Flirty

"Hey gorgeous, what's up?" I asked before quickly covering my mouth. What the hell was that? Why did I just call her gorgeous? I'v never called anybody that that directly, much less my own roommate.

"Oh, not much," Vanessa responded, seemingly to not have reacted to the compliment. "I'm just soon home and was wondering if you wanted me to pick up any snacks or anything." She had a warm bubbly tone to her voice, like she always did.

I took a sigh of relief. It hadn't been the ring that made Vanessa call me. It was just a pure coincidence that it happened at the same time that I had thought about it, right? "Oh, uh, yeah, just pick up some chips and stuff. I'll pay you back later."

"Sounds good! See you in a bit." With a soft click, Vanessa hung up.

I flopped down onto her couch and sighed. I stared at the ring and the warm glow that seemed to emanate from it. I groaned and covered up my face with a pillow. "Why did I call her gorgeous? I mean, yeah, sure, she is really beautiful, but I mean, come on. What is up with me?"

Secretly, I always was jealous of her. While I studied hard and spent countless sleepless nights to try and get myself a solid degree in film making, Vanessa only had to rely on her good looks and cheer attitude. Such is the way when you go to school for cheerleading and have a job as a fashion model. Honestly, the two of us found each other because she needed someone to help film a cheer video for her and I was the best in the student body who applied. Ever since then, we've been pretty good friends and roommates the semester following. We get along well, but I've never once thought about her like this.

I spent a few more minutes hiding in my pillow, only to hear the rattling of chains. "Not sure what you're so stressed about, Ringmaster. That short conversation seemed to go well," Regina said, walking over to a shelf and looking at a photo of me and Vanessa.

"You don't get it. Sure, I've complimented her about her looks and stuff, but never once have I ever really thought about her like that!"

"Oh, like what?" Regina said, twisting her torso to me unnaturally.

"Like, like..." I stammered, feeling my face turning redder, "Like in a more attractive way."

"Oh, yeah, the ring kinda does that," Regina said, setting down the photo. "Nothing you can do about it, so just go wild with the ride."

I was about to complain more, but then I heard the door unlock. Stepping through the door was Vanessa, wearing a slimming white tube top and a knee-length black pencil skirt. Her clothes only enhanced her already tan Greek skin, which complimented her wavy brown hair. Her 36C cups bouncing as she walked in, only emphasized by her tight shirt. She took off her high heels at the door and walked to the kitchen, setting down the plastic bags she was holding.

"No, bad Maria! Stop staring at her tits!" I cursed to myself under my breath, even if they were very nice.

"Ya! Maria!" Vanessa called out to me from the kitchen. "They were having a huge sale chips and snacks." I could hear the rustling of various bags. "I was thinking tonight, we just aragma and binge something. I kept hearing about this new series abou-" Vanessa stopped mid-sentence as she walked into the living room. "Maria, who is this?" She pointed over to Regina.

"Fuck," I said under my breath. It hadn't even occurred to me that Regina was actually there. Part of me thought she was just a figment or a being only existing to me through the ring. Another part of me thought she was just some hallucination. Guess I should have figured something was up when I saw her pick up a photo.

"Uh, Vanessa, this is..."