Hanging With The Boys

06.

WHEN MY SHIFT ends at noon I decide to give Luke a ride home since the guys left a bit earlier and he decided to hang around until I was done my shift. "So, you and Evan have kissed now, huh?" Luke comments as I drive. "Oh yeah. You saw that?" I ask. It was a good kiss and I was fine with people knowing that we're dating but it was kind of weird to think of my guy friends seeing me kiss my boyfriend. If I can even call him that at this point. I'm not sure what we are yet. We've only had one date so I don't know if we're just dating or if we're classified as boyfriend-girlfriend. I should talk about it with Evan at some point. "Yeah, I'm sure everyone did." He laughs a bit but it's still kind of awkward. "Sorry." I say, not sure what else I should say. "Don't apologize. It's cool. I'm just concerned because when he kissed you, you seemed kind of worried at first." He says. I'm taken aback at first at how he noticed that, I didn't know it was that obvious. But then I'm touched that he pays close attention and is concerned with how I feel.

"I just haven't kissed anyone since...actually never mind, it's not important" I say. "Henley, I don't want you to talk about stuff before you're ready. I want you to be comfortable around me but just know that the stuff you have to say is always important." Luke says. "I am comfortable around you, I'm just not ready yet. Maybe soon." I say. "That's perfectly fine with me." He says, as we pull into his driveway. I tell him I'll see him later tonight and then I head home.

When I get home, I chill for a bit and do my homework. I'm not very high maintenance so it won't take me long to get ready and on top of that I don't plan to arrive as soon as the dance starts. I'll probably get there a little after it starts. Fashionably late.

My hair is almost always straightened so I decide to curl the ends and then do my makeup; sheer foundation and mascara. Then I put on my dress, a black crisscross cut-out mini dress and black lace ankle boots. Throughout the whole process, I can't help but continue to think about my kiss with Evan. It was a good kiss. And although it was somewhat nerve-wracking and daunting the first time around, I can't wait to kiss him again.

A couple minutes before 5, I see Evan's car pull up in front. At first, I think he's going to stay in his car and text me that he's here, like he did last night. But he doesn't, instead I see him get out of the car with a box in his hands and start to walk up to the door. He rings the doorbell and I rush down the stairs in hopes of getting to the door before my parents. But I'm too late. He's already been welcomed inside and is talking to my dad.  

They stop talking when I walk into the room.

"Hi." He says. "Hey." I smile, and he walks over to me, opening the box, revealing a beautiful corsage made of blooming yellow roses. "I asked Luke and he told me you weren't a fan of pink and that yellow would be a safe bet considering your dress is black." He says, slipping it onto my wrist. "It's beautiful." I say, giving him a hug. "You're beautiful." He says, giving me a quick kiss, just as good as the first if not better, although I feel slightly awkward kissing him, given the fact that my parents are standing close by and I'm unsure of their opinion about this relationship and just PDA involving their daughter in general. "Well, we should probably get going." I say, taking Evan's hand in mine.

"No, you don't." my mom says, and I see that she's holding her camera. "Mom, seriously?" I groan. "Henley, it's your first school dance. I need to document it." She says. "Ok, fine." I say, hoping Evan didn't hear her say that this was my first school dance. If he did, he probably thinks I was some lonely teenager with no life. But I guess I kind of was. We pose for a couple pictures and then once my mom is fully satisfied, she gives Evan a hug and my dad shakes his hand and they send us on our way.

"So, this is your first school dance?" he asks as we start to drive to the location of the dance. "Um, yeah." I say. "Why?" he asks, which I kind of figured would be his next question. He's my kind-of-boyfriend so I should be able to talk to him about this, about my past and my bad experience with one high school social event, causing the ripple effect of me not wanting to go to any other high school functions but also not feeling welcome at them or not even feeling welcome at my own school. "I wasn't very social at my old school. I'm more of an introvert. I preferred to stay home and watch a movie or read a book." I shrug. "You could have fooled me. You have quite the friend group now. But I'm honoured that I'm your first ever date to a school dance." He grins and my stomach tumbles. "Well now I have a question for you", I start, forcing myself to swallow down my nerves at the thought of asking the impending question. Will he get freaked out about the commitment? "Shoot" he tells me. "Well I know this is only our second date, but I just wanted to know what we are. Are we just casually dating each other or are we more exclusive like boyfriend-girlfriend?" I ask. "I want you to be my girlfriend, so I guess that makes me your boyfriend." He smirks and then he extends his right hand across the center console to hold mine as he continues to drive. I can't help but smile to myself.