Vanessa
When I got back to Ryan's house, I was surprised to see that he hadn't followed me here.
I sighed in relief, unlocked the door and went in.
I went upstairs and into the guestroom to change out of my clothes.
When I checked my phone for messages from my parents, all I saw were missed calls from Ryan.
I threw my phone on the bed and took a shower. I didn't feel like talking to him right now.
An hour later, I was out of the shower and in my PJ's.
Ryan was still nowhere in sight. And his parents were staying out late tonight.
"Oh well, guess I have the house to myself."
I turned on the TV and started watching reruns of old shows.
I started to get hungry, and there wasn't any good food in the fridge when I checked.
So I decided to go for a walk and get some fast food downtown.
I grabbed my wallet and headed out the door.
I passed by Wendy's and Burger King, but I wasn't really in the mood.
But I didn't have enough money to sit down in a diner and eat, so when I got to McDonald's, I just went inside.
There was a line, so I got in the back of it.
I felt weird since I was in my PJ's and nobody else was.
I was starting to worry about Ryan, since he hadn't called again, and he never came back to the house. Then someone tapped me on the shoulder.
"Hey."
I turned to look into the eyes of Justin.
"Oh, wow. Hey."
He smiled and pointed to the cashier. "It's your turn."
My heart dropped. Everyone was staring at me. "Oops, sorry."
I quickly ordered my food and stood off to the side, facing away from everyone else.
"Looks like we were both publicly humiliated tonight."
I turned to face Justin again. I laughed a little. "Um, yeah. I guess so."
He looked around. "So, are you here with anyone?"
I shook my head quickly. "Nope. You?"
He shook his head too. "No. Wanna sit with me then?"
I was surprised at his offer. "Uh...sure."
"Cool."
When our orders were called, we grabbed them and picked a table next to a big window.
When we sat, I looked at him for a minute.
His eyes were gorgeous. And his hair was really cool.
How could that Sarah girl not want to be with him?
I remembered that it's rude to stare, so I quickly looked at my fries.
"So..."
I looked back up at him, and he was checking me out.
I glanced down and realized that my bra was starting to stick out of my over-the-shoulder-top.
I quickly pulled it up.
He laughed a bit and looked back at me.
"What brings you here?"
I thought about it. "Well, I was with my friend Ryan earlier, then...um..."
I didn't know how to explain without bringing up the whole argument thing.
"Then...what?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Then we saw...something, and then something else happened, and then...I left him, and now I'm here."
He looked at me funny. "Okay then...?"
"I didn't know how to answer without bringing up that whole argument thing you had, so I tried to avoid saying it."
He nodded. "Oh. It's okay. I think I'm over that now. Why'd you leave your friend?"
"Cause he was one of the people laughing at you."
He smiled at me, and took a sip of his drink.
"Aren't you gonna eat anything?" He asked me, pointing to my food.
I looked down at it. "Oh...yeah. I forgot."
I picked up a fry and popped it into my mouth.
"You're pretty funny," He said to me.
I smiled. "Thanks. So...what brings you here?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't really have anything else to do. I was supposed to be with Sarah still. But...she blew up on me."
I nodded. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine, really. I mean, she was right. I did cling to her a bit."
"But you're supposed to do that. She's your girlfriend. If anything, she should be happy someone's willing to make time for her."
He looked confused. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I mean, if I had someone like that, I wouldn't do what she did to you today. If I didn't wanna come, I would have just told you to go without me."
He nodded, as if gathering all I just said.
He pulled out his phone. "Excuse me for a sec."
I nodded.
By the time he got back, I had finished my fries.
"Thanks for waiting."
"No problem. Who'd you call?"
He put his phone back in his pocket. "Sarah."
I raised my eyebrows. "What for?"
"I broke up with her."
I almost choked on my drink.
When I stopped coughing, he looked concerned. "Are you okay?"
I nodded quickly and put my drink back down.
"Why'd you do that?"
My voice was hoarse, so I tried sipping some more of my drink.
"You were right. And I didn't want to waste my time on someone who didn't even want me around in the first place."
"Oh. Well, good for you then."
My phone started vibrating and hopping around the table. I looked at the screen.
It was Ryan.
"Hold on a sec."
I got up and went outside. "Hello?"
"Where are you?"
"McDonald's. Why?"
"Because you never called me back. And I got back home and you weren't here."
"Oh. Sorry. I didn't feel like talking to you."
He sighed. "Okay, but why are you at McDonald's?"
"Cause I was hungry. And I'm with someone right now. I'll be back there soon."
I hung up before he could say anything else, and went back inside.
Justin was looking at his watch.
"Sorry. That was Ryan."
He looked up at me. "That's okay. Listen, I gotta get home. I'll see you around, okay?"
He stood up and held his hand out. I shook it, and he smiled at me.
"Bye, Vanessa."
"Bye Justin."
I watched him walk out to his car.
It was getting dark, so I decided to hurry up and get back to Ryan's.
(Later that night)
When I arrived back at Ryan's place, it was really dark out.
I almost tripped up the stairs, since there were no porch lights on.
I pulled out my key, and let myself in. I was surprised when I saw Ryan making out with some girl on the couch.
My hand instantly covered my eyes, and I made a gagging noise.
"Get a room." I growled, then went upstairs to the guestroom.
As soon as I shut the door and sat down on the bed, there was a knock on the door.
"What?" I said, with attitude.
Ryan walked in, with that girl from the couch with him.
"I want to introduce you to Shay." He gestured to the girl beside him.
I nodded at her. "Hey."
She smiled and waved. "What's your name?"
"Vanessa." I stood up and hesitated before shaking her hand.
"Nice to meet you Vanessa."
It took every fiber in my body not to roll my eyes.
"You too." I spoke through gritted teeth.
"Well, I'm tired. I'm going to bed, okay?"
The two nodded and left the room.
I sighed with relief.
After I heard the front door close, and Ryan retreat to his room, I quickly took another shower and went to bed.
(Later)
I tossed and turned all night long.
I couldn't get that Justin guy out of my head.
He was so sweet, and cute. I didn't really learn that much about him during that little time.
I woke up determined to find Justin and talk to him again.
I got dressed, and made myself up a little bit. Then I left Ryan a note on the fridge and walked out the door.
There was no exact place I had in mind to look, so I just walked around the areas I walked through last night.
I got to the carnival, and I saw Justin's car parked in the parking lot.
I have to admit, my stomach lurched a little.
When I walked through the gate to enter, I saw Justin sitting at a picnic table by himself.
"Perfect," I thought.
I sped up and was about to call out to him when I saw a girl walk right up to his table.
She tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a teddy bear. Then she sat on his lap.
Then she kissed him.
I squinted a little so that I could see who it was.
It was Sarah.
Didn't he break up with her yesterday?
I noticed he was about to look in my direction, so I turned my attention to the line of the snack bar.
He was walking up to me just as I was receiving my bag of chips from the guy behind the counter.
"Hey, Vanessa!"
I turned and started walking away quickly.
"Vanessa, where are you going?"
I guess he couldn't see that I didn't wanna talk.
So I turned to face him. "Ryan's house."
"Why? It's only noon." He looked back at me after looking at his watch.
"Um, well, I just feel like doing something else."
"You saw, didn't you?"
I pretended not to know what he was talking about. "Saw what?"
"Sarah. She kissed me. Come on, I know you saw."
"Okay, so I saw. But what does that have to do with anything?"
"We got back together...she apologized and everything..."
I nodded and turned back toward the exit. "That's great. Bye."
"Vanessa, wait, at least...come meet her?"
"What for?" I asked, slightly irritated.
"I want you to meet her."
I don't know what it was, but whatever he was doing to force me to turn around was pretty powerful.
"Fine." I said, coldly.
We walked up to Sarah, and her smile immediately faded.
"Sarah, this is my new friend, Vanessa."
She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "And?"
I tossed my chips into a nearby trashcan and started walking away.
"I don't have time for this. See you around, Justin."
I heard Justin arguing with Sarah quietly, but they soon were out of earshot.
I felt a little betrayed.
He told me that he broke up with her last night because he didn't wanna waste his time on someone who didn't want him around.
He didn't wanna waste his time on someone who publicly humiliated him.
But then she comes to him with a simple "I'm sorry", and everything's all right?
And then he had the nerve to introduce me to her?
Whatever. That just ruined my entire day.
