Not A Love Story, I Think

Chapter 3

For the rest of the night, the three girls just played board games while getting to know each other better. Slowly, Cari opened up a little, but not fully. Alice and she actually got along great, which was different because usually Eliza is the one who hits off with other people and Cari just hung around. The next morning, Eddie had apparently decided to make pancakes for the teens. After eating, Cari and Eliza gathered their belongings to leave.

"Thanks for having us over," Eliza said as Alice walked them out.

"Thanks for coming over. I'm just glad that I'm managing to make friends." Alice laughed as the other girls smiled at her.

 Once they were out, Eliza turned to her friend and said, "See, meeting new people doesn't always have to be an awful experience." Eliza gave Cari a cheesy smile that was returned with a glare.

"I have never said that meeting new people was awful. I am just not very good at meeting new people."

"Well, Alice sure seems to have taken a liking to you," Eliza said with a wink.

"You are literally the most annoying person I have ever met," Cari said with complete seriousness. 

"I try." Eliza pecked Cari's cheek and smiled. Cari rolled her eyes and walked ahead of her best friend. 

---

A few days later, Cari walked into Frozone by herself since Eliza was grounded after she failed a test in history. She was distracted by her Instagram feed when she bumped into someone walking out of the line and, just as the cliche movie scene goes, Cari ended up with a shirt covered in frozen yogurt.  

"You have got to be kidding me!" Cari yelled looking at her shirt. "I understand it's a hard concept for some to watch where the fu-" Cari cut herself off when she realized who she actually ran into. 

"It looked more like you ran into me. Didn't know you could be so feisty, Cari," Alice said, looking down at her. Cari didn't realize that Alice was a good 5 inches taller than her until now. Cari looked down, clearly embarrassed. "Don't worry. It was hot." Alice winked at her. " I have a shirt in my car if you want to change. It'll be a little big, but I'm sure you could pull it off." Cari tried to hide her blush as she nodded her head. Cari looked around and saw people staring at both of them.

"Sorry, everyone. Enjoy your frozen yogurt," Cari said as they made their way to Alice's car.  "I uh didn't know you had a car." Cari was really just trying to make conversation, which is not her strong suit.  

"I have to have some secrets, princess," Alice said jokingly. 

"That was way too cheesy for my taste. Or anyone's, probably," Cari said with an eye roll. 

"You love it. I can tell you are the cheesy type."

"I am not cheesy." Cari declared.

"But you see princess, you are."

"How would you even know? We have had, what, 3 conversations? Not counting at your house. You barely know me. Can you just give me the damn shirt I was promised since you ruined the one I'm wearing?" Cari snapped and she wasn't really sure why.

"Okay, okay. Obviously, I struck a nerve there," Alice mumbled the last part. Cari just sighed with frustration as Alice opened the car door to grab her spare shirt. It looked like a shirt for a band that Cari had never heard of. "This is actually one of my favorite shirts, so I'll definitely need it back. You know where I live so you can just bring it within the next couple of days."

"Is this a band tee?" Cari asked in a somewhat shy manner. She felt bad for snapping on Alice twice within 10 minutes. She was usually a really calm person so she wasn't sure why she reacted this way. Alice just nodded. "What kind of music do they make? I don't think I've heard of them."

"Misfortune is actually my friends' band. They aren't huge, but they're also a pop punk band which aren't usually very popular anyway. You should check them out if you like that kind of music." Alice spoke in a way that seemed both confident and hesitant which confused Cari. How could someone's voice be such a contradiction of itself?

"I do, actually. Are they on Spotify?"

"They are, yeah."

"Cool, I'll uh listen to them later."

"Cool." The girls stood in silence for a moment. It wasn't awkward nor was it really comfortable, just plain silence. Until Cari spoke.

"So, I'm going to go back inside to get frozen yogurt since I didn't before. Do you, uh, want me to buy you some? Y'know since your's ended up all over my shirt?"

"It's fine. I'm not really supposed to be eating frozen yogurt right now. My dad is going on a diet and forcing it upon me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I am. Thanks for the offer, though. It was... uncharacteristically nice of you."

"Don't get used to it. I'm still an ass," Cari said jokingly. The girls laughed then waved goodbye as they went their separate ways. 

---

The next day, Cari was at Alice's front door with her freshly washed shirt. When Alice opened the door, she was shocked to see Cari.

"You know, I wasn't expecting you to bring the shirt back so quickly. Desperate to see me, eh?" Alice joked. Cari didn't find it funny. In fact, it pissed her off a little.

"Yeah, no. I didn't want to forget I had it or misplace it. Just take it and I'll be leaving," Cari said, snappy. Alice was a little taken aback. Just the day before they were getting along great so this was definitely not the attitude she was expecting from the brunette girl. 

"Um, thanks?" Alice wasn't sure how to respond. Even though Cari said she would leave as soon as Alice took the shirt, she stood there for a moment without really knowing why. 

"So, um, bye then." Cari began to walk away before Alice's voice stopped her.

"Wait!" Cari turned around to face the blonde girl standing right outside of the house.

"What?"

"Did you listen to them? Misfortune?" It took Cari a minute to realize what she was talking about.

"Oh, um no. I didn't get time to, but I will."

"Do you want to come in? I'll play you some exclusive songs and we can order pizza?" Alice asked in her usual confident/hesitant tone.

"Uh, I'm not sure. I was going to go hang out with Eliza." Cari was completely lying. Eliza was still grounded, but Cari wanted an excuse to not be alone with Alice.

"Eliza's grounded. Failed history test, remember?" Cari wasn't aware that Eliza had told Alice this which means Cari is out of excuses and too nice to just say plain no.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, um, sure then. I guess that sounds fun."

"You guess? I'll let you know that I am the most fun."

"I bet." Cari rolled her eyes, half serious, half joking and started to walk back to the door. As she entered the house she turned to Alice and said, "By the way, I only eat Hawaiian pizza."

"Good thing that's my favorite kind." Cari was a little shocked by this since almost everyone she knew hated Hawaiian pizza. She looked over at Alice and actually smiled a little. Maybe this would actually be fun.