouring a piece of pepperoni.

"Hello? You. Art. Paint. Crash. Miles. Drenched in paint." Zoe deadpans.

I feign realization. "Oh! You mean when I bumped into him today and spilt my paint all over him and how he was super pissed."

They nod.

"What about that?" I ask.

Zoe glares at me. "What did he mean by 'You're dead!'?"

Liz rolls her eyes. "It means she's dead meat. He's obviously plotting revenge at this very moment."

After the movie's finished, we head back up to my room and decide to play some Truth or Dare. Well, that is until Liz stops in her tracks and gasps.

Zoe and I turn to look at her. "What?"

"MilesPrescottisyournewneighbour," Liz speaks so fast we have no idea what she just said.

"English, Lizzy." Zoe rolls her eyes.

Liz points towards the window.

"Miles Prescott is your new neighbour, Aria." She states more slowly this time.

I furrow my brows in confusion and look towards the window. Sure enough, there stood Miles in the window across from mine, back turned. He's only wearing a towel wrapped around his waist and his blond hair is wet.

"Oh my god, he's shirtless!" Liz sqeauls and presses her nose against the glass.

Zoe smirks and raises her eyebrow at me. "Well, I guess your life really just might turn into a cliche romance novel."

I shake my head. "No freaking way! I hate that jerk, my paint was wasted on him!"

Liz turns back around with a mischievous grin.

"Hey, you know what? Forget him. Let's just play already." She glances at Zoe and smirks.

Zoe smirks back and her gaze shifts to me. What the hell are these two planning?

"Okay . . ." I say carefully, then take my seat on my bed.

"I'll go first. Aria, truth or dare?" Liz asks.

"Dare," I tell her without thinking. I barely ever pick truth, it's just too boring.

She and Zoe exchange another toothy grin. Suddenly I regret my decision . . .

"I dare you to jump into Miles' room and work your magic." She rubs her hands together.

My eyes widen and I feel like bashing my head with a hammer over and over again.

"Why are you guys so evil?" I groan but accept the challenge.

I peek through the window to see Miles now wearing a pair of grey sweats, his shirt nowhere to be seen. He was drying his hair with his towel, completely unaware of us three girls watching him through the window. Lucky for me, there is a tree in between our houses and a branch that would give me easy access to climb onto and slip through his open window.

So that's exactly what I do, with occasional glances at my friends' evil smirks. The window is wide open and I jump in the room as silently as I can, then lean against the wall and wait until he turns around.

To be honest, I have no idea what I am going to do.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?" He jumps a little when he realizes I'm standing behind him.

"Hello to you too, neighbour," I smirk.

He stays quiet for a second before the realization sinks in. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

I take a step towards him.

"I must say, you looked incredibly hot with just a towel on." I wink and bite my lip, taking another step until we're nose to nose.

Well, actually, nose to chest. Miles is way taller than me. I'm five foot six while he's probably six foot one.

Kill me now.

His blue eyes drop to my legs which are on full display. Crap, why didn't I change?

I trace his chest with my fingertip and place my other hand on his shoulder. His breath hitches as he puts his hands on my waist. I stand on my tip toes and leave a soft kiss on his jaw, internally smirking when his grip on my waist is tighter.

Then I whisper in his ear, "But you looked more sexy when you were covered in paint." I pull away.

He gapes, then clenches his jaw and stares at me in disbelief.

This is getting weird.

Abort mission. Abort mission!

A smirk appears on his lips as he takes a step closer, trapping me between the wall and him. He grabs my wrists and holds them over my head and uses his right leg to trap mine. He buries his face in the crook of my neck for a couple of uncomfortable seconds.

"Mmm. You smell like honey, sweet and delicious."

Miles' breathing is heavy, but then suddenly he grabs something off the bedside table and I'm freezing.

That idiot poured ice cold water on me!

"If it's a prank war you want, then it's a prank war you'll get." I shiver.

He smirks again. "Let the games begin, shortcake."

Great. Now I have a pet name. I fake a gag and head back to the window and climb onto the tree branch, but not before I turn back and give him the finger. He does the same before closing the blinds.

When I get back to my room, Liz and Zoe are bursting with laughter and my face is on fire. Liz starts tapping away on her phone and holds it up for me to see.

Amazing, she recorded the whole thing.

"Lizzy Grace Thompson, if you post that and don't delete it right now I'll tell Ryan you like him!" I challenge.

I know that's the last thing Liz wants right now.

She just nods and hands her phone to Zoe.

"If Liz can't post it, I will." She laughs.

"Uh, I'll tell your mom about her tulips!"

Zoe glares at me before deleting the video.

Ah, victory.

An hour before Lydia and Paul get home, my friends leave and I'm changed into my pajamas, my hair left open after Miles soaked it. I leave it to air dry overnight, even though I know I might catch a cold.

Standing for fifteen minutes blow drying my hair when I'm tired isn't what I want to do right now. Especially since my hair is long. Anyone who has long hair knows it's a pain in the butt.

Then finally, I drift off to a dreamless sleep with Stitch tucked under my arm.