“I’m wearing it tonight, but I didn’t want my parents to trip when they saw it.”
“You need me to stop somewhere so you can change?” He asked politely.
“Nope,” I smiled. “I think I have enough room to do it here.” He was smiling as soon as the words left my mouth.
I unbuttoned my pants and wrestled with the best way to do this. I could slip the skirt on over the pants and then slide them off easily. But where would the fun be in that? So, I gripped the waist band of my jeans and eased them down slowly. AJ immediately stopped watching the road to focus on me. Not in a rush to cover myself up, I casually folded the jeans and put them in my bag. From my peripheral, it didn’t even look like he was breathing; that’s how still he was. I put my feet through the skirt and slid it up my thighs and buttoned it before turning to smile at him.
“Don’t you think you should be watching where you’re going?” I asked.
A few seconds later he turned his attention back to the road. I threw my bag into the backseat, reached for his hand, and leaned my head on his shoulder. We drove for about 15 more minutes and then pulled into Karl’s driveway. It was an average sized white house in the suburbs. There were about six cars parked out front, so I assumed that everyone else was there already. I took a deep breath and A.J squeezed my hand reassuringly. “You’ll be fine. It’s gonna be fun.”
“Is she going to be here?” I asked in a voice that was barely higher than a whisper.
“Probably. I think Trevor said he was coming and she usually tags along with him wherever he goes,” AJ replied. I figured as much. It seemed like that was the only reason she was allowed to come around. Trevor was her rite of passage in a sense. The guys are good friends with him so, by default, she’s automatically included in whatever plans they make.
“Does she know about me yet?” I held my breath while I waited for his answer.
“No, not unless someone else told her,” he replied.
So, we were getting ready to blindside her. I could deal with that. “Ok, let’s go. I’m ready,” I sighed.
AJ looked at me one last time and then got out of the car to come around and open my door. He took my hand and held it as we walked to the door. My nervousness returned as we approached the house. He squeezed my hand and smiled at me reassuringly as he rang the doorbell. Footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door as someone scrambled inside. Two seconds later it flung open.
“AJ!!” The large man yelled. “Good to see ya. Everybody’s downstairs. You know the way.”
The man eyed me curiously and glanced down at AJ and me holding hands. “Mr. Holmes, this is Samantha……my girlfriend.” His smile told me that he was pleased to finally be able to say those words.
“Nice to meet you Samantha. Any friend of AJ’s is a friend of ours. Make yourself at home and don’t hesitate to help yourself to anything.” Mr. Holmes was a good-natured man with a voice as large as his body. I imagined that his outgoing personality was what made Karl’s place the hangout of choice. AJ led the way to the basement door and I took another deep breath as he opened it. Immediately, music floated up the stairs toward us. His friends were laughing and joking around, seeming to already be having a good time. We reached the bottom of the stairs, rounded the corner and I held my breath as each head turned in our direction.
“Hey, A.J! What’s up?” Karl Exclaimed in a voice loud enough to rival his father’s. The others followed and greeted him as well, never taking their eyes off of me. “And you must be Samantha,” Karl added. “It’s nice to meet you.” He reached out and shook my hand.