Amelia dressed in a black Grateful Dead t-shirt, ripped jeans, and scuffed-up Converse sneakers. She wrapped her wet hair in a messy bun and shrugged at the mirror. The bun sat right where her head injury was, but she didn't want to go out in public with soaking hair hanging over her shoulders, so she decided to tolerate the pain. Below her brown eyes were dark circles that she'd never seen before moving to this house. She chalked it up to the trials of a breakup. There wasn't time for makeup, so she'd just have to bare it all. She ran a toothbrush over her teeth and called it good.

She went out to the small concrete slab that served as a porch and waited for Gianna to arrive, putting on a classic rock playlist while she sat. The stone lions stared impassively through her, toward the house. The weather was temperate, and small buds on branches teased at the promise of spring on the surrounding trees. The fresh air felt like a relief from the brooding atmosphere of the house.

After some time, she saw her other next-door neighbor emerge from his house. She widened her eyes as she took him in. He was handsome. Not regular-person handsome but could-have-been-a-rock-star handsome. The top half of his black hair was pulled into a short ponytail, and from the top of the ears down his hair was shaved. He had gauged ear lobes and a tattoo sleeve on one arm. He had a serious look of concentration as he stretched his chiseled legs. He appeared to be getting ready for an afternoon jog.

Standing abruptly at the sight of him, she hurried over to say hello before he ran off. The sudden movement made her head throb in protest, but it was worth it to meet the cute guy next door.

"Hi!" Amelia shouted. She lost her courage right after her greeting and couldn't think of what else to say. Thankfully the man smiled and pulled his earbuds out to give her his attention. He was even more attractive now that he was smiling at her. Looking at him was almost too much to bear. Almost.

She remembered that she wasn't wearing any makeup and felt a sinking feeling in her belly. Why did things like this always happen when you looked your worst? This would be his first impression of her!

"Hey!" He said, his voice smooth and velvety compared to her squeaky greeting. "How's the new place treating you?"

"Great," Amelia found herself saying despite the fact that it had been anything but great. She found herself dumbstruck with his attention on her. She scanned his left ring finger for a sign of marriage and didn't find one.

"Is it just you living here?" she said, kicking herself for asking such a probing question upon first meeting. She pointed her thumb back at her little house. "It's just me over there. Me and those lion statues." She giggled, even though she wasn’t ordinarily a person who giggled.

Smooth. Real smooth.

"Yeah," he said, extending his hand. "It's just me here. And no lions. I'm Rain. Rain Lin." He seemed entertained by her fumbling, but not in an unkind way.

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"Amelia," she said, distracted by the warmth of his hand. "Amelia Ruiz."

"So," Rain said, his eyes smiling, "What brings a pretty girl like you to a dump like that?"

Amelia laughed. "A guy, funny enough. We're not together anymore, though. Convinced me to move all the way out here, take out a mortgage in my name, and took off with someone else."

“That is quite the story.”

She nodded her head, her face pulled taut into a sardonic smile. "It’s like something from bad TV, I know. Don't worry though. I’ve learned my lesson. My innocent, trusting days are done! I'm gonna’ be the one hurting people from now on!" Amelia pinched her face in a comical, menacing glare which she knew wouldn't look convincing with her naturally rounded cheeks. Her mom used to call her angel cheeks because of her innocent face. She knew she was babbling, and not making any sense, but she couldn’t seem to stop.

"I’m sorry," Rain said, wrapping the wires of his earbuds around his phone. "I'm just kidding about the house. It's not so bad. It does need a bit of work, though. If you need any help with anything, just ask, okay?" There was a hint of concern in his eyes that Amelia didn't understand.

"Anything at all," he added. There was an almost imperceptible flick of his gaze toward the stone lions.

"Okay. Thank you."

Amelia felt breathless. She had barely enough air to breathe, let alone speak. She only regained her composure when Rain jogged off, just in time for Gianna to pull up in a white pickup truck.

"I like how you dressed up the lions!" Rain shouted behind him as he turned the corner.

Amelia tried to wipe the goofy grin from her face as Gianna's truck pulled up the drive.

"Um, who was that?" Gianna demanded in a sing-song voice.

"My neighbor," Amelia said. "He's really nice."

"I bet he is," Gianna said.

"Oh, stop it! I just got out of a major thing. I'm not looking for trouble."

"I know, but I'm just saying that if trouble like that came looking for me, I probably would let it find me."

"You're married!"

"This is all hypothetical. A hypothetically single me would let that trouble find me. A little bit of trouble never hurt anyone, and you don't deserve one more minute of happiness to be stolen from you."

“Are we ready to go?” Amelia was eager to end this thread of conversation.

Gianna smirked as Amelia stepped inside the car. On the drive, Amelia watched the small-town streets and buildings rush past her vision. This was never the kind of place she thought she’d end up in. A big city, maybe. But a tiny town like this? It was just proof that her life had gone completely sideways.

"How are you and Noah doing anyway?" she asked, eager to distract herself from her problems.

"Great," Gianna said, her mouth widening in a grin. "Talking about having another baby soon..." Her eyes were on the road, but Amelia could see how excited Gianna was to share this news. Another baby. They already had three kids! How did they have time or money for all that mess? Amelia couldn’t imagine it. She could hardly take care of just herself most days.

Amelia leaned forward in her seat and beamed at her friend. "Wow. That's so great, Gianna!" Admittedly, there was a pang of regret in Amelia's chest. Even though she didn't want kids, it was hard not to envy what a different stage of life Gianna and Noah were in. They had stability, security, love, and two working cars. Amelia didn't have any of those things. Not even close.

She had snagged herself a mortgage before thirty, but unfortunately, the only ones sharing her life with her right now were the creepy stone lions. That and the homicidal dream lady who had made her appearance today. Amelia hoped it would be the last time she saw her. But with every throb of her aching head, she had a creeping feeling that it would not be the last time.