A Friendly Experiment

Kiss (on the Cheek) and Make Up

TANNER:

It's been so awkward for the past couple of days.  Petra and I talked, but it was small talk, just a bunch of stupid conversations, but nothing fun or meaningful like before.  I wish I hadn't been stupid, but I always have to find a way to screw things up.  I've only ever been in a couple of relationships, but I still manage to ruin things royally.  I either move too fast or too slow, but either way the girl leaves and I'm stuck being the pile of mush that I am.  At least now Petra couldn'e physically leave, but she couldn't have been farther away in the emotional sense.

The thing is, there was just something about Petra, as cheesy as that sounds.  She was different (sorry, still sounding cheesy here).  She wasn't afraid to be herself, and I hadn't realized before, but I had only dated girls who tried to be something they weren't.  Vanessa was just obsessed with having a boyfriend and not with me as her boyfriend.  When I didn't have sex with her, she freaked. 

Then there was Chelsea.  I really liked her and we managed to have a great sexual relationship in private, but when I told her I loved her and wanted to be official, she dumped me.  Apparently she couldn't be seen with a prep type, like myself, which was bull, because I wasn't a prep at all

And finally there was Mia.  Mia and I dated for seven months.  We said 'I love you', celebrated anniversaries with stupid Hallmark cards, and even posted stupid pictures on Instagram.  I thought things couldn't get more perfect than Mia.  But she thought things could be more perfect than me.  Suddenly she wanted to join cheer team, because it was the 'right crowd'.  I told her she didn't have to be in the right crowd, because she was perfect.  She said she agreed, but joined anyway.  Then came the attention of the entire basketball team.  Suddenly there was bigger and better than me, and we were done.

Needless to say, my choice in girlfriends have been off.  But, Petra isn't off.  She's nice, a smart, and passionate about the cutest things.  She knows who she is, and she knows what she wants.  That was her best quality, although the looks weren't bad either.  So yeah, I'd fallen hard for her.  And I'd also screwed it up.  Awesome.  But, I couldn't just leave things like this.  There were only 6 days left, and I wanted to spend them talking with her like we did before.  So, here goes nothing.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

"Sure, what's up?" She wondered.

"I feel like there's been a lot of awkwardness between us." I stated.

"Yeah, I felt that too." She shrugged, ignoring eye contact.

"Yeah." I said, realizing that I had no solution to fix the awkwardness.

"Okay, well it's probably, because we both like each other." She said plainly.  That took me off guard and I think she noticed that, because she gave me a supportive smile. "Listen, I do like you Tanner, but I want to be smart about it.  I've gotten into things before, where I didn't know a whole lot about the guy and it's turned out badly."

"Yeah, but I think you know a lot about me." I shrugged.

"Maybe I know little stories and secrets, but I don't really KNOW you." She said. "I don't know about your family, or your friends, or your relationships with them."

"Well you know that Carthridge and Dave are my friends." I said.

"Yeah, but why?" She asked.

"Because, they're great.  Carthridge, while he might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, is probably the best guy I know.  I mean, he's gotten me through all my break ups.  And Dave is just Dave.  He sees the logic in everything, so if I ever have a problem, he helps me through.  They're supportive."