What Happened After

Chapter 27

Chapter 27.

          “Alright, Taryn kissed me, just like you said he would, and I didn’t stop him instantaneously. Are you gonna yell at me?” I cried, barging into our room after I left work. Anna was sitting on my bed—not hers, but mine—reading a very thick book, and when she heard my outburst, she didn’t even look up. In fact, she didn’t even seem to notice that I was in the room until about the last word I spoke.

          “Did you just ask me if I’m going to yell at you?” she asked, gingerly shutting the old book and setting it down. “Why would I do that?”

          “I don’t know, because I’m beginning think that’s customary,” I sighed.

          “Who yelled at you?”

          I hesitated to answer. “Ruesso…”

          Standing up, Anna said, “Alright, so let me get this straight—you’re very frazzled and it’s making it difficult. So Taryn kissed you—when was that, on Saturday?” She looked to me, waiting for an answer.

          “Yeah.”

          “Okay, so he kissed you on Saturday, and you told Ruesso about it because you thought…he should know?”

          “I don’t know why I told him. I guess I just wanted to tell someone, because I hadn’t yet, and he was just there, and…”

          “And when you told him, he yelled at you? What did he say?”

          “He asked me if I had stopped it and then asked whether I understood that what Taryn did was wrong. As if I were a child.”

          Anna scoffed. “I can’t believe you’re not seeing it.”

          Puzzled, I glanced up. “Seeing what? What, is Ruesso in love with me too, or something?” It was meant to come out sarcastically, but the knowing smirk on Anna’s face told me exactly what I didn’t want to hear. “You can’t be serious,” I said, “Ruesso?!”

          “Come on, Rayn, would you think about it for a sec? He lives in San Francisco, and he drives here, like all the time, to come see you. People don’t just do that. And he hangs out at that godforsaken sandwich shop, and he never eats. What kind of person hangs out at a restaurant all day without ordering anything? The kind who’s in love with the girl working the counter.”

          “That’s—“

          “And,” she cut me off, “when you told him another guy kissed you, he freaked out on you. Not because he was mad at you, but because he didn’t get to you first. You sent him off wondering why you let another guy kiss you, when you won’t allow yourself to get close to him in that way. Did he mention the way Taryn looks at you? The way you look at him?”

          I remembered the words Ruesso had spoken to me less than an hour before. I’m not blind, you know. I’ve seen the way he moons after you when you’re not watching him. He wants you, Rayn. Bad. And if you’re giving him signals that you want him too, who knows what could happen?

          “Yeah, he did,” I relented.

         “See that? He’s noticed the way Taryn looks at you, and he doesn’t like it. And I told you Taryn liked you.”

          “That’s not what we’re discussing!”

          “And he’s seen the way you look at Taryn,” she continued. “You know what type of guy pays attention to who a girl is staring at? The type of guy who’s paying attention to that girl.”