The Girl Next Door

24.

Me: Hola..
Me: Lo siento. 🥺🙁😞
My Boo💜: 😍
My Boo💜: I missed you.
Me: I wanted to talk to you all day
My Boo💜: You should have.
Me: Are you home?
My Boo💜: No🙁. I'm out with my mom.
Me: Want to come over when you're done?
My Boo💜: Only if you told Benny you're my girlfriend...👀
Me: Doing so now.
My Boo💜: 😌❤️
I had butterflies in my stomach when I clicked on Ben's text thread. He had already texted me twice but I never responded. I didn't know what I was going to say.
I decided to take a shower, heat up a slice of pizza and cuddle in bed instead of texting Ben right away. Another hour passed before I stopped procrastinating. Ben texted back right away.
Ben: wat time u want me to pick u up
Me: I need to talk to you.
Ben: oh
Ben: what's up?
Me: I just want to be your friend.
Ben: did I do something wrong?
Me: No, you didn't. I should have told you sooner I just didn't know how and I'm sorry.😐
Ben didn't respond after I sent the last message. I felt horrible leading him on but my chest felt lighter now that he knew I wasn't interested. I could focus on Gisella without feeling guilty.
When I woke up and rolled over, it was pitch black outside. I groaned as I looked at the time. It was only 8pm but it felt like midnight.
My Boo💜: I'm home now mi amor.
My Boo💜: I don't see your light on so you're either asleep or on your date...🤔😶
Me: I was asleep. Come over 🥰
I tossed my phone on the bed, jumped up to brush my teeth and met Gisella at the front door less than five minutes later. She smiled as soon as I opened the door.
"Bonjour bebé." She followed me inside with her eyes on me. When I closed the door and turned to face her, my eyes raked over the fuzzy Winnie the Pooh pajamas she wore. I grinned and pulled her into my arms.
"Don't ignore me that long again. I missed you." I mumbled into her neck. Without looking at her, I knew she was smiling.
"I missed you too boo. A lot." Gisella followed me upstairs to my room with her hand in mine. After I closed and locked the door, I watched her kick off her shoes and get comfortable in bed like my it was hers.
"I bought you something today and I want to be the first person you use it on when it comes in the mail." Gisella looked at me through thick eyelashes. I sat next to her and inhaled her body wash.
"What is it?"
"It's a surprise. I'm not telling you." Gisella's smile made my stomach flutter. When I finally stopped staring at her, I noticed how close we were sitting next to each other but I didn't move. I loved being in her space.
"I like surprises."
"Good to know. Is your dad coming home tonight?" Gisella asked as I turned the TV on. I shrugged my shoulders. His schedule was all over the place.
"I want to spend the night."
"Let's get comfy then. I'll put a movie on." I ignored the butterflies in my stomach and focused on scrolling through Netflix.
After searching for 10 minutes, I finally clicked a random B-Rated movie and then cuddled next to Gisella's warm body. We sat in silence for a while even though neither of us could pay attention to the movie.
"Babe what are you going to do after graduation?" Gisella filled the silence and started running her fingers through my wavy hair.
"I don't know yet. What about you?"
"I want to buy a van or something and just travel for a while." She kept playing in my hair so I closed my eyes and imagined us traveling together. If she wanted me to, I'd go anywhere with her.
"I don't want to go to college." I thought out loud. Gisella nodded her head.
"Me either. Let's travel together. Just you and me."
"And your hippie van." I added. Gisella giggled and smacked her lips.
"Hippie vans are cute. We should look at some."
And that's what we did the rest of the night. Gisella was eager to show me different types of vans, buses, RV's, vans turned into homes and so much more. She really wanted to travel after graduation which wasn't for a while but i enjoyed seeing her eyes light up from talking about her future plans. When she told me she wanted me to be by her side, my heart skipped a beat. If Gisella wanted to travel to Timbuktu, I'd go with her as long as we were together.
I was starting to feel like I was obsessed with her but the moment I looked at Gisella and caught her gaze, I could feel her feelings for me were just as strong. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that Gisella wouldn't be the first person I learned to love. If I was lucky, I would be the last girl she fell for and that sounded perfect to me.