All I Need

Part 5

"Hello Finn."

He heard a voice he hadn't thought about in a while, Tori...somebody, he honestly couldn't remember her last name. She was blonde and leggy and wore way too much makeup. She was exactly the type of girl that had been chasing after him for the last few years, the type that thought they had everything he could possibly want even though the opposite was true. Tori was one of the ones who'd been hopeful they could change his mind last year after he'd decided he was done with the whole dating scene, and she'd been particularly persistent. He remembered having to put her off on several occasions before she'd finally left him alone. 

"Can I help you with something?"

"I thought we had a deal."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You promised that if I left you alone that I would be the first one you would come to when you were ready again."

"I believe I told you that if I ever decided I wanted to date a girl like you ever again, you would be the first to know. That day has not come and it never will."

"Please, everyone's seen you with that new girl, it's obvious you are back in the game. I don't care about that plain little nerd jumping the line. Fuck her all you want if that's what it takes, but I want dibs next. I did what you asked, you owe me."

"I don't know what kind of special drugs you've been taking, but I don't owe you shit, and the day I'll ever want someone like you will be a cold day in hell." 

She looked genuinely surprised at his rejection though he couldn't be sure (she was the type that he knew better than to believe anything they said), but he didn't care. He wasn't catering to her fucked up version of things, and after she'd insulted Bayley, his willingness to humor her dried up too,

"That plain little nerd is my friend, and I don't appreciate you talking about her like that. Whether I decide to date her or not is no one else's business but mine and hers, but she's far more beautiful inside and out than you could ever hope to be. I actually have things in common with her, and I enjoy spending time with her, which is more than I can say for ninety percent of the girls I dated before. I'm sorry if you misinterpreted what I told you, but I'm not looking for an easy lay and I'm not someone you can use to elevate your status."

"You really expect me to believe you won't get bored with her, she's probably still a virgin for fuck's sake," she said the word virgin like it offended her and screwed up her face. "We both know she's not the type to keep anyone interested for long, but if you want to lie to yourself, fine. You'll see soon, when you do don't forget I want dibs."

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you deliberately picking and choosing what you want to hear? Whether I date her or not, I am never going to be interested in you, and frankly it's insulting that you think you can call dibs like I'm a piece of meat."

"Whatever. I'll give you a few weeks and we'll see. You'll be singing a different tune," she said and walked away. He stood there for a moment shaking his head, still amazed that she hadn't seemed to hear a word he'd actually said. He wanted to write her off as just a crazy bitch and forget about it, but he had a bad feeling it wouldn't be the last time he had to deal with something like this.

His prediction came true before the day was even out. He was approached twice more by girls, one of them took his rejection fairly well, the other made him so angry he'd had to remind himself it wasn't okay to hit a girl, no matter how offensive she was.  He was happy after his last class was over so he didn't have to deal with it anymore, but disappointed he didn't get to see Bayley again, and kicking himself when he realized he never got her number.

He ran into Seth in the parking lot, and told him about what he'd been dealing with and found out that Seth had been putting up with questions all day about him too.

"This is what you get for not dating anyone for months."

"I shouldn't have to date someone I'm not interested just to keep them from bothering me, that's fucked up."

"I'm just saying, you can't leave the entire female population hanging for months and not expect attention when you finally start sniffing after someone new."

"I'm not 'sniffing after someone new' I just made a new friend, one who happens to be a girl. It's not like I started making out with her in the hallway."

Seth snorted, 

"It probably would have been better if you had, at least then they all might have been a little more patient to wait for their turn." Finn made a sound of disgust at Seth's reference to Tori wanting to call 'dibs', "Besides, you can't possibly tell me you're not interested in Bayley as more than a new friend. I've never seen you so fascinated so quickly with a girl before. I still can't believe you actually offered her your old notes."

"I was being nice, she's obviously really nervous about that class and I thought it would help," Seth made a sound that indicated he didn't believe him, but then he continued, "And I never said I wasn't interested in more, but I've literally known her like two days, and I'm not a fucking dog. I'm not sniffing after anything, I'm trying to get to know a girl that I find interesting and who I think is really pretty, and I would really like everyone to get off of my ass about it."

Seth held his hands up in defense and said,

"Hey, you want to date her, I don't have a problem with it. She's fun and sweet, and honestly probably perfect for you, but don't bitch at me about people being stupid. You're going to have to put up with it if you do want to pursue her, and if it's not worth it to you then maybe you should back off now," Finn didn't miss the warning tone in Seth's voice, and he made sure to look at him directly before saying,

"Pretty sure it's worth it." Seth looked back at him and grinned,

"Glad you feel that way because she's my friend too, and I would hope you weren't going to get her involved in all of this, then decide you can't deal with the consequences."

"You know I wouldn't do something like that."

"Yeah I know."

They were silent for a few minutes until they reached their cars then Seth said,

"You may want to talk to Sasha."

"Why"

"Because she doesn't make a lot of friends, and you should probably be honest with her and let her know you want her new best friend before she finds out some other way."

"She probably already knows if you could figure it out."

"Thanks," he said rolling his eyes at the insult, "And yeah she probably does, but you should still tell her."

"I will."

"Alright, see you tomorrow," Seth said as he got in his car and drove off. Finn had forgotten again to ask Seth if he had Bayley's number.