Opposites

3.5

It was only a day later, and I was on the phone with Justin.

"So, how does your dad feel about us?" I asked. We had been talking about Justin eventually coming over for dinner, if and when Mary decided to come home.

"I haven't told him yet..." He responded slowly.

"Justin, you have to eventually. I know he's a dick and everything, but don't you think he should know?"

"Having him never know would be ideal." Justin laughed.

"Well, I want to meet him."

"Cali, you already know he doesn't exactly like you."

"Well, it can't be worse than the dinner I had with Nate's family."

"What're you talking about?" Justin sounded nervous.

"Well, his family talked crap about me the entire time, and Nate was a jerk. I dumped him after telling him I liked someone else." It almost brought on a headache to remember that night, that hadn't even happened less than a month ago.

"A dinner with my dad would consist of awkward conversing and backhanded compliments." He sighed.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Why don't you just tell him when he has a day off that you have a new girlfriend? Then you could ask about me coming over to meet him, or we could just go to a public restaurant so it's not as weird." It still pained me to mention the g word.

"Actually, he has a couple days off this week."

"When?"

"Yesterday and today."

"Shit, is that enough time?" I immediately crossed over to the bathroom to turn the shower on.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Besides, isn't Mary maybe coming home tonight?"

"Yeah, I think so. Jake's going to go pick her up about an hour from now to go to their favorite cafe, and they'll probably end up talking for a few hours before she makes her decision."

"So, why don't I pick you up in like an hour and a half or two?" He suggested.

"Umm, all right."

"I'll see you then." Justin let out a light hearted chuckle before hanging up.

Two hours later, I had just finished getting ready. I was wearing hopefully an appropriate skirt, and a relatively nice but casual, green blouse. I decided to let my hair dry naturally in its wavy manner. I laced up my black converse as quickly as I could when I heard Justin beeping his horn to announce his presence. I ran down the stairs and out the door to the car as fast as I could. I looked like a frantic mess while Justin grinned smugly at me. I closed the door to his truck and buckled my seat belt.

"What?" I said as Justin continued grinning.

"I thought you weren't nervous." He reached for my hand. I swatted it away.

"You know me better than that. Of course I'm nervous. Aren't you going to pull out of the driveway now?" I checked my hair in the mirror.

"Hey," Justin said in a soothing voice. I bit down on my lip as I turned to him.

"Hi," I replied.

"I'm nervous too, but no matter what he thinks, it won't change a thing for me." He reached for my hand. I entangled our hands together as he pulled out from my house.

"This just is starting to feel so fast." I stared ahead at the road.

"Please, we've been at this for a few months. Maybe it feels like that because when you start dating a friend, it's like starting on the fifteenth date." I hoped I hadn't made him more nervous than he already was.