He had watched his neighbour for years; she was his dirty little secret. He had watched her grow and change. From the first time he had looked out his window at midnight to find her lying on her roof he had been intrigued. Then he noticed her at school – according to his friend she had been at the same school as them since grade 8; almost 4 years! He recognised the name; she had been one of the smartest people in his school ... and still was. Its just she was so quiet – she barely spoke except to her friends and even then she spoke quietly and softly. She rarely fought with her parents but when she did it was with her Mum. She was a real daddy's little girl.

He had watched her spend at least one night a week lying on her roof, staring at the stars. He learnt to judge her mood by her music. She wasn't easy to read ... that was if you noticed she existed. Her face could have been a mask for all the emotions it showed.

The first time he admitted to himself that he was falling in love with her was when he was admittedly quite intoxicated. He was returning from a party when he had climbed the wall on the right – not the wall to the left which led to his room. He climbed through the window and was about to yell at his Mum for changing his room completely – though it wasn't bad – it was quite cool but a little bit girly. Then he saw her. He turned and squinted. Yep his room was still the same ... but other the other side. He turned back to face her; she rolled over and let out a little meow. He couldn't help but smile. She seemed so childlike at times. He sat next to her sleeping form and brushed some of her hair out of her face. She snuggled against him. He kissed her softly then climbed back out of the window.

He had been walking home from school one day when he heard someone calling his name. He turned to find her standing about ten metres behind him, soaking wet and laughing.

"Chris! I've been calling your name for a while! Are you ignoring me?" she didn't wait for his reply and slipped under the umbrella he was holding. "Can I share your umbrella? ... Though I don't think it will help me that much anymore."

Chris smiled, "Sorry I would have waited but I was thinking – hey you spoke!"

She rolled her eyes, "I can and I do speak but only when I want to – I don't feel it's necessary to talk 24/7 like some people."

He winced; he guessed she got that reaction from a lot of people, "Sorry it's just you've never spoken to me before."

"I have – you just didn't notice. If it's that big a deal I'll talk to you ... might tarnish your reputation though."

"Tarnish my reputation?"

"Yep – you fit the jock stereotype; you are the star player of a sport, you don't have a steady girlfriend, you party a lot ... need I go on? And I'm not even a nerd; I'm lower than a nerd. Anyway we're home! Thanks for sharing your umbrella!" with that she scampered up her driveway and disappeared into her house.

She had been dancing around in her underwear for about a year now – when she was happy she turned her music up and danced around. Most of the time only wearing underwear. He felt bad for watching but he couldn't help it, she was addicting. She was mainly a hip-hop dancer but he saw a few ballet moves, too. Yesterday she had looked out her window – straight at him. She grinned, then closed her curtain and continued dancing; he could still see her silhouette.

The next day he sought her out to apologise.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be,"

"Why?"

"I knew you were watching and I watch you sneak into your room and get undressed almost every Saturday night. We're even."

"You watch me?"

"Yup. It's really funny to see you trying to get through the window; especially when you're really drunk."

"So you knew I was watching you?"

"I felt someone watching me and a couple of weeks later I saw your curtain move. It's not like it's that big a deal – my bathers show the same amount of skin. I know you notice things about me – mainly due to the fact I notice you, too." She leaned over to place a small peck on his lips. "See you later."

He was left in shock as she smiled and walked to class.

His dirty little secret had a secret of her own.