That Girl | David Dobrik

𝒟𝒶𝓂𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝐼𝒻 𝐼 𝒟𝑜, 𝒟𝒶𝓂𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝐼𝒻 𝐼 𝒟𝑜𝓃'𝓉 | 𝒟𝒶𝓋𝒾𝒹'𝓈 𝒫𝒪𝒱

As soon as Marley approached me, somehow I knew I'd be leaving the party with her.

We sat in my car, headed towards her apartment in complete silence. You could practically cut the tension in the air with a knife. Marley sat there, her arms crossed over her chest, leaning away from me and facing the window. I was white knuckling the steering wheel as I drove, feeling incredibly nervous.

I pulled into her apartment parking lot and shut off the car, letting out a long, shaky breath. I walked over and opened her door for her, and she smiled up at me, before quickly averting her eyes.

"So..." I cleared my throat, nearly reaching out to grab her hand, or wrap my arm around her waist before I stopped myself.

"So." She replied, unlocking her apartment door. I followed her inside, unsure of what we were even discussing. I didn't expect her to get angry, or jealous. She seemed to only want me around when it was convenient for her, and that wasn't fair to me. Even though I barely knew her, I wanted to be around her all the time. I wanted to know her.

"I don't really know what to say," I said quietly, leaning against the wall. Marley stood opposite me, her eyes searching mine. "I don't... know why I'm here."

"Well, you said we'd talk, so talk." She stared at me, arms crossed across her chest.

"I just don't understand where your head's at, I guess..." I said, scratching the back of my neck nervously. "Like are you into me, or not?"

"I... I don't know."

"How can you not know?"

"It isn't always so simple, David." She threw her hands up in frustration, her expression hard and unreadable... which wasn't anything new to me. "I am attracted to you, obviously... but I don't want a boyfriend."

"See, this is another problem, you seem to think that just because I'm trying to get to know you, that means that I'm trying to fucking marry you or something." I could hear the exasperation in my voice growing stronger, and she seemed to notice too. She rolled her eyes at me, and shook her head. We stood there for a moment, just looking at each other.

"Well I don't want to give the wrong impression. I'm not interested in a relationship, and everyone keeps saying how you don't do hook ups, and you don't talk to girls, and I don't want to give you the idea that this is going to go anywhere." She spoke fast, her cheeks turning a deeper shade of pink. I couldn't tell if she was embarrassed somehow, or just annoyed.

"That's fine! I don't care! My feelings aren't hurt! But if that is really how you feel, then why are you getting mad that I'm ignoring you? Why are you approaching me at the party? It doesn't make sense to me." I had started to pace, while she stood there, staring at the ground. I tried to meet her eyes, but she wouldn't look up.

"I don't... I don't know."

"Well until you figure it out, maybe you should just leave me out of it. Because I don't want to chase you around and hope you'll change your mind." I stopped, turning and staring at the door. I reached out to put my hand on the handle, before she stopped me, grabbing my arm and spinning me around.

"Just stop it, okay? Why does this have to be a big dramatic blow out?"

"I'm not being dramatic, I'm being realistic." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I felt almost stupid for getting so worked up, but I just couldn't understand how Marley operated. It didn't make any sense to me. "Look, Marley. I'm not a bad guy. You don't have to be scared of me, we could just hang out with no expectations on either part, because I obviously like you. I'm not going to hurt you."