The Girl Next Door

25.

I thought I was seeing things when I looked up from my phone and saw Ben standing at my locker Monday morning. He had on black jeans, a red hoody and black and red Jordan's and he looked tired.
"Hi Ben." I said casually as I opened my locker. He looked up and nodded his head at me.
"I wanted to talk to you." He started nervously.
"Okay..." when I put my attention on the way he stood anxiously, I started feeling bad all over again.
"Did I do something wrong? Like...I thought you liked me and I liked you. I'm just confused."
"No, Ben. You didn't do anything wrong... I um..." I didn't know what to say. He shuffled his feet and leaned against the locker next to mine.
"Just tell me."
"I like someone else."
"Bonjour, mi amor," Gisella poked my side, startling me. I pulled my finger out of the closed locker and bit my lip.
"You scared me! Hi Gisella." I blushed when her eyes lingered over me slowly.
"Hi Benny."
"Hey." His voice was quiet and he sounded sad but when I looked at him, his smile said otherwise.
"Why do you look so down? Be happy. It's a half a day." Gisella's smile was contagious.
"Was just trying to see what happened with me and Stacy. You doing anything after school?"
"Yeah?" Gisella gave me a look but I didn't know what it meant. "Other than going home to get your surprise, I don't have any plans. Do you guys?"
I wanted to be wherever Gisella was at but I didn't say that out loud. So I shrugged my shoulders and followed them down the semi-empty hallway.
"You guys wanna do something? I miss hanging out with ya'll." Ben flashed a smile at me that made me mentally roll my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was hang out with Ben but when Gisella smiled and nodded her head, I found myself nodding too.
"Cool, I'll text you after school. See ya," Ben waved and ducked into his classroom. When we were alone, Gisella reached for my hand and pulled me towards her Anatomy class.
"I know you don't want to hang out with him but maybe this is the perfect time to tell him the truth." Gisella raised an eyebrow before wrapping her arms around me. The bell rung but I didn't care that I was late. Especially when Gisella's lips brushed against mine softly.
"Fine. See you after class."
Even though it was a half a day at school, that didn't make time go by any faster. I found myself staring a hole into every wall clock I saw until it was finally time to go home.
Since Gisella was going straight home, I avoided Ben and went home too. If he really wanted to hang out, he would text Gisella's phone because the last four times he texted me, I didn't respond and didn't plan on doing so. The more he pushed himself to be in my life, the more I pushed myself away. As nice of a guy as he was, I didn't want to be his friend.
I was home for ten minutes before Gisella knocked on the door. She had a big brown package under her arm as she waited for me to open the front door. Her smile gave me butterflies as soon as I saw it.
"Hola, Bonita." She walked in right away and placed the box on the kitchen counter. "Are you ready for your surprise?" She smiled from ear to ear.
"You didn't have to get me whatever that is babe. It's huge."
"Oh stop, I wanted to. Come, come. Open it up." Gisella's blush was precious enough to make me fall a little harder.
I peeled the tape off of the box slowly and watched Gisella fidget nervously. My stomach was doing more than one kind of dance as my nerves moved to the same beat. When I took the machine out of the box, my mouth dropped.
"You got me a tattoo machine?" I asked, still in shock even though I held it up in my arms. Gisella nodded eagerly. She looked at the machine, the needles, and the several boxes of ink sprawled across the counter.
"Do you like it, my love?" Her smile covered my arms in goosebumps the longer she stared at me.
"Of course I like it, oh my gosh." I was at a loss for words.
"You said you wanted to be a tattoo artist, didn't you?"
"Yes!" I yelped. Finally I put everything back in the box and opened my arms for her. She melted into my embrace right away.
"I knew you'd like it."
"I love it babe." I kissed her nose and then her cheeks. When I skipped over her lips, she pouted and grabbed my face.
"Kiss me, mi amor,"
I kissed Gisella's soft lips and closed my eyes the moment her fingers grazed underneath my chin. My body was buzzing with happiness and something else I wasn't familiar with but I liked the feeling.
I felt hot but so happy at the same time with Gisella's lips on mine. When she pulled away, her eyes were still closed but she had a smile on her face just like I did. I nibbled on my bottom lip and sighed. I could definitely see myself falling in love with Gisella...