It's Me, Again

Ch. 30 (Dylan)

"Take a left at the light," I pointed ahead. I offered to drive, but after Josh noticed how jittery I was from all the coffee I consumed last night he said he'd drive. I couldn't sleep last night, tossing and turning thinking about all the scenarios of what could happen today. If Kate acted weird around me today then I think maybe I should back out of the Serengeti trip. The last thing I want is to make her uncomfortable and I know she's going to be too polite to tell me she doesn't want me to go with her.

"This is a nice town," Josh looked around Main St. at all the shops and restaurants. There were no touristy shops with souvenirs like in the more popular beach towns. The street was filled with specialty shops, boutiques, surf shops, and restaurants ranging from fine dining to local fast food style places.

"Yeah, it's really chill and a nice place to spend time in the summer." I notice the long line at the mom & pop ice cream shop and remember how good the ice cream is there.

As Josh drove along the main road, the shops and restaurants became more sparse. "You're going to turn into their long driveway soon. It's going to be on the right. I don't remember exactly how far down it is, so don't go too fast." I lean forward with one hand on the dash as I concentrate, hoping to not miss the turn.

"There, turn right," I point towards a floral mailbox 50 feet ahead.

As we drove along the sandy driveway to the house, my palms started to sweat. I have no idea what's going to be waiting for me at the house.

"So, um, did Mallory mention anything about Kate's reaction to us coming and crashing their girls' weekend?"

"Mal said it was fine, but that we should be careful not to overstay our welcome. That means you. I am the perfect boyfriend and no one would kick me out."

"Ha, yeah, okay."

We parked behind the girls' car and I grabbed the cooler of breakfast goodies we brought from the backseat.

Josh went ahead to knock on the door. "Dude, excited much?" I laughed.

"I'm excited to see my girlfriend, so sue me," he looked over his shoulder to respond.

"It's been 24 hours," I roll my eyes. Even when Kate and I were fully committed and in love with each other, we could go a day without pining over each other.

After another moment, Mallory opened the door.

"Hello, beautiful." Mallory jumped into Josh's arms and he spun her around. They were cute in a lovesick, make you want to gag kind of way. I'll admit that it is kind of nice to see a couple that's been together since high school still excited to see each other though. Makes me think about how things could've been - to a less annoying extent - between Kate and me.

"We come bearing breakfast," I hold up the paper bags like they were my key to get into the house.

We head inside to unpack the breakfast on the kitchen island. Ice coffees, bagels, an assortment of cream cheeses, smoked salmon and capers for anyone that wanted bagels with lox, an assortment of pastries, and fresh fruit.

"Wow, you guys went all out!" Sarah exclaimed as she helped to unpack everything.

"Mallory said she wanted a feast," Josh shrugged like it was nothing.

"Thanks, babe," she kissed Josh on the cheek. "I'm not a huge lox fan though, but that's just me."

Without even thinking or looking up from the plates of bagels I was putting together, I pointed in the general direction of where Kate was standing and said, "Kate loves bagels with lox." Immediately after I said this, I felt self-conscious and didn't want to look up to meet her eyes.