First Dates

nine: real life simulator

[nine]: write a chapter where a character consults his/her best friend about someone they like

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            Willa, Connie has decided, is the only person she trusts enough to ever freely talk about herself. For the past two weeks, she has had to face the fact that yes, she is not a compassionate person, and honestly, she will not blame herself for that. So maybe her tongue is sharper than it could be at moments in time, but seriously, who could really blame her for laughing at the result of Gabi's date. She'd had to clarify to Jared why Daisy had received fifty bucks landing safely in her too small palms. She isn't intentionally being horrible to Wyatt, because he does have a solid chance of getting these girls to like him, he'll just have to work for it.

            "Why'd you even care about him anyway?" Willa asks of her, as they share anecdotes of what has happened in the few months they have not seen each other, due to Willa bouncing from home to home between her parents during their 'break'. Connie wonders, that after seven years, is it really considered a break anymore? Now, what Willa can do which Connie can't comprehend the idea of, is actually listen to people and care for what they have to say in response to mundane questions.

            "I don't care," Connie tells Willa, and herself. She is still trying to figure that out for herself, because never in her life has she put this much effort in for someone that isn't her. God, she has gotten herself obsessed with someone who hates everything about her, comes from a family so far up their own asses they may as well re digest all their meals once they've gotten over the initial shock that manual labour had to be put in somewhere for them to eat. If she had any common sense, then she wouldn't have actively pursued an argument with Jared on Valentine's Day, and definitely wouldn't have considered the thought of using Wyatt to prove a point to Jared.

            "You're so bloody empty," Jared told her, tearing at the napkins of the restaurant he had booked months in advanced. They have not shared the L word yet, together almost a year and they are still drifting in that stage where it may not even be confirmed - due to Connie's reluctance. "You don't have the faintest idea of how dating even works," he grunted, "It's actually wasted on you."

            "Is this about Jared?" She had been so angry, a rage that had just set her skin aflame, and she wanted to prove a point, kick Jared off the pedestal he had placed himself upon, seated upon all of the opinions he was entitled to have but were blatantly just wrong to express. This is not just about her being too stubborn to realise she is being ignorant, this is Connie wanting to prove her worth.

            So she makes a strangled sound in the back of her throat, neither confirming nor denying Willa's assumption. This whole process was not made to be overthought, it was not supposed to result in Wyatt actually hating her, as though he has forgotten that she is doing him the favour here. This is her trying to prove herself to Jared; show him that after a year, they are still worth it, because yes, maybe she just doesn't get the fascination with meeting someone new and going on dates to see if you're compatible or not. But she's trying, is what she wants to stress, to both Wyatt and Jared, because this isn't easy for her, either, and maybe she should apologise to both parties, but why should she be the one to be a bigger person when honestly, Connie isn't really the one at fault here.

            "I thought this would be easy," but Connie is quickly coming to the realisation that no, dating is not easy in any way shape or form.

            "So to conclude," Willa says, burgundy lips pursing in thought. "The first time you actually do something nice for someone, they turn around and start get their 'valley girl' seventeen year old sister to start hating on you. You bump into said person at the gas station at four o'clock in the morning, your brother makes him sit down and watch wrestling, and he has met your pseudo lesbian lover and that douchebag you insist on having a relationship with. You've indirectly bought him pizza, gotten him arrested, had a girl stain the seat of his truck with mother nature's fluids and made him pick up about one hundred bucks in bills. Connie," she sighs, "that's fucked up."