Loebs' Fall (Happily Ever Stalker)

Here it is Tuesday and I am out for my weekly lunch with my best friends Fabiola, Evangeline and Vanessa. We have all been together since our freshman year in high school. I was the awkward nerd coming into high school. Shy and nervous. My first day I met Fabiola during lunch. She saved me from my first encounter with the mean girls clique. Here I was being ridiculed because of my glasses and this, exotic looking chocolate beauty, stepped in front of Heather Smith and defended me, like I was her flesh and blood. She turned to me, when the wicked witch of the country club walked away and in her accent I would come to learn was Haitian, said, “You come sit with me over dere.'' She has been my best friend and fiercest protector ever since. We met Evangeline weeks later in gym class when she transferred in from Mexico and Vanessa was my next-door neighbor. All of our milestones have been with one another.

“Hey dere gurl. You woke?” Fabi asks me, snapping in my face. I look around the table and realize they are all staring at me, smirking. I can feel myself blush and I duck my head before looking back at them. “You got nothing to say?” she says hand on her hip. I hear a gasp from Eva on my right and when I turn to her, I can't help but giggle.

“Dios mio. She met somebody,” she says practically bouncing in her seat. A hiccup escapes my mouth as I try to stop the laughter from erupting from me. “Hablame, chica. Who is he? Where did you meet him? How old is he?”

“Whoa. Slow down.” I tell her laughing at her enthusiasm. I don't know why I haven’t told them sooner. I like to think I was waiting to tell them to their face, but I don’t know. This just seems too good to be true and I wasn’t sure I wanted to give it air, but I am not surprised my friends are able to read me. “I met him at the coffee shop a few days ago.” I am trying to keep it simple because the truth is…unbelievable.

“Nova, how long have we known you?” Vanessa asks in her serious voice.

“Forever.”

“Exactly. So we know you enough to know you are not telling us something. What could be so serious that you… oh my gosh.” she puts her hand to her mouth. My eyes grow big as my heart begins pounding.

“What?” I ask her praying like hell she is not thinking what I think she is.

“You slept with him,'' she accuses me. Not in a bad way, but in disbelief. Crap. I don’t respond but I know my face is giving me away. “Give up the deets girl. How did this charming Casanova get you to separate from your V-card?” My mouth won't move. I have known these girls for more than half my life and I can’t bring myself to tell them about him. This can’t be normal…right?

“Nova. Is everything ok? He didn’t…” Oh God good going Nova. Now they think you were taken advantage of.

“No. Nothing like that. I guess I am just…embarrassed by how fast it all happened. One minute I am meeting him, then he is taking me to school, kissing me in front of Professor handsy like he was staking his claim and then he was taking me home to get clothes so I can spend a few days at his house. I mean it’s insane…right?” I ask the table collectively. Looking around, each of their faces is covered in smiles and smirks and this further makes my face hot. “You guys, come on. Be honest. It’s crazy. I literally slept with a guy I just met and then stayed with him while my parents were gone. Who does that?” all three of them raise their hands and then we burst out laughing. I love these girls.

“Screw your doubts, Nova. If you had been with him a year you’d still be having doubts. I told you a long time ago that a man is going to have to take you in hand, give you no choice and declare himself your man so you don’t have time to think.” Eva is right, she has said to me on multiple occasions. “I want to know about the sex. Was it mind-blowing?”

Smiling, I nod my head. “It was life-changing. The whole three days were amazing. He is…I don’t know..a mixture of mysterious, hard, dark, and sweet. I feel like with him, I can let my guard down and be the person I have been hiding. The minute he is out of sight, I go back to being inward.” Fabi looks at the other girls and winks before turning back to me.

“You know what dat means, right? She is a dirty girl under that safe quiet exterior.”