Where Two Collide

Chapter Forty - Cat

Chapter Forty

Cat

My face reddened, surprised by the compliment. I wanted to tell her she looked cute too, but I waited so long that it felt too weird to say it back. The moment had passed. Instead I rolled my eyes at her and said, "What you think is fun, rarely is."

She gave me a sideways glare. "That was one time, and it looks great now by the way, thanks for asking. Check it out," she said, lifting the bottom of her t-shirt to reveal her rose tattoo.

I leaned in to admire it, the design really did suit her. Realising how close I was, I jerked away and got a whiff of a perfumed scent on her skin. It was different to her usual smell; it was flowery and girly. It was nice, and I wanted to tell her, but I didn't.

She dropped her shirt and turned her head a little, catching my eye and smiling at me. She wasn't wearing lipstick today, it didn't take away from the perfect definition of her lips though, she could get away with lots of makeup or very little, she just had one of those faces.

"You smell cute too," said Addie as she turned her eyes back to the road. "Were you dressed up nice for something else today, like a date?"

I looked out the window trying to hide the colour of my face which was basically crimson now, she really knew how to wind me up and it was like she could see right inside my head. "No, I wasn't on a date today." I didn't date. Or hadn't ever been on date, if I was going to be specific. It wasn't like I was going to tell her that, it was too embarrassing to admit.

"Ah okay." She kept her eyes on the road. "Have you dated many guys?"

I stared at her face which displayed no emotion at all. Damn she was hard to read. "No," I replied, feeling the shortness of my answer leaving an empty silence between us. Why did she care? Or maybe she didn't care, this was the kind of thing that girls talked to their friends about, right? It'd been so long since I'd had female friends, other than Alice of course, that I couldn't recall what normal conversations were like. Travis never questioned me about dating, Alice asked, but she asked because she was genuinely concerned by my lack of dating. Why were friendships with guys so much easier than with girls?

"You like guys, right?" she asked urging me to reveal my innermost feelings. "Like, are they your preferred type of relationship?"

I felt myself frowning at her line of questioning. How was I even supposed to answer that question? What was my preferred type of relationship? Alice had asked me something similar. Was I giving off a vibe that I was unaware of? If I was, maybe somebody could tell me because I had no idea.

I read a lot of romances when I was younger and saw a lot of movies of that sort, because of Alice mostly, and I was definitely rooting for the characters to get together in the end. But I wasn't sure if I'd ever wished to be in the place of the girl, with the boy chasing after her and I knew for certain that's exactly how Alice felt. I'd never really thought about it for myself and honestly, I didn't know what I wanted or how to even start thinking about that.

"I've never dated anyone before," I said, finally blurting it out. Maybe that would end her line of questioning.

Addie's blank expression cracked, her eyes widening slightly. "What, ever?"

"Never ever," I confirmed.

She narrowed her eyes at me, which didn't' suit her at all. Addie had the face that suited her big smiles, and her laughter. "I can't believe nobodies ever asked you out before."

I looked out the window at the passing houses. "I didn't say that. I've been asked out; I've just never said yes."

She glanced over at me briefly. "Why not?"