Here's part 2!

…

WHAT WE REALLY FEEL

Part 2 of 5

"You stupid asshole!" Trish exclaimed.

Randy winced. He was ready for this, but he didn't expect everything to turn this way. Before he opened his mouth, Trish went stepped down from the tall stoop of her house. Stacy immediately went to Trish's side before any violence will occur, but she couldn't even stop Trish herself.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I never wanted to see you again!" Trish demanded, facing him. "Didn't I tell you not to show up here anymore?"

"Trish, I'm here to apologize," Randy began. "We misunderstood each other."

"And you're the one who's saying that I'm misunderstood!" Trish shrieked.

"It's not all my fault," Randy reasoned.

Trish crossed her arms and gave him a disdainful once-over. "Well…it's not my fault if you don't know how to commit in a relationship," she said in a much calmer voice.

Randy had a catch on his throat. He saw Stacy's reaction. She looked rather offended, the way she widened her eyes and the way her eyebrows were bunched. Then he looked back at Trish again.

"Trish…we don't have a commitment, right?" he said.

Trish's voice went up again in loud falsetto. "Oh…I have! You don't!" Then she pointed at the gate. "Get out!"

Now this was the part where Randy couldn't fight anymore. He looked at Stacy again, hoping for backup, but the tall blonde just looked away in an imaginary spot at the distance.

"I said get out!" Trish yelled again.

Doing the right thing, Randy turned away and left, closing the gate behind him, the final sound in his world.

…

"I'm gonna kill him!" Trish exclaimed as she chopped a potato.

Stacy sighed. It has been an hour since Randy left. She and Trish were in the kitchen; Trish planning to make mashed potatoes for dinner, but she was endlessly ranting about the whole breakup, and Stacy had a feeling that the potatoes won't be able to taste any good, much less look edible. Trish was so furious she didn't even ask how he and Stacy ended up going to there house together, to her relief.

Trish chopped another potato. "I hope he dies a slow and painful death!"

Stacy opened the refrigerator and took out a bottled ice tea. "What did he ever do to you, Trish?"

"He never did anything to take care of our relationship," Trish replied as she took out a ceramic bowl from the cabinet. "Like ask me out to dates, or call me from my phone to know if I'm still alive!"

Stacy drank the sugary tea. "First of all…is he really your boyfriend?"

"Of course!" Trish answered immediately. Then a pause. "He is."

"Oh…I see. You met him in a party, talked to him, and you think he's your boyfriend?" Stacy deduced.

Trish looked at her, offended. "Hello! Courting is, like, so old, you know that?"

"Well, hello to you too!" Stacy returned. "You already broke up with your so-called boyfriend that I haven't even met before."

Trish frowned as she set the potatoes in the bowl. "I don't even feel that I have a boyfriend."

Stacy drank her tea again, almost swallowing half the bottle. "So…how long have you and

Randy been dating?"

Trish knitted her brows in deep thought. "Two months."

Stacy rolled her eyes, confused. "What! Then why do you act like you're going to die?"

"Well…it hurts!" Trish said sarcastically. "What's wrong with you? And why are you interrogating me? What are you? His lawyer!"

Stacy shook her head. This is gonna be a long night.

…

The next day, Stacy went back to the gasoline station to get her Beetle back, but a bushy brown haired mechanic named Mick Foley immediately ushered her as soon as she got there.

"Ma'am, we still can't give your car back," Mick reasoned. "It's pretty old, and there are still a lot of broken parts, but I already called up your boyfriend to tell me what parts are needed."

Stacy's eyebrow went up. "What boyfriend?"

Mick pointed something behind Stacy with his bushy lips. Stacy turned around and saw Randy coming up to them. He approached Mick.

"Hey Mick," Randy greeted. Then he looked at the old Beetle. "Wow. You're really doing well on Stacy's car."

Mick puffed up, proud of himself. "Of course, sir."

"So what are the parts needed?" Randy asked.

Stacy immediately ran up to Randy and faced him. "Randy, please you really don't need to do this."

"Stacy, please don't turn down my help," Randy told her.

"But you really should—''

"Stacy…"

"I really think—''

"No."

Mick stifled his laughter. "Excuse me, kids. I have work to do." Then he walked off to Stacy's Beetle, laughing all the way.

"He isn't my boyfriend!" Stacy yelled at him.

Randy followed Mick. "So what are the parts needed, may I say?"

"I'm gonna give you a list to buy them so I'll be able to change some parts of this car," Mick answered. "Maybe take off some of them too,"

Stacy gasped and walked up to the car. "Nothing should be taken off to this car! This is still all right and running!"

Saying that, she rapped the part of the car loudly. Bad move though. All the outer parts went off with a clanging sound. Both Mick and Randy winced at every sound heard.

Stacy grinned at them apologetically. Oops.

…

"You know it's really weird when we met, you know," Randy said to Stacy in an auto parts shop on the gasoline station. "Overly coincidental. Especially the time when we're going to Trish."

Stacy smiled weakly. "Yes."

Getting her new mug wheels from the cashier, she went past Randy and walked out of the shop, going to the repair section. Randy immediately followed her. Together they walked to the parking lot.

"Can you please talk to your friend for me?" Randy requested. "Maybe…there are some things that she's been saying to me behind my back right now."

"She has nothing to say," Stacy lied.

"Of course she does," he said. "Especially if it's not true."

Stacy looked up at him, holding her mug wheels tight to her chest. "Then what's the truth?"

Randy took a deep breath, then went on with his speech. "Alright. Trish and I went out a couple of times. Then she starts pining for demands. And then she breaks up with me when we're not even together!"

Stacy felt relieved. At least she knew he isn't lying; Randy looked way too innocent to be a liar.

"I admit I have a few wrongs, but…" Randy continued, then stopped, looking at something behind Stacy. Then his eyes widened and he gasped like a little girl. He ran past her. Stacy looked behind her, and saw Randy bearing down on his Beetle, looking down on a flat tire. She gasped.

Great. What an unbelievable struck of luck.

…

"Are you all right, Randy?" Stacy asked.

Randy sighed, fiddling with the coffee straws. "A little."

Stacy smiled at him sympathetically. After that wacky incident, Stacy invited him to Starbucks for coffee. Randy went with her without a word, and he was now sitting across her. Stacy didn't know what else to do; she hoped this little deed will make him feel a little better.

Or just to see his ultra-gorgeous smile once again.

Stacy mentally slapped herself. She didn't like the way her thoughts were going.

Then the waiter came with their cups of coffee. Randy took out his wallet, but Stacy grabbed his arm before he could do anything else.

"Don't worry. It's on me."

"But Stacy…"

"It's fine. Just let me treat you for once."

Randy drew back to his seat, relenting. Stacy paid to the waiter and poured some milk to his cup and then hers.

"At least we aren't drinking the ones on Styrofoam cups," she quipped as she took her wallet back to her bag. She drank a small sip.

Randy didn't touch his coffee; instead he leaned closer and looked at her intently. "Stacy…can I pick you up tomorrow?"

Stacy looked at him, confused. "Why?"

"You know, hang out. Like a date."

Stacy went blank. Randy continued to look at her, waiting for her answer. This is one thing she definitely did not expect. Randy grinned at her, and she felt as if she was going to melt. But there are drastic measures…and if it wasn't for that she would have said yes.

"Date?" she echoed. "Trish is my best friend, Randy."

Randy got her point. "Just because Trish is your friend…we can't see each other?"

"Please. I don't think we should," Stacy said politely.

Randy's smile died on his face, then he nodded and turned away, finally drinking his coffee. Again, Stacy felt bad, almost hating herself for seeing him so sad, but she knows she didn't do anything wrong. At least she turned him down in a polite manner.

I'm such an idiot.

…

"Is there something wrong, Randall?" Elaine Orton told Randy that dinnertime.

Randy picked the peas on his plate. "There's this girl…"

Mrs. Orton smiled good-humoredly. "Oh boy. Here we go again."

"No, mom," Randy objected as he put his fork down. "Stacy is different."

"How different is this young lady?" she asked.

Randy rested his chin on his hands as he looked up dreamily from the chandelier above the dinner table. "She…she's got spark. Something I can't explain."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't want to hurt anyone…and I especially don't want to get hurt."

"Why are you already thinking about that?" Mrs. Orton asked him. "It's not like you're already falling for her, at least when you're not doing it on purpose."

She smiled at him, but Randy didn't feel happy when he was just being turned down. "Mom…are me and Dad alike?"

Mrs. Orton swallowed her food and then gave Randy a serious look. "No. Both of you are different. Actually…we're both alike. When we find the right person…there. We're loyal."

Randy finally smiled. All he knew that he was thanking all the gods that his mom didn't know.

Maybe there's hope after all.

…

"I have an announcement to make!" Trish declared at the girls' slumber party that night. All the girls, including Stacy, looked up from the pillows strewn all over the floor as the petite blonde stood up and ran her hands on her flannel pajamas.

"I'm over Randy! I'm so over Randy, because I have a new boyfriend!" Trish announced joyfully.

"Oh whatever," Nidia muttered as she raked a hand on her brown hair.

"It's true!" Trish told them. "His name is Christian, and I met him on the online chat room last week!"

"Are you sure you're going to last?" Victoria asked her as she put makeup on Gail Kim's face. "I mean…you have dated a lot of guys and it didn't quite end well."

Everyone agreed, but Trish ignored the subject. "We're bound to last, and I just know it!"

Stacy chuckled from the girls' opinions until her cellphone rang. She stood up and walked away from the girls' and opened it. It was Randy calling her. She turned off her phone, suddenly feeling guilty, but she didn't go back to her spot on the floor next to the girls who were now trilling about Chad Michael Murray and making fun on how fat Hilary Duff was on the teen mags. Stacy just stood there, biting her lip, when Trish suddenly faced her.

"Hey Stacy," Trish acknowledged her. "What's up with you?"

"Umm…Trish," Stacy began nervously. "I have to tell you something."

"What is it?"

Stacy squeezed her eyes shut, ready for what to come. "Randy asked me out."

Trish looked at her askance. "What? Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'?" Stacy asked her.

Trish laughed quietly like a witch and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Stacy…my deepest sympathies to you. He's really such a scumbag. You take care of yourself."

With that, Trish walked away from her and back to the bed. Stacy went to her sleeping bag and just decided to sleep; wanting to dream of Randy, that cute face, wanting to believe that all of the things Trish said about him isn't true until it formed into a mantra in her head.

Definitely not true.

…

When Stacy went to the repair section of the gasoline station, Randy was already there, his tall muscular form making him the biggest guy there as he was talking to Mick. She heard a few phrases from their conversation.

"The brakes need to be cleaned and the pads needed to be changed," Mick said to Randy.

Randy nodded. "Okay Mick. You know what to do."

Before anything else happened, Stacy began to walk away from the scene. Randy was the last person she wanted to see or talk to. Just when her steps reached about ten counts, he heard light footsteps coming behind her.

"Stacy? Is that you?"

Hearing her name called, Stacy looked behind her and immediately turned away. "Hi Randy."

"There are still a few parts needed to be fixed," Randy reminded her. "I was calling you last night to tell you."

Oh, so that's what it's all about, Stacy thought.

"Um…I'll take care of it myself. I really don't want you to become a burden anyway," Stacy blurted out without looking at him. She continued to walk, but Randy continued to follow her still.

"Shouldn't we fix what is broken?" Randy suggested.

Stacy stopped walking, then brushed past Randy and walked to her Beetle. "The car? Actually, I think I'll just sell it. I have too much to pay and it's not practical at all."

"Stacy, are you avoiding me?" Randy asked behind her.

Finally, Stacy faced him and finally made eye contact. The people around them were too busy to work; no one would dare to bother them at all.

"Look Randy…I just don't want anything messed up." she told him.

Randy raised his dark brows, obviously confused. "Why would anything be messed up?"

Stacy took in air, ready for her explanation. "Okay. We have a lot in common. But what's different about us is the most important. Like, wanting to commit a grown relationship?"

"I can try," Randy said. "I can try if you want. Like the old-fashioned courting style. I have to ask Trish since you don't want to talk me. She even told me you don't like getting coffee and—''

"Don't force yourself to do all the things if it's not you," Stacy interrupted softly.

"I can change," Randy pleaded. "Can't you at least give me a chance? Please?"

Stacy couldn't say anything anymore. Randy looked so sweet and pathetic…and he was begging her now. In fact, the more she ignored him, the more he won't give up. Stacy never really experienced this kind of thing; someone practically on his knees just to go out with him. And that he was Randy. Shouldn't she be in awe right now, a totally handsome guy wanting to commit for her? That ought to be pretty touching.

She didn't know. Could not know. She looked at him one last time, that totally cute smile etching his gorgeous features, and felt her knees turn into jelly.

Maybe I should give him a chance.

(t.b.c.)