Influence (GirlXGirl)

Chapter 29: The Location

She squinted her eyes at her, "Are you joking? for Christ's sake!" she threw her hands, "I thought I did something terrible, but it's just jealousy."

"I'm not surprised to know Joanne's jealous every time you're around me," I teased her.

"What do you- oh, because I'm attractive, isn't it?"

I shrugged, "I don't know."

She took my hand and pulled me close enough to smell her perfume. Her perfume is like ecstasy to me, "Be honest, am I attractive? Like attractive enough to steal you from Joanne?"

I raised my eyebrow in confusion. What's with the question? I'm in a relationship with Joanne because I wanted to move on from you, Stephanie.

I can feel my heart beating fast because of the question, "Uhm, yes? I mean, look at you. Don't act like you know I didn't like you in high school-" I stopped my sentence.

She laughed for a moment but stopped, "Oh yeah, right."

I did not just say that. Great, Cathleen. It's awkward now.

"You know, we never talked about it," Stephanie said.

"Do you want too?"

She shrugged, "Don't you want to get closure? I mean-"

"Closure? For what?" I ask with irritation in my tone. Why is she bringing it up now?

She cleared her throat, "I don't know. After the senior grad celebration, we stopped being friends and constantly nagged at each other. But we suddenly become friends now. Heck, we even hug."

I took a deep breath before answering, "but that's the closure I need? You don't like me or anything. What closure do I need again?" I continued, "I have a girlfriend. You even suggested to me that I should be with Joanne. You also have a boyfriend-"

"David and I are just friends!"

"Well, that doesn't mean he doesn't love you? Each of us has a partner now, and you want me to get back when I still fall for you?"

"No!" Stephanie exclaimed, "I want to talk about it because I want to know how you feel. I want to make amends for rejecting you or humiliating you."

"So you know all along?" I asked.

"Yes! I know because I cared about you," she ruffled her hair in frustration, "I care about you from the start. I don't hate you- I never hated you when you confessed to me. You never give me the chance to talk about it."

I exhaled the air I held for a moment. I always thought she hated me. I always avoid her every time she nears me.

Why did I do that?

Was I embarrassed to show my face after she rejected me?

"I know you're embarrassed to talk about it. I was, too. I was embarrassed to show my face to you because I rejected you," Stephanie said to me.

I shook my head, "Why? I should be the embarrassed one."

She sighed, "I- I can't tell you about it," she stood up from the bed and sat in front of Madison's laptop.

"What are you doing now?"

"I need a distraction," she said as she typed a phone number.

I sighed. Maybe we'll continue this conversation some days. It's a lot to process, "Try not to screw things up, okay? You're a business major, not computer science."

"I know what I'm doing. I want to try something," she said as she pressed the enter button.

"Who's phone number is that-"