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Regardless of what I did with Tiffany, I knew that Belle was it, as long as she was this close. Hell, I still might not get over her even if I move to Northwest America. Thousands of miles still might not be enough for me to finally move past the feelings I had for her.
And why did it take a dating game for me to realize how severe these feelings really were?
15
Isabella
Iwasn'tsurewhyI was so excited about this movie, but my body was thrumming with energy by the time I left work on Tuesday.
Scratch that, I knew why I was so excited, and it had nothing to do with the movie. It had everything to do with my best friend finally making some time for me and spending it with me tonight to watch the movie. I actually didn't care that much about the movie itself.
After nearly two weeks of Landon being missing in action, aka with Tiffany every waking moment of every single day, he'd asked me for a movie night. I was relieved that he still even considered me a friend, what with the distance he was so obviously putting between us.
Briefly, I wondered if Tiffany had requested that Landon spend less time with me. It seemed like something she would do, given her passive-aggressive nature and obvious dislike for me. Would Landon let someone like Tiffany come between us and our friendship? Would he allow a girl he'd only been dating for a few weeks dictate his friendships?
These were all thoughts that haunted me through the night, but I had to force myself to stop. I had no claim to Landon or his time, and while we were best friends, that was all that we were. I wasn't his girlfriend, so there wasn't much that I could say. If Tiffany did become his serious girlfriend and asked him to stop hanging out with me, there was nothing I could do or say to change that.
Regardless of all of that, Landon was spending tonight with me. We would watch one of our favorite movie series together, eat lots of snacks, and hopefully catch up on everything. I hoped that this night together would close the gap that I could feel forming between us.
Once I got home from work, I started getting everything ready for us. Landon would be coming home soon, and I wanted everything to be ready for us to start our night. The movie was long, and we were both the kind to go to sleep early, so we always started our movies early. That meant I needed to have all of the snacks and drinks ready to go when he got here, along with getting dinner started.
I'd decided when I went grocery shopping a few days ago that we'd have hot wings, so I'd bought drumsticks and the sauce that both of us were obsessed with.
Pulling the air fryer out of its home in the pantry, I started prepping the food for when he got here. I took time patting the chicken dry and mixing together the dry seasonings that I would put on them while they cooked. Once that was finished, I got to work cutting celery and making little bowls of ranch for us to dip our wings in. I had everything perfectly prepped and ready to go.
When I checked the clock, I realized that nearly an hour had passed. Had Landon gotten home and gone for a shower without me noticing? I guess I had been so caught up in my prep work that I didn't hear him.
I walked to his bedroom door and listened for the sound of his shower, which was always loud. But there was no sound.
Knocking, I called out, "Landon? You in there?"
When I got no response, I ran to the living room, opening the front door to check on the driveway. And his car wasn't there.
Had he got caught up at work? It had happened before, and I was sure that was what happened. Closing the front door, I walked back to the kitchen and put the chicken back in the fridge until he got there.
I grabbed my phone to check if he'd texted me, but had no notifications. So I sent him a quick message asking him what time he would be home. I wanted to remind him about our movie night, but knew that he wouldn't have forgotten. And I didn't want to come off as clingy or anything weird.
While I waited, I decided that I would go watch my favorite show to pass the time. If he'd gotten caught up at work, I'm sure he'd be home soon enough, but I might as well rewatch my show.
Minutes of waiting turned into multiple episodes. I kept telling myself that he was just busy with work, checking my phone every five minutes to see if he'd responded.
Still, he didn't text back. He didn't walk through the door and apologized for being late. He didn't flop onto the couch and immediately tried to change what was on the TV.
I just watched by myself, eventually getting up to fix myself a sandwich out of sheer hunger. I microwaved a bag of popcorn to tide myself over until I heard his car pulling into the driveway.
But that never happened. And eventually, I fell asleep on the couch.
My dreams of being in an intergalactic love triangle were rudely interrupted when a thud and a crash sounded. I screeched, sitting upright on the couch and effectively sending my bowl of popcorn tumbling to the ground. Dazedly, I stood and looked at the door, instantly wondering if I'd left it unlocked and an intruder had let themselves in.
But what my eyes found was no intruder.
A giggling Tiffany hung off of Landon's neck, her lipstick smudged all over his mouth and neck. Her hair was mussed, and it didn't take a genius to realize why.
Tiffany's eyes were on me, a smirk on her mouth as she stared. I'd gone still before slowly moving my eyes to Landon, who looked shocked.
"Sorry, we didn't know you were awake," Tiffany said in that fake sweet voice. She turned back to Landon, putting a hand on his chest and pulling him further into the house. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she looked at me and gave me a smug grin, as if she was glad I saw this.
I didn't have a response because the truth was rumbling in my mind. My blood roared through my ears, and whatever came out of Tiffany's mouth next was unheard.
