Rock Paper Scissors

Who knew that it would be years before I saw that dress again. Alex made her way down the stairs to me. She stood an inch or two taller than me, letting me know she was wearing quite high heels.

"Damn." I gasped.

"You look pretty damn good yourself." Her blush deepening.

I decided on a long dress as well, but mine was black, had no slit, and wasn't cut out in the back the way Alex's was. I knew I looked good, but I was in no position to accept compliments when faced with someone as gorgeous as the vixen standing in front of me.

"Ahem, I'm up here cutie." I hadn't noticed when Alex took another step forward and placed a finger under my chin, tugging it up slightly. The world slowed for a couple seconds and I swear I felt a gravitational pull towards her lips, but my eyes glanced up at the clock behind her.

"We'd better get going. The last thing we need to do is be late." I turned to grab my purse off the counter. "We're out the door Ezra!" I called back to him.

"Okay have fun! I'll vacate the house tonight!" he yelled back from some corner of the room. I shook my head and chuckled, but part of me hoped it might prove worthy later that night.

The ride started quite silent, and that ate at my soul. I couldn't have this night start so uncomfortably.

"Is this weird for you?" I asked bluntly. Alex is the only I'd ever feel comfortably being myself with, and I wasn't about to start acting differently.

"I'm sorry, I'm just in my head."

"Then tell me what you're thinking."

She sat quietly for a moment and collected her thoughts. "I'm not sure... how to act. With you I mean."

"When did anything change?"

"Oh come on Dana, we're on a date. With each other. This is new."

I looked out onto the road. I wasn't sure how to make this any better for either of us, so I just turned on the radio. It would be my luck that "Wednesday Night" came on again and as soon as I heard it I changed the station. Alex gave me a funny look but I returned it with one that said, "Don't ask." The next station was playing, "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne. This elicited a sudden fit of coughing from Alex, which then led to my hysteric laughing. I laughed so hard that I had to pull over out of fear of crashing and when I came to, Alex was giving me the dirtiest look. I found it cute.

"I'm sorry, that was hilarious." I say wiping a tear from my eye. Alex huffed and crossed her arms. "Aww, don't get upset. Besides, it's true." I pulled off the curb.

Her jaw dropped. "Is not!"

"Think about it, you didn't like my girlfriend. You thought I needed a new one. You knew I had a thing for you. And now we're out on a date." I said as I pulled into the restaurant valet service.

"Victorio's?! We haven't been here in a few years! No way Dana, this place is expensive."

"Shhhh." I let the valet take the car and we walked in together. We were immediately greeted by none other than David.

"Hey ladies. Nice to see you two here again, under better circumstances." The second part was under his breath, but it didn't get past Alex.

"It's good to see you too David." Alex dryly retorted.

The date went accordingly, following the exact instructions I left. Our first course was a spring salad with goat cheese and cucumbers, and the second was a hot potato and meat minestrone soup. The third course was a brilliant vermicelli vodka bolognese that left me damn near in tears. Our plates were being collected when I broke the silence of fork-to-plate.

"So this isn't so bad right? Just two friends getting dinner together."

"This has been great. Probably the third nicest date I've been on." Third?

"Well looks like I'm going to have to work extra hard to make this the best."

She replied with a puzzled look when a song began to play behind us. I stood and reached out for her hand. She took it, still confused, and allowed me to guide her to the dance floor. I pulled her close to me and wrapped my arms around her waist. When the melody kicked in, I began to sing.

Say that you'll stay a little, don't say bye bye tonight

Say you'll be mine just a little bit of love is worth a moment of your time

Knockin on you door just a little, so cold outside tonight

Let's get a fire burning oh I know I'll keep it burning bright if you stay, won't you stay

Save room for my love, save room for a moment to be with me.

We swayed back and forth as I sang quietly enough for only her to hear. Once she caught me singing in the shower and demanded that I sing to her. Me not being fond of my own voice, refused time and time again. Today seemed like the right time though, and I picked one of her favorite songs. We danced until the song came to a close. I halted our swaying and pulled away to gaze into her eyes. I'm a hopeless romantic, what can I say? I leaned in and I felt her lean in too, but when we were less than a breath from each other, she pulled away.

"I'm sorry."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, this isn't your fault. I- I'm just tired and ready to go home."

My arms fell from around her, and no matter how strong I tried to be, I felt my head sink. We left quickly, saying our thanks and goodbyes to David on the way out. The drive was painfully silent which only made me roll through everything that had happened to attempt to find an answer to Alex's abrupt behavior. I couldn't figure out where it went wrong. I rolled up to our garage and parked. Alex moved to get out of the car, but I was frozen in my place. She looked at me briefly then sighed.

"You didn't do anything wrong Dana, I just wasn't sure-"

"About what?" I cut her off slightly louder than I expected to.

"This was a line we never crossed! You know I'm not gay."

"Are you fucking kidding me? I'm not gay either Alex. You were the one who went dumping their feelings out, so I went with it. Now I'm the bad guy." I sat back with my arms crossed.

"You were never the bad guy. You did everything you could to make me happy, even when it was at your own expense." She reached out to cup my cheek. "I just need some time to work this out in my head."

With that she walked away. I may have sat in that car for another 30 minutes after she left, but at some point I made up my mind to go to do the only thing that gets my mind off of shit like this. I trudged into the house, past Alex's room, up to my own to change my clothes. On the way out I grabbed my basketball and headed out to the courts.

Maybe we did rush into this. I probably should've given myself some time between Adrienne and Alex. Did that make her a rebound? No, she was always special to me. I guess we were better as friends. I wait four years and this is how it goes down. We didn't even make it to dessert!

It was nighttime when I got there, but the sun was on its way up now. I must have shot a thousand baskets. When people started to show up I joined in a couple pickup games too. I finally decided that it might be a good idea to check my phone: one, because I had no idea what time it was, and two because deep down I hope someone was concerned about where I was. I unlocked my phone to find 10 missed calls and nearly as many voicemails. Nine were from Ezra, but one was from Adrienne. A text from Adrienne caught my eye though.

I'm coming over.

Alex

Why is it that when anything goes wrong this girl has to go and disappear? I mean couldn't she just hole herself up in her room or something? I made breakfast as a peace offering, but when I went upstairs to wake Dana up, she wasn't there.

I won't call her. I won't call her. I will not call Dana. I repeated the mantra. If I called I wouldn't know what to say. I'm sure she's okay, maybe hungover, but alive. Plus Ezra has called a dozen times and I don't have the right to assume that she will pick up if I call her. I'm no knight in shining armor to go and save her. I knew that I was the reason she left in the first place. So why couldn't I stop crying?

A knock at the door interrupted my train of thought, and I bolted to the door hoping Dana was behind it. I wrenched the door open without bothering to look through the peephole and found myself face to face with Adrienne. The second our eyes met, they narrowed.

"I'm not in the mood for a showdown, so would you tell me where Dana is?" Adrienne's voice was filled the arrogance I always saw in her.

"She's not here. What do you want from her anyway?"

"Not your business. I need to talk to her is all." she grinned widely at me.

The indifference I held towards their relationship boiled up over the last couple days, and the explosion was triggered when she gave me that smug ass smile.

"How dare you?" I yelled. She took a precautionary step back. "You don't have the right to treat her like you did the other day, then waltz back in and sweep the mess under the rug! She didn't come home until after midnight that day!"

"Oh, so suddenly you take sympathy for her? What happened to not giving a fuck about us?"

"I don't give a fuck about you and her. I only care about her."

"Bullshit." I recoiled as if I had been slapped. "You couldn't possibly care about her if the only thing you used her for was sex. That, Alexandria is what tore her to pieces. I was there to pick it up when you were off running away because she wasn't your fuck buddy anymore!"

"And then what? You find out about it and break it all over again."

"It was a lot to process. I told her I needed a few days to think it over. I've thought it over and I'm ready to accept it. The only person in the way, both figuratively and literally, is you."

My heart skipped a couple beats, and not in the good way. Adrienne was back for Dana, and I had just chased Dana away. If Adrienne went back for her now, I would never have a chance at- well, I'm not sure what I wanted a chance at anymore. My shoulders sagged as I mentally slapped myself for being so... well stupid.

"You had her right here, under your roof, for years. You don't have the right to claim her. She isn't yours. You know what she told me?" Adrienne took a step forward into my personal space. "She told me you meant nothing to her. It was just sex. That's why I made the choice to come back you know. I realized that she doesn't want you, and that she regretted sleeping with you. You were never enough for her, that's why she never made any moves on you. Not like you deserve her anyway."

I wanted to bite back, but she was right. I had years worth of chances and I always made excuses not to take them. Like last night. A wave of guilt washed over my head. I shouldn't be so selfish. Dana sacrificed her happiness for me, and perhaps it's time I did the same for her.

"So please, do us all a favor and tell me where she is so I can be what you can't be for her. Then you can take your sorry ass back into your home and find someone else to screw with, because Dana ain't the one sweetheart."

I proceeded to tell Adrienne where I thought Dana would probably be, but a voice around the corner cleared their throat.

Dana

I stepped out from around the corner and faced the two girls. I didn't know what to make of their conversation. I looked back and forth between the two of them, taking in their appearances. Adrienne loomed over Alex looking almost terrifying, a side I've never seen from her. And Alex, her face was red and tear stained, but it was old tears that marred her. Our eyes connected for a moment, but she looked away from me when Adrienne ran to me and pulled me into a big hug.

"Oh baby I'm glad you are okay! I missed you so much." Even in the middle of her rocking back and forth, I couldn't take my eyes off Alex. Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned to go back in the apartment.

"Oh sweetheart, it's only been a couple of days but I sure am glad to see you." she gave me that 1000watt smile I thought I loved, but now it seemed fake.

"You're not saying anything babe, you okay?" The direct question took me out of my thoughts.

"Why are you here Adrienne?"

"You can't guess silly? I'm here to take you back." she smiled sweetly at me.

Take me back? "Is that so? And what was all that about between you and Alex?"

"Oh don't worry about that, I just had to handle what needed tending to since we met." Her hands trailed down my arms to hold my own.

"I don't like the way you spoke to her." I pulled away out of her reach.

"Dana, someone had to tell her. I suppose I could have been nicer about it but-"

"No. No buts. You have absolutely no reason to speak to her that way! I heard some of the things you said and you exaggerated the hell out of some of it!"

"Please honey I didn't come here to deal with Alex. That's been dealt with and all I want is you." She reached forward again and this time I had a plan.

"Sure Adrienne, come on let's go inside." I gave my best smile and guided her inside the apartment. "Wait here while I go and change okay?" I left her "loving" gaze and went upstairs, passing Alex's room on the way. It was silent but for the occasional sob. This will all be over soon.

I ran up the second flight straight to the far corner of my room where a box filled with things that weren't mine laid. I came back downstairs with the box in my arms, stopping right next to a puzzled Adrienne.

"This is all yours. Take it and get out." I said in one breath.

"What? Why? Baby these are yours from me." She frowned at me.

Raising my voice loud enough so Alex could hear me I replied, "I don't care who you are. No one on this Earth speaks to Alex that way in my presence. If anything you should show some respect. She knows me better than anyone else in the world and you could learn a thing or two from her."

Adrienne stood up to look into my eyes, "You must be fucking kidding me. I come back here to give you a second chance and this is what I get?"

"Stop acting like you're the best thing to ever happen to me! Take your shit and go."

Adrienne picked up the box then trudged out of the apartment, slamming the door behind herself.

I took a deep breath, then looked in the direction of Alex's room. I walked over slowly and knocked twice on her door. When no answer came I opened it a couple of inches. I couldn't stand to look in, so I kept the door between us.

"Where's Adrienne?" she asked sarcastically.

"I'm not sure if you heard anything downstairs, but she and I are done. For good. I'm sorry about what she said to you."

No answer.

"I hope you know it wasn't true." With that I closed her door and went up to my room. For some reason it seemed lighter, as if that box contained darkness itself. I still felt like a sack of bricks- all I wanted was for Alex to be happy. More specifically, happy with me. We both needed time however, so it would just have to wait.

It took several days before we got back to any sort of friendship. It started with small talk, and I mean small. Simple 'good morning' and 'what do you want for dinner' kind of talk. Ezra suggested a movie night like the old days so on Wednesday at 7pm the three of us met in the living room clad in pajamas.

"I'm picking the movie this time!" squealed Ezra. I rolled my eyes because usually if Ezra got to pick, the movie was an independent film. My displeasure was short-lived however, because tonight was the first normal hangout the three of us have had since I met Adrienne. Funny how much does, or doesn't, change after several months. Ezra was his usual self, smiling and joyful and preoccupied by his Chinese love story. The dynamic between Alex and I though... Our friendship suffered from a lot of damage in the last several months. She sat on the far end of the couch with her knees hugged up to her chest, as far away from me as she could get it seemed. It killed me to know that once upon a time she would be pressed into my side by now, trying to steal my warmth. Now she looked almost like she had to protect herself. From me perhaps? No, she had to know I would never intentionally hurt her. It was time I proved it.

I got up and walked to the kitchen. I went straight to the snack cabinet and grabbed a packed of popcorn, Alex's weakness. I let it pop until all the kernels had opened, then I seasoned it with cinnamon, sugar, and dropped a handful of mini marshmallows in. I brought the large bowl back to the living room and sat slightly closer to Alex than I had been previously, wafting the scent of the sweet treat towards her. Ezra was never one for popcorn, he complained too much about it getting stuck in his teeth. Alex however not only loved popcorn in general, but especially loved when I made it like this. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her lick her lips at the sight of the bowl. I looked over at her and extended my arm with the bowl in hand. It seemed like a regular sharing out of courtesy, but my eyes said much more than that. This was a peace offering, a white flag, a plead to start over. She eyed me carefully, reading and analyzing everything she saw. With a tentative hand she reached over to the bowl and grabbed a few pieces, her eyes never leaving mine. I smiled at her and she smiled back. It was then that I knew things were going to be okay with us.

One month later.

Alex and I were back to our normal selves. We went shopping together and went out for movies and food just like we used to. Today we were having lunch in a quaint cafe that had just opened. By now she'd told me about all the horrible things Adrienne used to say to her. It always left me feeling guilty that I didn't defend her back then. I wish she had tole me sooner. But I digress.

"He took one look at me and took off." We broke into a fit of giggled as I recounted a strange experience I had at work earlier that day. It was so good to hear Alex laugh again, and I never wanted it to stop. As if the world just had to throw a wrench in my day though, the door to the cafe opened and in came my ex-girlfriend Adrienne with her new female. I must have paled on the spot, because Alex immediately turned around to see what caused me such discomfort.

"Aww shit." I huffed out. I could tell Alex was uncomfortable too, unsure of how to go about dealing with it. She did move into our neighborhood. If anything I was actually shocked to not have run into her sooner. I glanced back up at the pair and this time Adrienne saw me too. I saw her tense, but instead of ducking away like I did, she wrapped her arm around her girl and rested her hand on her hip. I sucked my teeth and looked out the window I sat next to.

"Stop looking over there if it makes you that upset." Alex casually said as she sipped her tea.

"I can't help it. I'm facing this direction and she just so happens to be flaunting her new chick at me."

"Are you jealous or something?"

"No, I just hate how quickly she's moved on and found someone else. Yet here I am, back at square one."

I looked down at my tea, suddenly wishing it was vodka.

"Well by the looks of it she's looking over here a lot too."

"You're saying that to make me feel better." I kept my eyes trained on my tea, attempting to will it to change.

"No she definitely keeps looking over here. In fact, here she comes."

My head snapped up. She wasn't kidding. A few seconds later Adrienne stood beside me, hand in hand with the new girl.

"Hey Dana."

"Adrienne." I politely nodded.

"This is Cara my girlfriend, Cara this is Dana." I gave my best shot at a smile to Cara, though it wasn't much returned. All the while I noticed that she never said anything to Alex, who looked about two seconds from bending the spoon she stirred her tea with. In one swift motion she cocked the cup back, downing the rest of its contents, then let out a loud sharp sigh.

"Baby I'm ready to go, are you?"

I couldn't help the eyebrow that raised at her use of the word 'baby'. Where the hell did that come from? Alex stood to leave and reached for my hand. Despite my confusion I stood and took it, but before she moved to lead us away from the table and the couple, she grabbed my waist and pulled me into her. The hand that held mine trailed up to my face and grabbed my chin between her thumb and first finger. My breath hitched and Alex grinned at that, knowing that we haven't stood that close in what felt like forever. That clearly didn't make a difference to me though, because I apparently forgot how to breathe. She leaned in and next thing I know, her lips are on mine.