The Girl Next Door

35.

As exciting as my weekend started on Friday, it didn't end that way. I was bored and in the house by myself until Sunday and when daddy got home, he wanted to go to dinner and a movie with me. It wasn't what I wanted to spend my time doing but it was better than sitting in my room reading when I was supposed to be studying for two tests. Not talking or seeing Gisella was driving me crazy.
I sat in front of daddy at the kitchen table while our store bought apple pie cooled down.
"Did you enjoy the movie?" He asked and stood to get two glasses from the cabinet. When he sat back down and poured himself a glass of milk, I nodded. I had been so distracted with my thoughts, I didn't even know what movie we saw.
"Yeah, it was good. Did you?" I asked even though he was on his phone the entire movie.
"I did. It was nice. I miss hanging out, just the two of us."
"Me too."
"With the job and such, we don't get to do this anymore." He dipped on the milk. "Tell me what's going on in your life, princess."
I thought about what to tell him and decided to keep my relationship, the Volkswagen and the tattoo I gave Gisella to myself. Instead, I told him about Spanish two and every other class I hated. When he started talking about college, I tuned him out and secretly wished Estelle would come take his attention off of me. I couldn't stop myself from wondering if she find out about the missing $4,000 on her credit card and if she did, if she was mad or completely pissed. I couldn't imagine how upset daddy would be if I stole his credit card.
"Whatever happened to that boy? What was his name?"
"Ben." I rolled my eyes.
""Ah, Ben. Yeah, what happened to him?"
"I don't have my phone, how should I know?" I asked as I emptied my plate in the sink. Sometimes daddy asked the most irritating questions and I couldn't hide the fact they annoyed me. He shrugged.
"I don't know, you know what's going on with Gisella and you don't have a phone."
"Gisella's my best friend and she lives next door, dad. That's not the same thing at all." I don't know why I was getting so agitated but I was.
"Did something happen with you and Ben?"
"Umm no...he's just annoying." I sighed. "I'm tired and I have to finish studying. See you in the morning?" I said as I leaned against the refrigerator. Daddy nodded.
"Okay then, goodnight princess."
****
The next morning, I woke up late. I stayed up late reading and thinking about Gisella until I passed out. I quickly put on a pair of jeans and slid a purple hoodie over my head and then got ready as fast as I could. Daddy was in front of the coffee pot when I came downstairs.
"Wake up late?" He asked, stating the obvious.
"Ugh, yes. I don't want to go to school."
"Well princess, you have to. Gisella left already. So looks like you're riding with me." Daddy smiled and smoothed out the wrinkles in his uniform.
Snow met us outside in big fat flurries. The wind was cold and aggressive so I got in the car quickly and put my seatbelt on. When we got to the school, daddy kissed my forehead, told me to have a good day and then drove off.
At my locker, I grabbed my books, closed it and rushed to homeroom before the bell rang. As I was sitting down, class started and thankfully I wasn't late.
When the lunch bell rang, my stomach growled and led me to the cafeteria where I saw Ben, Gisella and a girl I didn't know standing in line. The girl was tall, taller than me and she had long, pretty red hair. I watched her smile and lean into Gisella and then jealousy blurred my vision.
Ever since Gisella and I started dating, everyone that talked and flirted with her made me sick with jealousy and I hated it. I watched my girlfriend smile and take a step away from the girl. It should have made me smile but when the girl opened her arms for a hug before she walked away, I got pissed and turned around to go to the library. I ignored Gisella calling after me because I couldn't look her in the eyes and pretend I wasn't upset that I watched her and some random girl hug for more than a second.
I was in the library for five minutes before Gisella came walking through the doors. She had on a white sweater and brown skinny jeans. The white and brown boots she had on were cute but I forced myself to look away from her as she sauntered towards my table.
"I brought you lunch." She held up a bottle of grape juice and a ham sandwich wrapped in plastic. I smiled halfheartedly.
"Thanks."
"What is wrong, mon amour?" She asked sadly as she reached for my hand. It was so hard being upset with her. She rubbed my knuckles and stared at me with pretty blue eyes.
"Nothing."
"Did you see me waiting in line for you?"
"Yeah."
"Mon amouuurrrrr." Gisella whined and came to sit next to me. She wrapped her arm around me and then sighed.
"¿Que pasa, mi amor?"
"Nothing, Gisella. I'm fine." As bad as I wanted to tell her what was wrong with me, it felt silly so I didn't. She pouted and made my heart skip a beat.
"You are mad at me?"
I stared at her for a while before I nodded sadly. She bit her lip and sighed before touching my chin.
"Why are you mad at me, my love?"
"It doesn't matter, Gisella."
"Please tell me." She insisted as she ran a hand through her hair. The orange was starting to fade but the beach waves that fell over her shoulders were cute on her.
"I got...jealous."
"Jealous?"
I nodded and put my focus on the grape juice in my hand. My cheeks, nose and neck were slowly turning red from embarrassment as Gisella looked at me with a confused look on her face. I felt bad for getting mad at her but I couldn't help it.
"Baby...Stacy, you have no reason to get jealous. Because Ana hugged me?" Looking at Gisella and how cute she was made me feel guilty. I nodded.
"I am yours." She pulled my face an inch away from hers and kissed my nose. "I am working on a project with Ana. But I am dating you, my love. Please don't be upset."
"I'm sorry." I sighed. Now I really felt dumb.
Gisella ignored the students and teachers that were in the library with us and leaned in to kiss me tenderly. My stomach erupted with butterflies. When she pulled away and looked at my lips, I let a smile pass by. Just like that, my bad mood was gone. I wasn't jealous, mad or upset anymore.
"You can make it up to me this weekend."