i never said i liked you (book 2)

trouble in paradise

{stephanie}

7:30 pm

Steve and I sat across from each other in this fancy restaurant, except we sat in silence. He looked at me sadly, "What's wrong?" "I..just got a lot on my mind," "Like what?" "Trust me Steve, you wouldn't care." He looked at me irritated, but quickly pushed it away. I sighed, and rested my head on my hand. Steve upsettingly spoke, "God, am I that boring Steph?" "What? No! Why would you even say that?" "Because your sitting here like it's a chore to go out with me, I thought you were excited about this date," "I was-am, I am excited," "Then act like it," "Well, it's kinda hard to be all happy when I watched another girl rub up against you. You acted like it was nothing," "That's so not true! I pulled away from her," "Why haven't you said anything to Sodapop? Huh? It's like you enjoy the fact that his girlfriend is all over you." Suddenly, a waiter showed up to our table and looked at the both of us, "Excuse me! This is a restaurant, please quiet down." I glared at him, "No! I will not quiet down," "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to lower your voice," "Don't make me feel like I'm crazy, I'm out having dinner with my wonderful boyfriend and your not going to ruin it." The waiter looked at me bug eyed, "Ma'am, this is your last warning. Keep your voice down or else you're out." He walked away leaving Steve and I, Steve sighed, "Let's just enjoy our dinner and forget-," "Steven, don't patronize me. I'm not trying to ruin this dinner or our time together, but seeing another girl wrap her arm around yours and feel your muscles...makes my blood boil," "I know and I'm sorry! Steph, you know I didn't want her to do that. I love you and only you, okay?," "...okay, I'm sorry for overreacting."

{nancy}

7:45 pm

I walked inside my glorious home and was immediately met with my brother in the kitchen, I looked at him sternly, "So, how was the mall today?" "It was alright, anyways I'm heading upstairs-," "Don't even think about it." He gulped and looked at me, "I'm guessing you..saw?" "Of course I saw! I saw my best friend kissed you, and you kissed her back," "It was nothing Nancy, just leave it alone," "No! Do you know what this means? It means the other night when you came back from the drive-in, you came back from hanging with her," "It wasn't like that, she was there with a few friends," "What? Who?" "Some red headed girl and another with dark hair." My face immediately contorted to anger, "That lying bitch!" Bryce looked at me confused, "What? What did she lie about?" "That red head girl you saw was Stephanie Curtis, Sodapop's sister," "The one you hate?" "Duh! Cherry said she hated Stephanie, she used to bully her in high school. She's up to something," "I'm sure it's nothing-," "You know nothing! Why would Cherry tell me she hates Stephanie and then go hangout with her?." Bryce just looked at me questioningly, I scoffed, "Because they are up to something! And I'm gonna find out what it is."

{steve}

11:00 pm

After dinner, Steph and I had went to the cinema to see a movie, and by the time we got back to her house, it was 11. We were both just sitting in my truck not speaking, she spoke up, "I had a really good time with you tonight," "Me too! I'm glad we finally got to go out. I'm gonna be sad when you leave in a few days, but at least you'll be back for Christmas." She didn't say anything, she just sorta stared out the window. After a few seconds she spoke, "Steve, I have to tell you. something...I'm not coming home for Christmas break." I looked at her and slightly laughed, "What?" "I..I wanted to come home, but my sorority is having a Christmas party and it's sort of a tradition-," "Your ditching Christmas with your family for some stupid sorority?" "It's not stupid Steve! College is important to me, you know that!" "What about me? What about your brothers? Aren't we important to you?" "Of course you are! My brothers will understand, Darry already said yes...he wants me to live my life," "What about me Steph? I'm part of your life." She sighed in a frustrated manner, "Of course you are! And I love you, but...college is my life too. I have been dreaming of it for my entire life-," "Oh here we go again, we all get it Stephanie. You got out of this town, and we didn't. Congratulations!! You want a fucking award?!?" "Why are you acting like this?" "Because you care more about college than you do anything else and it's been that way for our whole fucking relationship," "Steve I care about you, you know that," "Do you? Because you act like what you did in high school is just forgotten. I still remember what you did, and so does everyone else," "I fake dated Dally to fucking protect you Steve," "No, you did it to protect your precious reputation." She looked at me hurt, "How can you even say that? I did what I did to protect you from Bob and the other socs, I wouldn't have been able to live if something bad happened to you, but I guess that's not how you see it." She angrily got out of the truck and made her way up her front steps, I chased after her, "Stephanie I'm sorry!" "Just stop Steve." Before she could open the door, I pulled her close to me and smashed my lips against hers. She angrily pushed me away, "Just go home." And with that she went inside and slammed the door shut.
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~k