Stuck

CHAPTER ELEVEN

" Hey" Jennie greeted as she opened the door for Lisa the next afternoon.

Lisa smiled at her and walked into the apartment, swinging her backpack off her shoulder and dropping it on the couch.

" I thought you weren't coming. I thought you were ... avoiding me or something" Jennie said meekly as she followed the latter after closing the door behind her.

Lisa sat down on the couch and turned to her with a confused expression as she sat down 

" Why would I avoid you?" Lisa asked, leaning back on one side of the couch to face Jennie.

Jennie shrugged and pulled her feet up on to the couch, hugging her knees. She looked at Lisa with an expression that projected wariness and expectation at the same time.

" You never came yesterday. I guess I just... I wasn't used to not having you around anymore. And after that argument we had in the morning..." Jennie trailed off she didn't like how she was sounding at the moment, as if she was needy, but she was done trying to hide how she was feeling.

Last night, she'd laid down on her bed, staring at her ceiling for hours, replaying their morning conversation several times in her head. She couldn't deny the fact that having Lisa around felt great. Lisa was a far cry from her ex-girlfriend and from other girls she'd briefly dated since.

They were all about being 'flirty' and always having to display an air of arrogance that she could only blame to their constant need to be seen as the patriarch figure in the relationship; the superior one, the dominant one, an alpha male. She didn't feel that way around Lisa, with her she felt like they were equal. Lisa treated her the same way she'd treat other people, not bashing it on their gender or social status, or any of the unwarranted labels that society cast upon its members.

With Lisa, she could say – even at the risk of  sounding cliché – she could really be her true self. She wanted this arrangement with Lisa to last. She liked her; that much she'd figured out last night. And not just a companion at dinner, someone to make out with when she was  bored or someone to boss around to hang out with her when she needed. She liked Lisa as how many girls might like a guy their dating. And if yesterday's morning conversation with her was any indication, she was willing to bet everything that Lisa felt the same way.

Lisa smiled her crooked smile at Jennie and nodded.

" Yeah, yesterday morning was pretty intense for the both of us. We haven't had an argument like that before. And I have to apologize for that. It was my fault. You were right about me being stressed out these past few days and that made me cranky. And it was wrong for me to take it out on you. You were just trying to help me out. Giving me time to rest, I get that now. I'm really sorry" Lisa said, reaching out to Jennie with open arms.

Jennie smiled and leaned into Lisa's hug, basking in the warmth of the latter's body wrapped around her. She inhaled and took in Lisa's smell: earth, mint and woman's perfume. Lisa smell really good.

" I'm sorry, too. I guess I was just so used to not having you question my decisions about what we do together that I took it too far and decided on something that did not really involve me" Jennie replied, her voice muffled against Lisa's chest. Lisa then chuckled and let her go, leaning back on the couch again.

" Next time, just wake me okay?" She reminded. Jennie nodded

" Yes, I promise." They stared at each other for a while, sitting in silence.

This is good, Lisa thought. We're making a progress. We can be friends. There's nothing wrong with that. Besides, I have to step back from her from now on, since I still have a girlfriend. I have to take it to consideration now. These past three weeks have been a blur. They were fun but I wasn't really in the right state of mind. But now  I'm back now. I can make this thing work. Bianca's girlfriend and Jennie's friend. This is good.