Set Up

Chapter 1

Being set up is no fun. It's worse when there's peer pressure involved with it. Of course, you can say no, but that means you would say no to a whole group of people.

When I went to a little reunion of a group of my childhood friends, I never thought I would be getting myself a date.

A date doesn't sound bad, does it?

No. It sounds awful. The person I am supposed to go out with has seen me from literally after I was born.

Wren, the guy I'm going out with, is actually three years older than me and our parents had been friends years before even I was born. So here I was, fresh out of a relationship, going on a date with a guy who had seen me through my side bang phase, my emo phase, my braces phase, and of course, my pimple phase.

This will be fun.

All of this started when I got a direct message on Instagram from Wren's older sister, Rose. She texted me about her recent engagement, which I had known about before, when her mother called mine and went on and on about the proposal.

It may sound like I'm bitter, but I was actually very happy for her. She was almost six years older than me and was someone I looked up to when I was younger. We started talking about how our old gang hadn't seen each other for over a year, due to the fact that we were all in different cities due to work.

She decided to throw a party, and get everyone together after years. I hadn't seen some people since my own college graduation party and I had graduated nearly 3 years before.

So here I was excited, yet nervous to be standing outside the door of Rose's house, where I could hear the laughter from everyone inside. I was fashionably late due to a work emergency, which meant that I will for sure gather everyone's attention when I arrived. 

Wonderful.

With some store bought dessert, wine, engagement present, and purse in between two hands, I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. I could hear footsteps coming towards the door. I braced myself and put a smile on.

After opening the door, I was immediately attacked by Rose and a couple others who I couldn't see.

"Dahlia!! So glad you came! Come inside." After taking the stuff out of my hands, I was able to properly able to properly look around. The laughter hadn't faded away, but I could already see everyone coming towards the entrance of the house. After the proper introductions and a lemonade in my hand (I had to drive back home), I was able to sit down and take a good look at everyone.

Some people had brought their partners, while others decided to go solo for the night. The house was brightly lit with music playing in the background and tons of food in the kitchen island. It was nostalgic.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one taking in the scene, because Rose's younger brother, Wren, was also looking around when we locked eyes. I smiled and started to head towards him.

"Hey!" I smiled and hugged him.

"Hey, how are you? Long time no see," he responded. It had been over two years. I had seen him last when a couple of my friends ran into him at a bar. After an awkward hug and hello, we had split apart to move on.

"Good, how are you? How's work?" The most general question you can start with before starting conversations about the weather. When I was younger, with parents around, there was a quick hug, a hello, and a bye. No stupid pleasantries.

"Good, the company I work for just moved to the city, so I just moved out here. How's work for you?"

"Great, however, I was late today because I needed to finish some last minute things that came up." He nodded understandingly and after a couple seconds of a noticeable pause, I excused myself to go introduce myself to a person I hadn't met.

God if that's how the rest of the night is going to go, someone better come save me.

The night, actually, turned out better as the appetizers were switched out to actual food. With no time for a break due to the situation at work, I didn't have enough time to eat the lunch I had prepared. With some hot food in my system and a couple of people to talk to, I wound up enjoying myself after a long time.

After things settled down and everyone had their food, we all sat around the living room with food and were talking as a whole group over bad decisions, college life, and work. With a salad and some pasta in my plate, I was watching everyone talk, joining in when I had stories to chime in with.

While the topic of Rose's engagement came up, I drifted into my own world, thinking about the things I had to finish after I got home. When I noticed someone clearing their throat, I noticed everyone staring at me. Blushing, I looked up.

"Yes?" I laughed, not knowing what was going on.

"Dahlia's in a dream world," Sammy laughed, teasing me, "I just asked, are you currently in a relationship?"

Exactly the question I wanted to answer..

Note my sarcasm.

"Um, no. I actually broke up with my ex a couple of months ago. Why?" I narrowed my eyes, knowing the girl was up to something.

Rose nodded and said, "Well, I was just thinking, since I saw you and Wren talking, it would be a great if you both went on a date. With the conversation I saw, there seems to be sooo much chemistry. Think of how fun it would be, plus it would mean you would be my sister if you got married. Wren is single, and you both would look so good together."

Haven't even gotten to talking about a date and people are already planning my wedding? And also, what chemistry, we didn't have anything in common to talk about. I looked at Wren, who was looking away from me, but glaring at his sister with her "sly" plan to get us together.

Quickly forcing a smile I said, "I don't know..."

Wren quickly chimed in, "Rosie..."

"What, it would be great, wouldn't it be, guys?" Rose said, smiling widely looking at the group. Most were whispering or smiling at the both of us.

I had to think quick, obviously, a public rejection would not go well this group, and since we both are single, and I was over my ex, there was no reason why I couldn't say no.

Wren and I locked eyes, and quickly nodded, and he shrugged, saying, "It's up to you."

I sighed, and said "Sure, just text me."

Everyone around us cheered and I turned bright pink. Wren nodded in my direction, also blushing, and Rose? Well, let's just say she was supporting the biggest grin. 

Author's Note: Hi readers! So, this is an original idea, with original names and characters. I'm trying to write for the first time after many failed attempts and thought this would be a fun story to write. I will not come up with a cast list because I believe we all think of characters a certain way and making a cast list may stop the creative process. Feel free to comment any suggestions, and thoughts, and lmk if you have any ideas!!