Ask Me Anything

Chapter 7

"I'm about five minutes away," Christian said over the phone. 

"Alright, I'll see you soon then," I said as I hung up. 

He was on his way to meet the rest of the group before he took us to the party tonight. You could say I was nervous, but that would be an incredible understatement. These guys saw what it was like when I dated Mike, and truth be told they never really liked him to begin with. This wasn't entirely apparent when we first started dating, which I know they were doing for my benefit since he was my first relationship. But this became more and more obvious as the relationship wore on, and once we broke up? The levees broke, and all of their real, honest opinions came pouring out. I did agree with those observations now, but of course in the moment, I was blind to it. That's what happens when you're the one in the relationship. All those gross feelings and emotions give you some rose-colored glasses that don't seem to fade until the relationship is over. 

So with Mike being the only guy these girls had seen me with, I was really hoping that Christian was going to be a different story, even if this didn't end up being a real serious thing.

I sat on the couch, picking at the skin on the side of my fingernails, anxiously awaiting his arrival. Morgan came in and sat down next to me. 

"Wow," she said, sinking into the couch with a bit of a sigh, "you could not look more anxious if you tried."

I laughed nervously. "Is it that obvious?" 

I didn't want to make them feel bad, like I was nervous because I was embarrassed by them or something. It was just that this was completely uncharted territory because this was someone they didn't know at all. Mike at least had been in school with us since, like, fourth grade. They'd known him in some capacity for years, even during those awkward middle school days with braces and bad acne. Christian was a whole new kind of thing. And call me neurotic, but everyone wants their best friends to like their significant others. 

She nodded and chuckled. "You shouldn't be worried, Connor," she told me reassuringly. "I'm sure we're going to like him. And if we don't, who cares?" She put a calming hand on my shoulder. "If you like him, that's all that matters. We can tell you exactly what we think of him, no holds barred, but that shouldn't change the way you feel about him." 

I nodded and thanked her. Like I said before, Morgan was definitely the level-headed parent of the group. There was no doubt about that. 

Carrie came barreling into the room about a minute later, dressed for the party. She had on a  simple black crop top that showed off just how tan her arms had gotten from being out in the sun all day on the soccer fields, and frayed jean shorts. Her long and wildly curly hair was tied back in her signature braid. 

"Well, is he on his way?" she asked, sitting in one of the armchairs and going right to her phone. 

I nodded. "He said he was about five minutes away when I was on the phone with him, so he should be here any minute," I replied, shifting a little in my seat. "Are the other two almost ready?" 

She shrugged. "You know Kylie," she said, with an eye roll. "We tell her to be ready by a certain time, and she's done about fifteen minutes after that time." 

It was true. Not unlike my younger brother, Kylie had a problem with punctuality, which you saw on our first day at the park presented its own problems. 

The sudden knock on the door came and I jumped up off the couch almost reflexively. Carrie looked at me, startled, while Morgan stifled a laugh at my sudden movement. 

"That should be him," I chuckled nervously. Here goes nothing.

With tense muscles, a tiny bit of sweat present on my forehead and slightly under my arms, I went down the stairs to the door, took a deep breath and turned the knob.