The Story of Vada Munroe

Chapter Eleven

Vada sat on the floor with the girls at the entrance of the school as she told them about how the date went last night.

"I don't know, Vada. You choose who you date but that food thing was definitely a red flag." Vada laughed lightly and looked up at Chloe who sat in the chair above where Vada sat on the floor.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Julia chimed in, reaching over and setting her hand on Vada's shoulder. Vada smiled softly at her, showing her gratitude before looking back in front of her.

"And if it isn't, me and Marcus will have a little chat." Renee said, a small smirk on her face.

Julia sighed heavily and rolled her eyes and looked over at Renee. "Why does everything with you have to be so violent?" She asked in annoyance.

Renee scoffed and looked over at her. "And why does everything have to be so happy and exciting with you?" She fired back. Vada paid no attention to their argument, she just stared at Michael sitting beneath his locker, staring down at his guitar as he quietly played it.

"Okay, what's your deal?" Sayori asked, snapping Vada out of her trance when she grabbed her shoulder.

She looked over at her, a confused expression on her face. "What?"

Sayori snickered. "You keep staring at him." She claimed, a small smile on her face and Vada gulped nervously and looked down at her lap.

"Staring at who?" She asked, pretending to not know what she was talking about but she couldn't help but to take small peeks at Michael.

"Michael."

Vada looked over at Sayori and laughed nervously but deep down she was panicking but said, "Gross, Yori, I'm not staring at anyone, especially not him."

Sayori stared at her for a long moment, watching as her expressions changed. She gasped and grabbed her hand excitedly. "You like him, don't you?!" She asked, a grin plastered on her face.

Vada shot her head over at her then up at the girls who seemed to be too distracted with their own conversation to care about theirs. She looked back down at her as her heart raced and her eyes widened and her cheeks turned a bright red and whispered, "Would you keep your voice down..?!"
Sayori nodded and cleared her throat and her grin turned into a small smile and Vada sighed in relief before she decided to speak again. "I'll be honest with you, I do like him-"

"I knew it." Vada sighed softly and looked back at Michael. "Does Julia know?" She asked.

Vada looked back at her. "Are you kidding? If she found out, she would kill me."

Sayori furrowed her eyebrows lightly. "Why? It's just a crush."

Vada sighed and looked down at her lap. "I wish that was true." She mumbled, hoping Sayori didn't hear her but she was quickly disappointed when she saw the confused expression on her face. She sighed again and said, "I can't tell you."

"That's fine, I get it, but what about Marcus? Don't you like him?" She asked, confusion in the tone of her voice and Vada reluctantly nodded.

"I do, I really do. He's sweet and considerate but when I think about Michael, I just.."

Sayori smiled softly. "It's not just butterflies? More like an overwhelming feeling of adventure, almost like an addiction?"

Vada looked over at her with a look of disbelief on her face but her face softened and she smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah..." She said in a gentle voice, looking back at Michael.

She had fallen for Michael but she knew she couldn't be with him. There were so many things in their way of being together.. Grace, Julia, Marcus. She has to accept that they might never be together, the very thought upset her.

"I won't tell Julia but you know you'll have to eventually, right?"

Vada looked over at her and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Thanks."

Vada sat in class behind Julia, taking notes as the teacher spoke when from two seats over, her name was called.

"Vada.." She looked over and met eyes with Marcus. She looked back at the teacher momentarily before leaning towards him. "Mini golf on Friday, you in?"

Vada looked over at him and nodded. "Sounds like fun." She answered and he grinned.

"It's a date."

She smiled and turned back towards the teacher. Julia turned back to look at Vada with a ridiculous grin on her face and she said, "Did I hear that correctly? Did Marcus Walker just ask you out on another date?"

Vada let out a breath of amusement and leaned in towards her. "Shut up."

Vada laid in her bed, sending her tenth message to Alice. She has been ignoring Vada all day and she didn't see her in class, it was really worrying her.
There was a light knock on her bedroom door. Vada sat up and placed her phone down beside her as the door opened and she looked up at her mother.

"Dinner will be done in ten minutes."

Vada nodded and looked down at her lap. "Okay."

Jennifer furrowed her eyebrows lightly and walked over to her daughter and sat at the edge of the bed and looked back at her as Vada brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs and she stared down. "Is something wrong?"

Vada eyes flickered up to look at her then back down and she sighed softly. "Alice is avoiding me." She said in a low voice.

Jennifer turned completely towards her before she spoke. "Did you do something to upset her?" She asked.

Vada looked up at her mother and shook her head. "No, all I did was tell her about my date with Marcus and when I did she seemed fine, she was joking about it and now she hasn't been answering my texts."

Jennifer smiled softly. "Hm.. maybe Alice and Marcus have a history together."

Vada shook her head and looked up at her. "No, she would have said something."

"You should talk to her about it next time you see her," she put her hand on Vada's shoulder as she continued, "It will bring you peace."

Vada smiled softly and nodded. "Thanks, mom."

Jennifer nodded and stood up. "Come on, dinner should be done." Vada stood up and followed her mother out of the room and she closed her door behind her.