Hanging Out

Saturday rolled around faster than I expected. I had mixed feelings about going over to Justin's place. On one hand, I was excited to spend some time with Sarah and Justin. On the other hand, I didn't want to see Haylie or Adam. I sighed. Oh well.. I guess we'll see how well today goes.

I went downstairs to tell my mom that I might be spending the night at Justin's. All I found was a note from her saying that she'll be home late. She's probably with Joe. I sighed and left the note where I found it. I couldn't wait for my dad to come home from his business trip in China. He had left a week and a half after he moved out and I'm not sure when he's going to be back.

I took the car keys from Brittany's purse on the living room table. She promised me the car for the weekend and I'm going to make good use of it. I made it to Justin's house early, with a couple of minutes to spare. I sat in the car for a minute, trying to compose myself before I went to face what was inside. I walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Sarah answered the door.


"Hey, sweetie!" she greeted me, giving me a hug. "No one else is here yet, but come on in! I'm glad you came!"

"I'm glad I came over too, Sarah," I told her, giving her a tight squeeze. "I missed you." We walked inside and sat down in the living room. I surveyed the choices for today's movie marathon. It consisted of mostly comedies, a couple of action films, and one romantic comedy. I smiled. Any movie out of these selections would be great to watch.

Henry was the next to arrive. I greeted him with a friendly hug and the 4 of us chatted until Adam and Haylie arrived. Adam was the next one to arrive and I was surprised that he brought Zoey along. I shot Henry a look and he looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

I couldn't believe that Adam would have the nerve to bring Zoey along, especially when she must have told him that she had quit her job at Bella because of me. They sat down in the love seat furthest away from Henry and I. The 6 of us sat in awkward silence, waiting for Haylie to arrive. Even though Sarah and Justin weren't in the loop with what happened with Zoey and I, they could sense the tension in the room.

A couple of minutes later, the doorbell rang and Sarah eagerly went to answer it. When Haylie walked in, I was surprised to see her with a guy I've never seen before. The guy stood 6'4 with blond hair and brown eyes, looking like he just got back from the beach. Henry shot me a look and I shook my head, indicating that I didn't know anything about this.

Surprisingly, it wasn't incredibly awkward. The second that Haylie came in with the new guy, it seemed to break the ice. Haylie's new guy is named Lucas, who prefers to be called Luke. He seemed really sweet and he's a senior at our school. He's planning on going to Beachside University, same as Haylie. Apparently, they've been starting to hang out a lot lately.

Then, it was Sarah's turn to bomb Zoey with questions about her and Adam's relationship, which made both of them blush, I'd have to admit that it was kind of cute. Zoey and Adam managed to dodge the questions and get Justin to put in a movie.

I think it was halfway through the romantic comedy (the third movie that we played) that I looked around and noticed that I was surrounded by couples. I saw Sarah sneaking Justin kisses, Adam and Zoey cuddling, and Sarah and Luke holding hands. I felt a little bit claustrophobic and quietly slipped outside on the patio for some air.

It was dark outside and a little bit chilly. I wrapped my fleece blanket around my shoulders. I was surprised to see Henry sitting outside, I had forgotten that he had disappeared during the romantic comedy. I sat down next to him.

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" I asked him. I noticed that he was only wearing a short sleeved T-shirt and hadn't brought a jacket. "You must be freezing!" I moved as close to him as humanly possible and wrapped my blanket around both our shoulders.

"I just wanted to get some air," he said. I didn't want to push the matter, I knew that he was uncomfortable seeing Haylie with Luke. "What are you doing out here?"

"I realized that I was the 7th wheel in there and it got me thinking about Taylor," I admitted, sadly. Tears swelled in my eyes. I had done such a good job of avoiding thinking about Taylor since the break up. Now, it seemed like all the emotions were hitting me at once and the tears started to stream down my face. "I'm sorry." I wiped the tears with the sleeve of my jacket.

Henry held me in his arms and whispered in my ear to let it all out and everything is going to be ok. Even though he kept repeating the same words over and over again, it was comforting to hear them. I guess I fell asleep in Henry's arms and he had taken me home. The next morning, I found myself in my bed and the car in the driveway, but Henry was nowhere to be seen. I smiled to myself and made myself a mental note to do something nice for Henry in return.