Watch Me ✔️

Chapter 4

I stared at my phone wondering who the text could be from. I hadn't given my number to Kiara yet, so there was no way it could be her. I told myself not to answer, but curiosity got the better of me and I responded back with a simple, hello.

I sat down at my desk and opened my laptop. I went to my newest video and started scrolling the comments. I couldn't believe some of the nice things people were saying, this may end up being my most popular video yet. I checked my phone three different times expecting an answer from the unknown number before finally getting up to grab a midnight snack.

I turned on Netflix on my laptop and settled into bed with a bowl of popcorn. Ten minutes into my show, my phone buzzed again, How are you?

I'm good, I texted back immediately, How are you? Still having no idea who this was, I figured a simple response was in order. While on my phone I remembered I was supposed to send my number to Kiara, so I opened my tinder app and sent her a message. She responded within seconds with a text directly to me saying, Well hello there. My heart skipped a beat.

Hello to you too, how's your night? I texted back. I felt myself getting giddy about Kiara and I forced myself to take a deep breath. I didn't want to fall into my old habits. Mallory liked to say I would just get bored of someone, but I think it's much deeper than that. I'd start to date someone new, then question if it's actually real, then self sabotage the relationship. I don't have an answer as to why I always do this, I mostly blame shitty exes and a fear of commitment.

I shook myself out of my negative thoughts and focused on my show. It wasn't much longer before I got another text from Kiara, It's alright, my friends wanted to head to a new club, so now I'm babysitting the birthday girl. I giggled at her text and imagined her standing in the club with her arms crossed tapping her foot.

I texted back, Sounds like a blast lol. I was tempted to add on a message asking if she regretting not coming home with me, but I didn't have enough confidence that she would have a positive response to that, so I steered clear.

I'm craving pancakes so bad, would you want to go out to brunch with me in the morning? Kiara texted.

I'd love to! How's 10:30? I responded. We set up a place and I quickly texted Mallory to let her know the good news. Kiara and I chatted back and forth a bit more before she said she was headed home, and I figured it was probably time I got some sleep. That unknown number never texted back, so I went to bed a few minutes later figuring it was just a wrong number.

I woke suddenly at 3am, startled by a noise outside the window behind my bed. I turned around and peeked through my orange curtains. I didn't see anything on the street, but I saw my fire escape shaking a bit. I closed my curtains again and reached for my phone. There was a text sent minutes ago from the unknown number that said, I'm good now that I'm talking to you.

I didn't respond and instead curled back up into bed. I woke up around 9am feeling groggy. Biscuit was sprawled out next to me in bed clearly not ready for morning. I dragged myself out of bed knowing that it takes way too long to make myself presentable, especially since I skipped showering last night after the bar.

After my morning bathroom and make-up routine, I went to my closet to choose my best date outfit. It wasn't cold out, but it wasn't warm either, so I settled on some light blue jeans, an off-the-shoulder top with lemons on it, and some light brown booties.

I grabbed my phone and purse on my way out and noticed I had two new text messages that hadn't been there a few minutes ago.

Unknown Number: Good morning, how'd you sleep?

Kiara: I got here early, I'm sitting in a booth on the right corner. Would you like me to get you some coffee?

I responded back to Kiara first saying yes, always to coffee, and responded to the unknown number playing it safe by saying, I slept well, how about you?

I arrived at the diner a few minutes after 10:30am and could feel my smile bursting when I saw Kiara in the booth. It took a lot in me not to skip or run towards her and play it cool. She sat up straighter when she saw me and a big smile began on her lips too.

"The coffee has awaited you, my dear." Kiara said, her smile turning more into a smirk. My heart fluttered at the pet name as I sat down across from her.

"Well thank you," I replied, "So how was the rest of your night?"

"Pretty uneventful, Sarah threw up at the last club and we got kicked out. Pretty normal sequence of events for my friend group." I laughed at her story and found myself staring at her eyes again. Her eyes crinkled when she laughed and she had one dimple on her left cheek.

After the waitress came and took our orders I learned about her job at the dance studio. She told me about the shows she has worked on as a professional dancer and I found myself more impressed with her after every new piece of information I learned. She asked me about my dreams and my reason for moving to LA. We also talked a lot about our college experiences.

"So can I ask a weird question?" She asked me randomly. I took a bit bite of hashbrown and nodded, not wanting to speak while chewing on a first date. "I was wondering when you knew you were into women." I swallowed hard and wiped my hands on my napkin.

"Suzy Kim in my 11th grade English class. I found myself drawn to her and I didn't understand why at first, we became best friends that year. I had a boyfriend who I really liked, but there was something about Suzy that I couldn't put my finger on. One night, at a party, someone dared us to kiss each other, she acted like it was so gross, but I wanted to so badly. After that kiss something clicked in me." I smiled remembering it like it was yesterday, "My boyfriend wasn't even mad, he said because she was a girl it didn't count. So I started to explore and came to the conclusion that I like both men and women."

"Wow," Kiara said, "Well thank you Suzy Kim for awakening your sexuality." She winked at me and I blushed. I chose to not tell Kiara that I continued to cheat on my high school boyfriend for a year and that I didn't have the best track record with commitment, I didn't want to scare her away.

"So, what about you? When was your sexual awakening?" I asked her, I let my right foot graze her leg as she began her story.

"I was in college, sophomore year, at some program my RA had put on for us. I knew that I liked my RA a lot, but I didn't recognize them as romantic feelings until that night. I knew I didn't find men very attractive, but I never knew why. Her name was Wendy and that night she was wearing these shorts that were just too tight and I found myself imagining her naked. I was way too shy to do anything and I didn't date my first girl for another year, but I'm definitely a lesbian now. There's no going back for me." We laughed together and I found myself liking her even more.

The waitress came over and handed Kiara the check. I offered to help pay and Kiara said, "I asked you out, so I pay, but you can pay on our second date if you want."

"So there's a second date in our future?" I asked.

"If you ask me on one?" She teased as she put her credit card down on the table.

"Kiara, would you like to go on a second date with me?" I asked, a huge smile on my face.

"I thought you'd never ask." Kiara said dramatically, we laughed again together.

As we left the diner, I saw Peyton from the night before walking towards us by himself. He hadn't seen me yet, so I turned my back towards him and looked at Kiara.

"I had a really nice time." She said to me.

"So did I, what do you say about our second date Monday night?" I asked.

"Monday night I have class, but I can do Tuesday." Kiara said smiling, her hand reached for mine and I let her take it in hers. I saw Peyton pass just then, he turned around slightly and looked at my hands in Kiara's. He raised his eyebrows slightly to me, then winked, and kept walking. I felt myself blush, then noticed Kiara was waiting for me to respond.

"Tuesday sounds perfect." I said.