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━ DECEMBER, 2019 ━
ISABELLE
✧
"YOU'RE TELLING ME he's six years older than you?!" Maddie asks for the third time in a row, still not able to believe the fact that I have developed an unusual liking for the guy who's flashing a dimpled smile in my brightly lit up phone screen.
"Uh, you heard me." I blush, desperately trying to ignore the monster sized butterflies in my stomach.
Zoey purses her lips, fingers busy scanning his entire Instagram profile. Zoey Moore should consider giving lessons on Social Media and How to gather information from it. Talk about stalking skills! I once even suggested her to write an WikiHow article on it.
"Apparently he is single." She comments, finally putting down the cell phone. There were creases on her forehead which meant she was worried. About me.
I didn't respond. My eyes were hyper focused on the flamingos on a cushion cover. I do it sometimes ─ focus on irrelevant materials when the spotlight is on me.
"You knew?" Maddie asks Zoey and she nods.
"She's been obsessing over this guy since like, Junior year. I thought it was just a crush ---"
"Zoey, it is just a crush," I cut her off, "It's just that, now we kind of talk and its really confusing me."
"You used to talk." She corrects me bluntly, hitting me right in the pit of my stomach.
I used to talk to Sky Miller. Well, only until November when he, out of the blue, placed me in the sisterzone. Funny how I saw it coming and yet didn't do anything to stop it.
"It's for the greater good in the end you see. Stop thinking about him." Maddie points out and purses her lips.
"Maybe. . . Let's just change the topic." I suggest, growing increasingly uncomfortable at the idea of speaking my feelings. I've never been good at expressing. Let alone talk about love. Or other stupid stuff like, for example, crushes on someone you just saw on Instagram. And barely talked for like, three months.
There weren't even proper conversations, now that I see it. It was just me making efforts to talk and him replying because he apparently didn't want to ghost me altogether. Pity replies, perhaps.
"And does he know about the huge crush you got on him?" Maddie asks, toying with the half empty glass of cappuccino. The atmosphere was suffocating.
He knows. He probably has forgotten. Basically, it was a foolish idea to even confess. Ashley didn't want to be the medium, but I insisted. Ashely as in his other cousin and my current classmate Ashley Miller.
