The next day, Cory completely acts as if I don't exist.
"And you stood him up? Do you know what that means?" Lacey says for the sixth time, obviously adding to my guilt.
"I think you explained that already pretty much. I suck, and I'm a pile of poop." I repeat her words.
"Louder."
"Fuck you, Simone."
We're in the hotel's lounge room, which is a simple way of putting the cramped up, rectangular shaped room that the management provided for us. If I take a shot anytime our table has been bumped into and spilling half of our French fries to the floor, I'd probably have alcohol poisoning.
I'm not only stressed out about the fact that Cory is intentionally ignoring me, which mind you, is already becoming insufferable for me. We've been appealing for a new room because our current one already has too many issues that the hotel's management turned a blind eye on.
Why our toilet keeps getting clogged up is still a mystery. There might be some things I'm good at, but plumbing work is definitely not one of them. Having the nicely furnished master's suite is better than the poorly equipped cubicle we're in. The wall paintings already even started peeling off. But that's where the problem comes from— everyone else thinks it's unfair we have the master's suite.
In my own opinion, I think everyone's an asshole.
I'm munching on what's left on my plate with a frown, my eyes falling to my lap to avoid Lacey and Simone's stink look directed at me. Lacey's the last person I want to talk to about this, but Simone already knows, so of course, the information is likely to reach her.
"Tell me something. Why do you think he invited you over for movie night?" Lacey asks.
"To watch Netflix and chill?"
"I have never heard anything so unprofessionally said."
"Your point, Lacey, your point." I bury my face in my hands, dropping them back on the table.
"I've dated fourteen guys in my lifetime and let me tell you, a guy wouldn't invite you over just to watch Netflix and chill. It means he sees you worthy of his time, he wants to spend leisure activities with you, he waited the whole night to be with you. The least you could've done was to explain why you couldn't make it."
"You dated fourteen guys during your lifetime?" I ask with curiosity. Lacey makes a sound, trying not to reach across the table to strangle me.
"My main point is, you're the reason he keeps friend-zoning you. And that's a bad thing."
"I don't think you're being subtle about this," Simone whispers in her ears, like I can't hear every word she said. "Let me take it from here." Simone clears her throat and speaks in a normal tone. "We think you don't present yourself in a way that'll make Cory see you more than a friend."
"What does that even mean?"
Lacey picks up a handful of Fries and throws them at my face. "Wake up. You never made it clear to him you cared about anything more than a friendship. He can't read your mind, you dimwit. You have a crush on him? Tell him. You want a romantic relationship? Say it. You just want to be fuck buddies? Fucking say it."
Simone and I exchange looks.
"Ignore the last part. But you get what I mean. Nothing looks more attractive than admitting your feelings to someone you like."
I dip my fries in ketchup. "What if get rejected?"
God knows I wouldn't be able to face him if I get turned down.
"Then he's an idiot. We move on to the next person to ship you with." Lacey concludes.
I sigh. "It's not that easy for me."
They go silent all of a sudden, probably being sympathetic for me.
"Hey. Look at Cory," My head goes up at Simone's request. I see him in another table with a girl, looking like he's having the time of his life. "See how good he looks? Now imagine another girl enjoying him and you not meaning anything to him anymore." I shudder at the thought. "Exactly. Get your shit together."
It makes me feel sad and pathetic that she has a point. But it's not that I'm not interested in a relationship. The fear of rejection is what keeps me away from doing anything other than admiring from a distance.
Lacey's right. I'm going to give it a shot.
I stand from our table, pushing myself through the people I bump into to get to where he is. He doesn't realize I'm walking towards his direction until I slam a hand on the table, startling him and his new company.
"Walk away." I put on my best intimidating look, hoping she'll fall for it and fortunately for me, she does. I watch her scramble to her feet and dash off in the opposite direction.
That's a brave one.
Turning back to Cory, I force out a sheepish "Hey."
And then he does the unbelievable, the unheard of, the very unlikely of him. He stands up and walks out on me.
I never thought of the possibility of that happening, so as shocked as I am, my mouth hangs open like a dead fish's.
"Hey! Wait up!" I bolt after him out of the lounge as I slam my face on the transparent glass walls. Whoever thought it'll be sensible to make walls from transparent glass is the reason why accidents like this happen.
"At least hear what I have to say!" He continues to walk away, making me run out of breath as I'm trying to catch up with his long strides.
I huff, already getting tired of his attitude, so I take off my flip-flop and aim for the back of his head.
Not a very good decision, but at least it made him stop for a second, then he continues walking.
OH JESUS CHRIST ON A BICYCLE.
I go for plan B, which has me springing myself on his back and wrapping my arms tightly around his neck. Finally, he stops.
"What are you doing?"
"He talks!"
A group of girls passing by stops on their tracks when they reach where we are, their eyes shooting daggers at me.
"Is everything alright here?" One of them asks.
"We're fine!" I say with forced enthusiasm. "Just having a little Allie-Cory time. You can move along now."
They exchange looks, not seeming very convinced. "Is this one of those we're-in-an-argument-But-I'm-trying-to-make-everything-look-cool thing?"
"No. This is one of those drop-it-and-leave-it-alone thing."
"But..."
"KEEP WALKING."
The three walking toothpicks roll their eyes before minding their business and trotting away.
I climb back down from Cory's back, immediately missing the warmth from it. At six-foot-two, he towers over me so I have to bring my head back a little to have a view of his profile.
I was going to start with an 'I'm sorry' but that'll sound cliche and unbelievable.
"Okay, it was only wrong I didn't show up last night. Now is that so bad? To be wrong?"
Seeing as that doesn't work because he doesn't reply me, I try another tactic.
"I genuinely wanted to come. But I came back from the market so late and thought you'd have gone to bed. I mean, what idiot waits up for hours when a second party doesn't show up."
I just called him an idiot. Shit!
My mouth continues to spew out uncontrollable words, like it has a will of it's own. "That came out wrong. I didn't mean to describe you as an idiot. If anyone's an idiot here, it would be me. I'm a blabbering idiot right now and I won't stop talking until you quit staring at me that way and say something. Why won't you say anything? I'm I talking too much? Does my face look weird? Is it my hair? I told Lacey not to style it this way but the girl doesn't listen!"
"Allie, take a deep breath." Cory tells me as I inhale greedily, filling my lungs with air after my non-stop speech marathon.
"I'm sorry," I sigh out, finally saying the words. To my greatest surprise, he smiles down at me.
"That would've done it. You didn't have to talk so much." Huh. So it wasn't cliche after all. "Can I hug you?"
I can hear the sincerity in his words, and see the authenticity in his gaze. Without thinking, I reach out to wrap my arms around him and hug him as tightly as possible.
Simone and Lacey's earlier words pop into my head. As it is, I can't blame this on anyone else but myself. And as harsh as it might sound, I really need to get my head out of my ass. After all, I always assumed our close friendship would work to my advantage. But apparently, I have to step up my game. I've gone a long time without romance, I'm sensitive to my parent's complicated affair, and my kid sister gets boyfriends faster than I can admit my feelings to my crush. So don't blame my judgement for being a little confused.
Later on, alone in my room, Simone and Lacey are yet to make an appearance. And as I'm scrolling through my messages, I see Cory's name and click through our chat, part of me wants to send him a text, to just punch all what's on my mind in his fucking face.
My phone dings with a new message. It's from him:
~Wednesday night, 3am. Me, you and the stars. I will bring blankets~
A wide grin spreads across my face as I type back a reply, agreeing I'll be there.
Operation 'admit my feelings to Cory' is a go.
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