The Girl Next Door

22.

Monday morning, dad wasn't home when I woke up. I rolled over and checked my phone. There were two messages from dad, a message from Ben and a good morning text from Gisella. I smiled and opened Gisella's first.
By the time I got dressed, did my hair and makeup and found a pair of mustard shoes to match the mustard colored shirt I was wearing, Gisella was knocking on the front door and I was full of anticipation.
"Bonjour Stacy." Gisella looked me up and down slowly. "My mom will take us to school. But first, kiss me." Gisella grabbed my face and pulled me into a kiss that covered my arms in goosebumps. It felt like she had been thinking about kissing me all night, the way her tongue dancer with mine. When we pulled away from each other, she was in a daze and I couldn't stop myself from smiling at her.
We walked to her moms car as if nothing happened inside but that didn't mean I wasn't thinking about her lips.
"How are you today, Stacy?" Estelle's voice floated in the backseat as she smiled at me. Gisella looked at me thru the rear view mirror with a smirk.
"I'm fine, thank you."
"Will you girls need a ride after school?" Estelle asked as we approached the school. I shrugged my shoulders and Gisella shook her head no.
"No thanks. Thanks for the ride," she kissed her moms cheek as the car came to a stop. I nodded, said thank you and exited the car almost as fast as Gisella.
Something in the air felt different when we got inside the building. It was warm, stuffy and the hallways were almost empty, which wasn't normal because usually by 7:45am, there wasn't any elbow room by our lockers.
We were at my locker when Ben approached us with a wide grin. He wore black jeans and a yellow and blue hoody with matching shoes. His smile lit the entire hallway and didn't fall even when Gisella rolled her eyes.
"What's up, ya'll? Hey Stacy."
"Hi Ben." I stepped back and closed my locker. Ben's eyes slowly looked me up and down and made my skin crawl.
"How are you, Benny?" Gisella locked arms with me, sending butterflies all thru my stomach.
"Good, practice starts pretty soon. So I'm happy about that. How ya'll doing?"
"I'm good." I rested my head on Gisella's shoulder and smiled when she accepted my touch. Ben raised his eyebrows.
"Why's it so empty? Where is everyone?" Gisella asked, finally getting Ben to stop staring at me. He rubbed the back of his neck and pointed towards the gym.
"Pep rally starts in a couple of minutes. Ya'll ain't going?" He adjusted the straps on his backpack before slinging it back over his shoulder.
"I think I'll pass." Gisella glanced at me. "Join me in the library? I want to show you this book I thought you'd like."
"Okay. See you later, Ben." I followed after Gisella quickly. I wanted that conversation to end just as badly as she did. It was hard knowing if she was jealous because of the way Ben kept staring at me because her smile was so pretty but I could tell she was territorial. I liked it.
"When are you going to tell Benny you're mine?"
"Am I yours?" I smiled as we entered the quiet library. There weren't any students or teachers anywhere. The smell of old books made me happy on the inside.
"I want you to be mine, Stacy." Gisella's words gave me butterflies all over again. I've never had a girlfriend before but I most definitely could see myself being Gisella's girlfriend. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted it. I didn't care about what my dad and her mom had going on, I wanted her just as bad as she wanted me.
Gisella linked her fingers together with mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. I've never been in love before but the look in her eyes when she saw my smile made me feel like I was.
"So you'll be my girlfriend then, mi amor?"