Pole Dancer

Chapter 20: Stay

All along it was a fever
A cold sweat, hot headed believer
I threw my hands in the air, said, "Show me something"
He said, "If you dare, come a little closer"
Round and around and around and around we go
Oh, now tell me now, tell me now, tell me now you know
Not really sure how to feel about it
Something in the way you move
Makes me feel like I can't live without you
It takes me all the way
I want you to stay

After I woke up and did some self care on myself, I went over to Paula's house to chill. She had her music blasting and her shorts on with her hair tied back like she was about to go to 'work' but the gloves and smell of bleach told me different.

"Come in, pretty girl."

I stepped on in and glanced around. She had the house pretty much sparkling clean with the floors vacuumed, shelves dusted, tables and floors spotless. Her playlist played from her iPod on the speaker and I wondered where her parents and her little brothers were.

"Girl, that man must have turned on the Wifey Switch cause what is all this?", I jokingly asked as she went back over to her sink to finish washing dishes.

She rolled her eyes at me but she didn't say anything smart back so I must be on the right thought path. I sat on the bar stool beside her and pulled out my laptop.

We were supposed to be chilling but I had a short assignment that I needed to turn in while she finished up cleaning. I started singing along to her music and we were vibing out. She even poured us both a glass of wine which just added to the chill vibes.

"I think my mom is up to something."

"What do you mean?", Paula asked as she finally finished and lit some candles that made the house smell like fresh roses.

"She told me that we are going to stand in the sun. No more lies and hiding. We get to be whoever or whatever we want to be."

Ooh, the reason I hold on
Ooh, 'cause I need this hole gone
Well, funny you're the broken one
But I'm the only one who needed saving
'Cause when you never see the light
It's hard to know which one of us is caving
Not really sure how to feel about it
Something in the way you move
Makes me feel like I can't live without you
It takes me all the way
I want you to stay

I closed my laptop and turned to face my best friend of 6 years. She had her hair placed in a messy bun and her face had no makeup so she had this youthful look like I did whenever I took off the makeup. We loved to call each other sister because we had similar features. She matured faster than I did and she experienced things that I hadn't so I always saw her as older and wiser than me even if we were only three months apart.

"So does that mean you can finally stop playing with Jax and ride that pony already?"

I burst out laughing at the horse riding move she made with one hand while her other clutched her wine glass.

"Girl, go to Hell! I'm still not ready for that. I don't even know if Jax is serious about me," I shrugged.

Paula rolled her whole neck and set her glass down. I guess I was clearly not paying attention to something cause she was ready to school me.

"That boy looked ready to drop down to his knees every time he sees you and you're telling me you don't know if he's serious." She started with a wicked grin on her face. "Tell me you're a virgin without telling me you're a virgin, sis."

"I want my first time to be with someone I actually love, Paul. Not just the first guy that looks good to me."

"You were in love with Kyle and never said two words to him ever in life. Sometimes doing it with someone who has experience helps a little. Cause my first time sucked," Paula admitted as she swallowed her wine down and reached for the bottle again.

"Okay. Forget the sex part. Do you think he likes me?", I wondered even though I had kissed him a couple times and he didn't reject me.

"There's a way to find that out, but you want to stay far away from that place, remember?"

I sighed in annoyance. The fact that we were miles apart did affect the potential of a relationship but I just wanted to know if Jax actually had any feelings for me. I didn't want to be another notch on his belt and if we couldn't be together then I'd be happy just being friends with him.

"Don't friend zone him, Martie." Paula's elbow hit me in the breast and I groaned.

"How did you know what I was thinking?"

"Girl, you're so damn comfortable with me that you speak under your breath and I just listen," she made an innocent face as she shrugged.

Whatever.