The Girl Next Door

9.

After daddy left, I didn't have anything to say to Ben. I was pissed off. Gisella sat next to me, smelling like cotton candy and trying to ease my attitude with her smile. It wasn't working. Ben was clueless.
"Your dad seems nice." He said after a while of me sitting silently. I put my attention on Gisella. She wore a black and blue stripped sweatshirt and black jeans and her hair was in a bun. When she put her arm around me, my attitude disappeared.
"I want you to help me dye my hair this weekend, yeah?" Something about Gisella made it so easy to want the same things she wanted. Everything about her was charming in a way I'd never seen on anyone before. The way she smiled and held eye contact with me made me nod my head.
"Sure, wanna come over tonight or tomorrow?" I asked and decided I didn't want ice cream anymore. Ben scooted closer to me and listened in on our conversation.
"Maybe tonight. So Benny," Gisella started before glancing at me. "Stacy is going to be my new best friend. If you're going to be her boyfriend...."
"My what?!" I butted in and shook my head. "You're joking, right?"
"Well yeah it's a joke...for now." Ben turned a shade darker but he kept his stare directed my way. He was confident, I had to give him that.
We spent an hour and a half at Dairy Queen before we walked to my house. It was chilly outside and getting dark fast. The grey clouds were scattered in the sky, covering the small shimmer of the moon.
Daddy was ready to drop us off and thankfully, it wasn't in his work car. It was bad enough Gisella and Ben knew my dad was the sheriff, I didn't want the entire school to know.
Once we were at the school and daddy finished giving the three of us a lecture on being responsible, we walked quietly towards the stadium.
High school football games weren't my favorite but because Gisella wanted me to be there, I pretended to be interested. She didn't drool over any of the swoon worthy football players or any of the handsome boys and men staring at her. Her focus was solely on the football game, she barely listened to the small talk between me and Ben.
After a while, Ben got the hint that neither of us were interested in holding a conversation. At halftime, he went to the concession stand and got all three of us chili dogs.
"You make him nervous. He likes you."
"I don't know why," I shrugged my shoulders and put my hair behind my ear. The wind blew a cold chill down my spine. Gisella scooted closer to me, wrapping her arms around me just as Ben returned.
"Benny you're the best. Next Friday is on me."
"What'd I miss?" He sat down, offering his body heat by putting one of his arms around my waist. I was sandwiched between the two of them, trying not to inhale cotton candy.
"Just girl talk. Merci. Let's watch some football, yeah?"