The Decision (viners)

2: Friends

At first, it was quiet while we ate dinner, but after a few minutes they started asking me questions and then my inner self started coming out. I made them laugh... Does that mean I'm funny? Or were they laughing at my attempt at being funny? Nash and his friends are hilarious. But I'm one of those people that find everything hilarious.

"So did you have a boyfriend back home?" Taylor asks me and I laugh uncomfortably.

I shake my head, causing Nash's friends to all raise an eyebrow.

"That's surprising." Matthew mumbles, causing me to smile a little.

"Do you have Rosacea?" Cameron then asks in a serious tone.

I stare at him for a moment in complete embarrassment. All my life, my cheeks would turn red so easily. And once someone would point it out, they would just slowly become redder until I looked like a tomato.

"No... my cheeks turn red easily. Especially when someone brings it up." I respond in a small voice. I hated the fact that everyone was staring at me all night.

"I think it's cute." Shawn says to me, and I could tell he was just trying to make me feel better by the sympathetic smile on his lips.

"I got bullied by the girls at my school back home because they told me I wore too much blush," I'm quick to reveal personal information in uncomfortable moments and I had no idea why, "I've never worn blush in my life."

"That's tragic." Nash laughs.

"Be nice." Mom warns him.

Taylor then speaks up again. "So why are you just now meeting your mom after sixteen years?"

Everyone went silent, and tension hovered over the room. The other boys looked between my mother and I multiple times, waiting for a response. My mother held a frown on her lips.

"Um..." I clear my throat, glancing at my mother.

"Taylor." Nash glares at him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—" Taylor begins to apologize but Mom cut him off.

"It's fine. It's a long story, and not fully mine to tell." With that, she grabs her plate and stands, exiting the dining room.

"I'm sorry, Madilyn." Taylor then says to me. He seemed to be genuinely sorry, so I wasn't going to hold a grudge.

"It's no big deal," I assure him, "I would be wondering the same if I were you."

After dinner, Mom wanted me to sit outside with her. It was a cool summer night with a slight breeze, and I had goosebumps because I was only in jean shorts and a plain white tank top. I caught up on a couple of things with my mother. She asked me things about my dad, how school was for me, what my hobbies were, things like that.

After a lot of chatting, Nash and his friends, even Hayes, came outside with a football. I don't know why they are going to play football in the dark but okay.

"What are you boys doin'?" Mom questions them as they all take off their sweatshirts and throw them to the side, except Cameron.

They didn't answer her and she rolled her eyes, muttering "boys," to me and I laughed. Then, something weird happened. One of the boys, Cameron, came up to me with his sweatshirt in hand.

"Hi." he says.

"Hi..." I reply, raising my eyebrow.

"You look cold," he states and extends his arm, his sweatshirt held out to me. "Here."

"Um."

"Please take it." he grins widely, and when I don't take it he sets in on my legs. "It's kinda chilly out here."

"Okay."

"Okay." he smiles before joining the other boys to play football, sending me a quick wink. I look over to my mom, and she just appears to be amused and not surprised at all about what just happened.

"You will get used to them." she assures me.

I slip on the sweatshirt and immediately I think, wow, he smells good.

I'm such a creep, I know. While Nash and his friends run around in the yard, my mom starts chatting with me. "So, do you think any of them are cute?" she wiggles her eyebrows at me and a deep blush forms on my cheeks (shocker).

"What? No! That's weird." Just kidding, they're all cute.

She laughs, glancing over to where the boys were before standing up. A yawn escapes her lips, then she tells me, "I'm really tired, sorry I can't stay up and chat longer. Are you going to be okay if I go on up to bed?"

I nod my head and smile up at her from my seat on the porch swing. "Yeah, I understand."

She gives me one last smile, and leans down to kiss the top of my head. "I'm so glad I'm finally a part of your life. I'm sorry for not being there all these years. Goodnight."

I sit outside for a few minutes after she leaves, just scrolling through Twitter on my phone when someone sits next to me on the swing. I look up to see one of Nash's friends, I don't really remember which one. "Hi." I say awkwardly, giving the boy an odd look.

"How old are you?" he asks, completely skipping his greeting. He relaxes into the seat as if he's going to be sitting here for a while.

"Sixteen." I answer.

He grins, "Me too."

"Um... sorry, but I forgot your name." I blush, trying to hide it but failing.

He laughs lightly and answers me, "I'm Matthew."

Matthew, that's right. Matthew was cute, and he was funny. All the boys were funny, especially when they're all together. I learned that over dinner. Taylor is just randomly funny, blurting out random stuff and laughing in the middle of nowhere. Cameron says funny things and makes funny faces. Matthew can just make me laugh by doing this weird thing with his voice that kind of sounds like a dinosaur, and Nash is just funny and weird, and Shawn is... Shawn is adorable. I don't even know how to describe him, but he's so cute and he is so polite.

"So, where did you live before moving here?" Matthew asks me, breaking me away from my thoughts.

"Omaha."

"Really? What's it like over there?" He asks, genuinely seeming to care.

I shrug. "I don't know, I didn't leave the house much.."

"Why not?"

"I had no life." I laugh at myself and he makes a confused face. We weren't close enough for me to tell him it was actually because my father barely let me leave the house.

"How? I mean, you're gorgeous. And you seem really nice, and you can make people laugh. Did you have friends?"

I try to hold in my smile from him complimenting me. A cute boy just called me gorgeous... who is paying him? "I had two friends..." I frown, thinking about my old friends and wondering what they are doing now.

"I'll be your friend." He says, and I just laugh. "No, I'm being serious."

"Well, you're my first friend here." I tell him and his grin grows wider.

"I'm honored."