A Second Time Around

Chapter Twelve

"Can't you see he only did that to save you from humiliation?" Stacey asked.

"No. He did that to make me look weak in front of that slut!" Jenna said furiously.

It's eight o' clock in the evening and Stacey and Jenna are currently in Jenna's room, either reading textbooks or having Harry Potter movie marathon, sometimes vice versa, sometimes simultaneously.

"I can't believe it!" Jenna suddenly exclaimed, surprising Stacey. "I thought he likes me."

"Of course he does," Stacey replied, eating popcorn while reading her textbook. "He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Stacey laughed.

"I don't care. What he did was unforgivable." Jenna said vehemently. "I'll never talk to him again."

Stacey secretly rolled her eyes. Until he gives you a box of expensive chocolates and another movie ticket to soften you up. She thought.

Jenna's cell phone rang again. "Ugh, he's so annoying!" Jenna cried, walking across the room to take her phone.

"Look, he's been calling for like, what, the twentieth time already?" Stacey said, lying on her stomach on Jenna's bed while munching popcorn. "Why don't you hear him out?"

"I said I don't want to talk to him." Jenna replied. She turned off her phone. "There, that should do the trick."

Jenna sat in her bed again, then began watching the third movie of Harry Potter. "Now, I don't want to talk about him," Jenna said, grabbing a bag of popcorn. "I want to talk about you and Andy-hottie." She laughed.

"There's that stupid nickname again." Stacey said, taking a pillow beside her and throwing it at Jenna. Jenna caught it easily.

"Thank you." Jenna said, sticking her tongue out. "So, what did you want to tell me that you can't say earlier at the cafeteria?"

Stacey hesitated, but told her anyway. "You're right. I think I'm beginning to have a crush on him again."

Jenna squealed. "I knew it, yes!" she said triumphantly. "So, when do I hear wedding bells?"

Stacey looked at Jenna weirdly. "I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear your last question." Stacey said, "Jen, I'm scared. You know I always feel deeply about people, even the least important ones, so I get hurt easily. Do you remember how heartbroken I felt when I was about to tell him that I like him, but I just found out he has a girlfriend? And that's just with a simple crush!"

Jenna smiled kindly at Stacey. "Bestie, for the past few years that we've studied here in New York, I've never seen you fawn over cute guys and other boys after Andrew graduated. I think, unconsciously, you're still waiting for him, and now that he has returned, you just couldn't help yourself. Stacey, I think you're in love with him!"

Stacey frowned. "Isn't it a bit early for that?" she scoffed. "And stop romanticizing things. It's just a simple crush. Nothing more, nothing less. And besides, he's my professor now. Even if we're madly in love-which we aren't-we can never be together, duh."

Jenna looks like she wants to say something else, but decided against it. She shrugged. "Okay," she said simply, "But then, if you don't want him, you can still have Travis." She teased.

"Ew," Stacey said, disgusted. "How did he come up in our conversation?"

"Please tell me you aren't completely dense!" Jenna exclaimed. "It's obvious he's into you."

Stacey rolled her eyes. "He's only out to annoy me." She said, "And I thought you're the one who has a crush on him?"

Jenna munched another popcorn before replying. "Yeah, but he's not the only one I have a crush with. There's Ethan, John, Jason, and Daniel." She indicated the screen when she said the last name.

Stacey laughed. "Daniel Radcliffe?"

"The very same." Jenna winked. She took her glass of iced tea from her bedside table and raised it. "Let's have a toast to all our crushes."

Stacey took her own glass and clinked it with Jenna's. "Cheers, Ginny Weasley."