We stepped out of the car and walked into McDonald's. After he held the door open for me and walked in, a voice pierced through the restaurant and my eardrums.
"Oh my god, Caleb!?"
Jeez, I thought to myself, was this another one of his "hoes of the week?" By the look on his face, I'm pretty sure it was.
"Oh, hi Madison. What's up?" I could tell he clearly didn't want to be here as much as I didn't.
Once Caleb said that name, I knew exactly who that was. It was Madison Wrigley, who had graduated two years earlier with my brother. He had told me stories of her, and they weren't exactly nice ones.
"So I see you're still slumming away with those lowlife thots. Call me when you want to take me back and get a real woman."
Now I know I'm new to this whole talking to people thing, but that was definitely out of line. I was about to break out of my shell and give this "lowlife thot" a piece of my mind when Caleb put his arm around me.
"Actually, that's why I'm taking Evelyn out to coffee right now. She was a nice change of scenery compared to the garbage I used to date." He grinned at her and walked me up to the other register. Madison, clearly furious, stormed to the back.
After we had ordered our coffee and sat down, we continued talking about Caleb's previous "wrongdoings," as he called them. Finally, the thing I feared the most happened: he asked about ME.
"So, what do you like to do, you know for fun?" I didn't wanna answer him truthfully by saying that I spent my weekends curled up on my couch reading a Nicholas Sparks or Nora Roberts books. Nor did I want to tell him about the embarrassing and most times boring conversations me and Ava would have on our hours-long phone calls. I had to lie.
"You know, the usual. I like to go out to parties and have a good time." That couldn't have been farther from the truth.
"Really? You don't seem like that kind of girl. I don't think I've seen you at any parties recently either." He was on to me.
"Yeah, I've been, uh... kinda sick the last couple of weekends."
"Evelyn, you don't have to lie to me. One of the reasons I like you is because you're a fresh breath of air into my life. You do different things than the usual girls I hang out with."
I smiled back at him. As I was about to tell him what I actually do on weekends, he interrupted me.
"But... if you are wanting to go out sometime my friend Adam is throwing a party this Friday night. Maybe you'd like to come?"
I was shook. In one school day my life had been completely changed. Although I didn't see myself as a partier, this opportunity was one I couldn't pass up. I hadn't backed down yet. Why would I do it now?
"Yeah, I'm totally down," I told him. "Do you think you could pick me up, though? I'm not real comfortable with driving at night." The second I said that, I regretted it. My relationship with Caleb had just started and I was already coming off as some nerd.
"Of course," he said. "Just tell me where you live and I'll come pick you up."
Whew. It was alright. I just need to believe in myself more. He did ask me out to coffee, after all. It'll all be OK.
We left McDonald's and Caleb dropped me off at the school parking lot. As I got out he gave the best hug you can give inside of a Smart Car. I flirtily waved goodbye as he drove out of the parking lot.
As I sat down in my car, I remembered the constant calls and texts from Ava. I read her last text: "Are we still on for Friday??" OOF. I had completely forgotten about me and Ava's plans. We were going to go Chipotle after school and then to her boyfriend's band's concert that night. I decided I'd call her and tell her about my new plans. She would understand, I thought to myself. I had gone to her boyfriend Connor's concerts dozens of times. It would be OK I skipped one this time, right?
I called her as I was pulling out the parking lot, turning the Bluetooth on my car on so I could legally talk to her. She answered as soon as possible.
"Where have you been!? I saw you with Caleb! What'd he say? I'll beat his ass if he hurt you! I'll..."
"Ava, Ava," I cut her off. "No he didn't do anything to me. We just went to coffee."
After I said that I could hear Ava screaming even though she pulled the phone away from her mouth.
"You what!?" Evelyn, I'm so proud of you. You guys are gonna be such a cute..."
I had to cut her off again. Ava always got excited and jumped to conclusions when things like this happened.
"No, Ava. It was nothing. He is taking me to this party at Adam's..."
I heard her screaming again. "Oh my god Evelyn what has happened to you? You were this quiet nerd who's now hanging out with the greatest man to ever grace the Earth!" Behind her excitement and subtle criticism of me, I know she means the best.
"Yeah, there's only one problem with that. You know our plans on Friday?" "Evelyn, don't tell me you're not going with me to Connor's concert with me? Who am I going to hang out with there?"
This is what I feared. Ava was a great friend, but was very clingy when it came to things like this. That's why it hurt so bad telling her this.
"I'm sorry Ava. I have to go with Caleb to this party. This is what I've spent my four years of high school trying to do. Come on, Ava you would do the same if you were me."
"I understand," Ava responded. Nothing but silence followed. She had hung up on me.
While I was creating new relationships, I was losing others. Was it worth it? Only time would tell. All I knew was that for once I couldn't wait until the weekend.
