“Ok, so leave your calendar open for November 23rd then.”
“It’s a date. But hey, I have an idea. Since we’re not hangin’ over at your house tomorrow, you should come meet my friends. They’re getting together at Karl’s house. It’ll be fun. I think you’ll get along great with his girlfriend Deanna. She and Karl are both going to Charleston too, so you’ve already got something in common.”
Protesting seemed like a good idea, but he was so open to meeting my father that I didn’t have a choice but to be equally as open to his suggestion. So I replied, “Sure.”
“Great. I’ll call Karl later and get all the details and I’ll give you a call later.”
I wasn’t sure about this. Maybe his friends would feel the same way about us that my friends did. There was also the possibility of Leila being there with Trevor. Chances are, she didn’t know about AJ and me yet and I wasn’t expecting her to take it well. I took a deep breath and tried to be positive.
The next day I decided to go shopping to find a new outfit before going over to Karl’s with AJ. I wanted to make a good impression and I didn’t have much luck when I ravaged my closet the night before. I started with my favorite store, and as always, found something after only searching for ten minutes. There was a dark denim mini skirt that fit perfectly. Of course, I’d have to come up with something creative to actually get out of the house with it on, but I’d be able to handle that. There was a hot pink baby tee that matched my pink and white tennis shoes at home, so I grabbed it and hurried to the register to pay.
By the time I got home, it was nearly 3:00. That gave me plenty of time to play around with different hairstyles. A ponytail was out of the question. Outshining this Leila chick wasn’t going to be an easy task. I ended up leaving it down and curled loosely at the ends, letting it fall down my back. AJ messaged me last night to tell me that he’d be here by 6pm, so I had a little time. I lay across my bed and watched TV until my phone rang at 5:22. I answered it eagerly. “Hey!”
He laughed a little to himself. “Somebody’s in a good mood.”
“Maybe a little. You on your way?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be there in about 20 minutes or so. You ready?”
“Yeah, I’m about to throw my clothes on now.”
“Well…..I forgot to tell you; clothing’s optional. It’s cool if you just come naked.”
“Ha ha ha…shut up. I’ll be ready when you get here. Just call and let it ring once. I’ll come out.”
I hung up and put on the new outfit. Just then, I remembered that I would never get out of the house in this skirt. I slid it off and threw it into my small Nike backpack that neither of my parents would find suspicious. There was a pair of jeans lying on the side of my bed from earlier, so I put them back on. I collected my purse, keys, phone and the small bag and waited for AJ’s call. A couple minutes later it rang once and I knew that was my cue. I ran down the stairs and kissed my mom.
“Have fun,” she called after me as I flew out the door.
I jumped into the car and kissed AJ on the cheek. Strangely, I didn’t really feel nervous about meeting his friends anymore, but I was sure that would change as we got closer to Karl’s house. I was actually relieved that tonight, Leila would finally know that AJ wasn’t available anymore. Maybe she’d give up chasing him then. Maybe.
AJ looked especially good tonight. He wore a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow and a pair of dark denim jeans that were nearly the same shade as my skirt. His watch twinkled as we passed under the street lights and his jet black hair glistened in the dim light of the evening.
I needed to change into my skirt before we got to Karl’s house, so I decided to just make the switch while A.J drove. When I reached into my bag and retrieved it, AJ looked at me curiously and then asked, “What’s that for?”