t h i r t y o n e ;
Dieter didn't even allow her kiss to go on for half a second before he placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back slightly. There were so many things wrong with what was happening. And so many thoughts racing through his mind in a jumble of emotions. The very first was utter confusion. Had she done that a year before or even six months before, he would have still had the same physical reaction, but his mind and heart would have wanted it to happen. He would have been aching to hear from her own lips how much she had been wanting that to happen.
But now things were different. And yet, there were things that had remained the same. For one, she was going out with Jairo--his best friend since pre-school. The two boys had a crush on her growing up and she eventually chose Jai after Dieter had felt like she was stringing both of them along for literal years. But he accepted it graciously and moved on, despite the heart break he was feeling. He was happy for them because they seemed to be madly in love and had been dating for years at this point. That remained the same. What had changed were his feelings towards her. He no longer saw her as this sweet and perfect person who he wanted to protect.
He had seen another side of her that he didn't like. She was mean and vindictive, but she was also a bully. She also wanted the attention of everyone around her, all the time. And she'd find herself getting angry when she didn't have it. Dieter hated the way she was acting towards Louise and it made him question being around her.
Another thing that had changed was that after years of longing for someone who didn't choose him, he had found a girl who was nice and was so beautiful. A girl who was funny, knew her way around words, and was extremely sarcastic. But most importantly she was a girl who liked him back. At school, Dieter had his fair share of girls that swooned over him. He was popular, he was on the football team. But every time he seemed to like a girl, she was scared away easily. Now he was beginning to think that it was maybe Yamilla's doing. She wanted him to remain alone so that he could keep having feelings for her.
Yami shot him a look of having taken full offense at his actions, but still decided to try again. When he refused her for a second time, she jutted out her lower lip into a pout. "Why won't you kiss me, Dieter? I know you've always wanted to. Don't think I didn't notice the way you looked at me. Moira thinks so too."
That's because Moira's just your little minion, he thought to himself. He gave a firm shake of his head. "That's not what I want."
They were outside Granny's and the entrance had a patio with twinkling lights for outside dining. But it was a cold day in November and most people preferred to dine inside by this time of year. The patio was surrounded by white fencing enclosure wrapped in beautiful green vines and that provided some privacy from anyone sitting in the parking lot. That was exactly where the rest of the group was. They were waiting in the car for them--half of the group in Jai's car, and the other half in Dieter's car since he had handed the keys over to Clarisse.
But she kept pushing it. "If you ever need someone to satisfy your needs, you can always ask me. I could teach you and help you learn what you like." She said in a voice that was trying to sound seductive. But what Dieter wanted more than anything in that moment was to get out of there. He didn't want their friends to walk in on them and get the wrong idea.
"N-no." He stammered nervously. "I only wanted to talk to you because I want you to lay off Louise. I really like her."
Yamilla rolled her eyes. It made her blood boil to think of Dieter happy with someone else. She wanted him always liking her and hoping that she'd pick him someday. "She's a private school little rich girl who's gonna change you for someone else the first chance she gets." When he didn't play into her game, she huffed in annoyance. "Whatever. Suit yourself if you wanna get heartbroken by some bitch."
