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CHAPTER 1 - 'MOVING IN'

"Plain old Charlotte, with a boring and practically non-existant social life, and absolutely no luck what so ever with the opposite sex." That would have been the description I'd have given myself 6 months ago. But things changed in my life for the better. Who'd have thought new neighbours moving in would've resulted in something special happening in my life.................
'FILAN Removal co.' read the name printed on the large van, which had pulled up next door. I just hoped our new neighbours would be friendly, easy to get on with, and full of complaints like our last ones. I watched as a never ending supply of boxes and bags were unloaded from the van by 4 young men.
I hadn't actually seen our new neighbours yet, although my mother had. She had informed me earlier that day that they were from Dublin, Ireland, and they were the Byrne family. There was supposedly 3 children; a young boy, a lad about my age, and an older sister.
My mother had been talking to Mrs Byrne earlier in the morning, and had invited the family round to tea this afternoon, just to introduce themselves. Still, the last thing I needed were annoying boys next door. I wanted to be able to lie-in in the mornings of the summer holidays, without being woken up at the crack of dawn. Anyway, the afternoon quickly came. It was just after 3 o'clock when I heard my mother call up the stairs
"The neighbours are here Charlotte." I dragged my feet down the stairs, and went in to the living room. Mr and Mrs Byrne, the sister, and the youngest boy were sitting down, and greeted me with smiles as I entered the room.
"You must be Charlotte" said the woman, holding out her hand. " I'm Lynn, this is my husband Nicholas senior, my daughter Natalie, and my youngest David."
I shook her hand, and smiled at the other family members.
Lynn began again; "I have another son, Nicholas.He's your age and will be starting school after the holidays.I was hoping you could maybe walk him to school...well..for the first week anyway,just to make sure he find his way about?"
I nodded, "Yeh sure, I'd be glad to help."
"Nicholas should be round in a minute - he's at football practise just now."
Just as Lynn spoke, I heard a knock at the door.
"That's probally him now." My mother gestured towards the door, so I got up.
I walked to the front door and opened it.
In the door way stood a lad about my age, dressed in a football strip.
"You must be Nicholas" I said to him, with a smile.
"Yeh, I'm your new neighbour - nice to me you.......?"
"...Charlotte" I said quickly. His irish accent was very strong. "Come on in!" I said, and pointed towards the living room. Nicholas was tall and slim. He had short,blonde hair.
He turned around "Is me mam through here?"
"Yep, she is, along with your sis, and little bro."
Time passed by quickly. Eventually, it was time for the Byrne family to go. My mother walked Lynn, Nicholas senior, Natalie and David to the door, while Nicholas came over to me; "Do you want to go for a walk tomorrow..if it's nice?"
"Ummm..yeh, sure. I could show around the villiage, and introduce you to some of the locals."
"That would be great." Nicholas smiled. When he smiled his eyes lit up. "I guess I'll see ya tomorrow then?"
"You can count on it Charlotte." He was about to walk out of the house, when he turned around . "I forgot, you can call me Nicky - that's what my friends call me!"
"Okay, see ya tomorrow..'Nicky'!" With that, I watched him walk casually down the garden path. I shut the door, and began to make my way up stairs - I'd had a good day though! The new neighbours were nicer than expected, and Nicky seemed nice enough. I hoped we would become good friends. Little did I know what the next few days held.....

CHAPTER 2 - THE WALK
I woke early the next morning, and found myself to be in a brilliant mood! I glanced at the clock, as got dressed - it was 8am. The morning passed by, as I watched telly, and chatted to my mother over breakfast.
I was up in my bedroom,, tidying it for the first time in years, when I heard a knock at the door. I listened to my mother direct Nicky up stairs - "It's the first room on the right."
Nicky tapped on the door, before entering.
"Hiya, how y'doin?" He smiled at me as he sat down.
"I'm great, yourself?"
"Fine, yeh. So, fancy going on this walk then?"
"Sure, anything to get away from tidying this pig sty!"
We both laughed. I noticed he had a nice laugh. We were out the door within minutes.
"Where do you want to go?" I asked, turning towards him.
"You choose!" He had a cheeky grin on his face. I smiled back.
"Okay, we'll go to the lake. It's just out of the village, and it's really nice."
"Good, it sounds great!"
As we walked, we found out a lot about each other. Nicky was 1 month older than me, and enjoyed playing the playstation, watching and playing football, and listening to music. He liked the same bands as me - Nirvana, Oasis, and dance, so music became common in conversation. It took half an hour to reach the lake, but we didn't mind as it was a lovely day.
"Well, here we are - whaddya think?"
"It's really nice Charlotte. Good choice!"
We sat down on a wooden bench, by the lake, and talked some more. I found Nicky really nice, interesting, funny, and we seemed to just 'hit it off.' I can't remember how long we spent at the lake exactly, but it was at least a couple of hours.
Just as we were about to set off back home, Nicky asked "Charlotte, do you have a boyfriend?"
This question took me by surprise. I looked up at him. This may sound strange, but I suddenly felt different - I felt my face go red, as I answered "No."
I saw Nicky's face also go red. "I just thought....oh, never mind."
"No, finish what you were going to say!" He looked at me, but his look was different somehow.
"I just thought a good looking girl like you would have a boyfriend.......that's all."
He stared at me, to see my reaction. I didn't know how to answer. "No, I haven't had a boyfriend in a while now."
It was then when I noticed them - his lovely bright blue eyes. They were piercing, and seemed to light up when he heard my reply. "Oh..I didn't mean to pry, I was just curious.."
"It's okay." I'd began to find my voice again."I take it you're single?"
"Yes - I've still to meet that special someone!"
The same cheeky grin returned to his face. It didn't take us as long to walk back home, mainly due to the fact the conversation was hardly there. For some reason, the both of us were very quiet on the way home.
We reached my gate. "I'll see you later Nicky."
"You can bet on it!! I'll call round later on tonight if thats ok."
"Sure, the house is empty later, so take round some cd's and we'll have them up full blast!"
"It's a date!" With that, Nicky ran in to his house. For some reason, unknown to me then, the words 'It's a date' seemed to echo in my mind, and I found myself smiling.