The Girl Next Door

5.

"So how was your date daddy?" I asked and plopped on the couch next to him. He wasn't wearing his uniform but a black button down shirt and jeans. He looked relaxed. It was after 9pm.
"I'm not sure the dating scene is for me. The best part about the night was the drinks." He groaned and rubbed his hands over his face.
I wanted to smile but I held back. Daddy leaned back on the couch and turned the TV on. This was the way he unwinded after a long day. His feet up on the coffee table with sports center playing. I normally stay with him for an hour. Tonight was no different.
"What about you, how was your day babygirl?"
"My day was okay. Made a friend, she lives next door." I smiled at the thought of Gisella. Daddy noticed my smile and made a face.
"At least one of us had a good day. Think I'm gonna call it a night."
After we went upstairs and I laid in bed, I decided not to turn the TV on but to reread the first book Gisella had picked up. Wings of fire. Darkness of dragons. One of my favorite books in the entire series.
The next morning, I had a pep in my step after I woke up from reading until 2am. Gisella's light was still on when I finally passed out but I couldn't stay up any longer.
On my way out the door, behind daddy, I saw Gisella putting her helmet on as her mom called out to her from the front porch. The woman was stunning. She had extremely long black hair, tanned skin and she caught daddy's attention almost as fast as Gisella caught mine.
"That your friend?" Dad started the car and rolled the windows down. Gisella's mom waved at us with a gentle smile. I could see where Gisella got her smile from. I nodded my head.
"So then that's her mom, wow. I should introduce myself."
"I think she has a boyfriend daddy." I chuckled as we followed after Gisella's motorcycle, towards the school.
"Boyfriends can be replaced. You never know. Do you have a boyfriend princess? I feel like I should know these things." Daddy had an uncomfortable grimace on his face. I knew he didn't really want to know if I had a boyfriend because he was way too overprotective. He bit the inside of his cheek and waited for me to answer.
"No dad, I don't have a boyfriend." I rolled my eyes. There wasn't one boy that had gotten my attention so far.
We arrived at the school a few minutes later, thankfully. I didn't want to listen to him lecture me about dating and boys any longer than I had to. In the middle of his speech, I kissed his cheek and hopped out of the car quickly.
At my locker, I shoved my backpack inside, switched out my textbooks and then closed it. Gisella was leaning against the locker next to mine with two blueberry muffins in her hand.
"Bonjour, comment va Stacy aujourd'hui?" Gisella's hair was in a high ponytail and she wore light pink skinny jeans and a white hoody. I raised my eyebrows at her.
"How's Stacy today? Are you hungry, love?" Gisella held out one of the muffins and unpeeled the second one for herself. I shrugged my shoulders.
"I'm alright." That was a lie. I was so excited to see Gisella. She smiled and ate her muffin delicately.
"Did you sleep well? Or were you busy peeping?" Gisella laughed. "I'm just kidding, don't look so scared."
"I stayed up reading all night, so I'm pretty tired but no I didn't peep. Did you?" I raised an eyebrow at her. We were now in front of my first class of the day.
Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around Gisella and turned her around.
"Hey you, are you really avoiding me?!" The boy with his arm slouched over Gisella's shoulders was tall. Much taller than both me and Gisella. I think I stared at him until my mouth dropped, he was so fine. He had diamonds glistening in both ears, and jet black hair that was so wavy, it looked like I could surf on the waves, if I knew how. His pale skin was flawless in every way and so were the green eyes he looked at me with. He chuckled when he noticed me staring.
"Replacing me already, best friend?"
"Benny, this is Stacy. Stacy, c'est Benny." Gisella introduced us with a smile. I stood there unable to speak under his gaze, it was that intense.
"It's actually Ben. But what's up Stacy? You new here too?"
"Uh, yeah." I nodded my head and looked at Gisella quickly. She was watching me and smiling. The bell was going to ring any minute. I felt like I couldn't breathe being around them both.
"You're making her shy," Gisella giggled and touched my shoulder. "Hasta luego, Bonita." And just like that, the bell rung.