When I Come Around

Chapter 2

I put on a white t-shirt and black jeans, pulling on my leather jacket. Valerie and I agreed to meet for lunch one day, and I was excited. She seemed like a nice girl, and I felt like we got on well that night at Louis' apartment. I hadn't been on a date in a while, so I was feeling some mixed emotions.

I arrived at the diner a few minutes early to get a table. I watched the time, each minute ticking by slowly. I smiled as I finally saw Valerie come in. I waved her over, smiling. She wore black skinny jeans with a simple purple t-shirt. I hadn't noticed it when we first met, but her arms had a few tattoos down to her wrist. She sat down across from me, smiling gently.

"Hey," she said with a small smile.

"Hi," I said, "how was your class?" She had told me over text she had a few classes this morning.

"Boring," she said, smiling softly.

"What are you taking?" I asked curiously, looking towards her.

"Creative writing," she said, watching me.

"That sounds nice," I said, "are you trying to be a writer?"

"Yeah, and if not that, I want to be an editor for a magazine complany," she said.

"What magazine?" I asked.

"I want to try for Vogue first, but my boyfriend was able to get me an internship with GQ," she told me.

"Your boyfriend?" I repeated. I hadn't known she was already with someone.

"Yeah, his name is Andrew. I've only been with him for a couple months really," she explained.

"Oh," I said, falling quiet. If I was him, I would be pissed knowing she was with me. "Wouldn't he be upset knowing you are with me?" I asked curiously.

"Not at all, we aren't really like that. We see other people often," she said, shrugging.

"You are with him but still see other people?" I repeated.

"Yeah, we don't really believe in the whole relationship thing. Life is too short to be tied down with one person," she explained. I stared at her for a moment, unsure why one would think this. I always thought a relationship should be long and sincere, not just floating around with different people.

"Okay," I said shortly, unsure what else to say.

"Where did you get that tattoo?" She asked me, pointing to a rose I had inked onto my arm, obviously changing the subject of our conversation.

"Oh, my friend did it for me," I said, glancing down towards it.

"Did you draw it?" She asked.

"No, the only thing I can draw are stick people," I said, making her laugh, "do you draw yours?"

"Most of them I drew, except for this and one on my ankle," she said, pushing her shirt sideways just enough to reveal a heart on her collarbone. As I looked at it, I noticed the initials V and A printed in it, and I couldn't help but frown slightly. I completely believed in one guy-one girl relationship, so I was slightly disappointed that Valerie already had a boyfriend. Seeing her tattoo only made it worse.

"That's nice," I said lightly, looking towards her.

"Yeah, I like it," she said, smiling gently. I didn't respond, taking a sip of my soda. When will this end? I thought to myself. I liked Valerie at first, but the more I talked to her, the worse it got. She has a boyfriend. She doesn't believe in relationships. I barely even see us as friends as we got to know each other.