Always (2/3)

17: never said anything so short and inarticulate in my life

17
Dipper

   Janessa cornered me a few minutes later. She came up behind me and coughed.

   "What was that all about?" She asked, her hands on her hips.

   "What?" I raised a brow.

   "Don't play dumb with me." She frowned. "Why did you run after her?"

   "Why did I run after Pacifica?" I sighed. "Why did I run after my sister's friend?" 

   "Do you want to be with her or something?" She demanded.

   "Janessa," I warned. "I dunno why you're acting like this." And we aren't even together!

   "What do you even mean?" She demanded, her eyes watering. "I thought you were different."

   "What are you talking about?" Now I was even more confused. She thought I was different? Different from who, exactly?

   "You say you like me," she listed although I didn't say that, "then you go chasing after my best friend!"

   I bit back the response of 'that's what I'm doing with you' and took a deep breath. This was exactly why I strayed away from the dating world. My last girlfriend was Pacifica, and despite our arguing when we first met, she was the only one I ever truly loved.

   And you blew it. I thought bitterly. You fucked up again just because you were scared!

   "Well?" She placed her hands on her hips. "Are you just gonna stand there?!"

   I held up my hands in an attempt to calm her down. I was thinking and I hadn't heard a word she said. If I was being honest, I didn't plan on making Janessa my girlfriend, I didn't do girlfriends anymore. Not since. . .her.

   "Janessa," I sighed. "This is exhausting, are we done?"

   "What do you mean, 'done'?" She asked.

   "Done, as in breaking up." I winced, how many times did I have to mention the fact that we weren't dating?

   Janessa took a staggering breath inwards. "Are you breaking up with me?"

   "I'm asking you if you think we should break up." I sighed once more. "Because you're getting insanely jealous."

   "Jealous?" She scoffed. "Of Pacifica? Ha! As if."

   I had half a mind to defend the blonde girl that haunted my dreams, but I took another deep breath. "What do you mean?"

   "Well, first of, she isn't as pretty as me." She started, "also she's only ever had two serious boyfriends."

   My eyes went wide. Two. I knew she had dated Cody before me and then I sabotaged that little relationship with a snap of my fingers. So I wouldn't have considered that a serious relationship. That just left our relationship.

   That meant she hadn't dated anyone since me.

   I took a sharp inhale and cursed at myself. How could I had been so stupid? "And?" I prompted.

   "Well, I'm just better than her in a few ways." She shrugged. "So I'm not jealous of her."

   "Well you should be." I replied through gritted teeth without any intention of doing so.

   "Excuse me?" She gasped. "What does that mean?"

   "Your friend Pacifica is a knockout. When she walks into a room everyone's eyes are glued to her no matter how hard or little she tries. She crazy talented, smartest girl in her class, tops you immediately in any sport. I'm sorry, Janessa, but Pazzie's the one that makes girls crazy jealous without batting an eye or breaking a sweat."

   Janessa stared at me, dumbfounded, until she wrinkled her nose. "Pazzie?" She echoed. "She hates that nickname, one time some guy called her that and she almost decked him in the face. She said, 'nobody calls me that, save one person and I'll make an exception for him' or whatever." She shrugged.

   My eyes widened, I knew she was about to figure out the truth of my relation to Pacifica. But she continued to shrug it off like it meant nothing. She couldn't put two and two together. My God, how the hell could she be so dense?

   "You never answered my question." I stated, going off the Pacifica subject. Every time I said something more about her, it made my heart go crazy wild for her. I needed to get rid of that, because I didn't know how long she'd be here.

   "What question?" She asked.

   "Are we breaking up?" I rolled my eyes. Not only was she dense, but she was very forgetful. Or she just didn't pay attention whatsoever.

   Her eyes went wide. "Why would we? You don't like me anymore?!"

   I needed to get some air, part of me wanted to find a way to get her out of here. "Um." I managed to say, although I never said anything so short, and inarticulate in my life.

   "Ugh, Dipper I can't take this." She groaned.

   "Can't take what?" I demanded. "The fact that I'm arguing with you?"

   "I need to take a break from you." She held up her hands. "That way you can clear your head and I can calm down."

   "Okay." I nodded. Finally, we were getting somewhere.

   "I think Rach and I should go." She whispered, walking away from me. "Can you give us a ride?"

   I shook my head. "Can't. Ask my sister."

   Janessa scoffed and called for Rachel. Before I knew it, I heard the front door open and slam shut. Not two seconds later, my phone made a small 'blip' noise. I pulled it out from my pocket and saw a very familiar notification;

   mabes🙄💙 is typing. . .
   from mabes🙄💙.

   I quickly opened the chat and almost laughed when I saw her message. Almost.

   mabes🙄💙: thnx for letting me take home ur 'friends' totally wanted 2 do that 🖕🏻

   I rolled my eyes but chose not to reply. But I opened an old friend's chat and quickly tapped in a message.

   me: hey, having a rough night, you in town?

   I patiently waited for a reply, although I doubted I would get one. She'd been MIA for a long time, hadn't heard from her. But my phone made a small small 'blip' and I was shocked. Happy, albeit shocked.

   scarlett❤️🤫 🚬: im omw