I have no idea why, but my friends were so eager to meet Betty. Maybe because I was the only one in our group that was single. My friend’s girlfriends wanted to meet her really bad, too.
So, we all made plans to hang out at Theo’s parent’s house on Saturday night. His parents lived in Betty’s town, which was only a ten minute drive from the main campus.
Late Saturday morning, I got up, showered, got dressed, and drove over to Betty’s house. We were hanging out for the afternoon and getting lunch with Cam and Este.
I was so excited. It was going to be an amazing day.
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“I look so bad,” Betty said, still crying.
She had been crying for the last five minutes because her curls didn’t turn out like she wanted. And, being completely honest, I had no idea what to say. I didn’t understand why it was such a big deal. I don’t have siblings, so I’ve never had to deal with it. My hair is naturally curly.
I went over, putting a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. It didn’t help.
Eventually we left. I drove Betty’s car to a small cafe where we were meeting Cam and Este for lunch. Betty told me that it was a Colombian-owned little coffee shop with lunch portions offered.
I pulled up and it looked really cute. The outside was dark brown, like an espresso, with bright lime green pillars and window frames. The place was screaming tropical.
I went to the passenger side and opened Betty’s door for her, which made her smile. We intertwined hands as she led me in the doors.
The interior was more or a jungle aesthetic, with fake vines on the walls with fairy lights shining green over the coffee ordering station.
We walked over to a four person table where Cam and Este were sitting, looking at the menus. Betty gave Este a hug and sat down next to her. Cam dapped me up and I sat next to him, across from my girlfriend.
Our waitress came over and took drink orders. Betty ordered a cold brew with cold foam and caramel drizzle, and I made sure to put her order in my notes app so I didn’t forget. I just got water because I’m not a coffee fan.
The girls mostly gossiped to themselves. Cam and I talked some but were on our phones a lot. I ate my spicy grilled chicken wrap in silence when Cam was in the bathroom. And that was lunch. It was a little boring and I was disappointed.
Me and Betty went directly to Theo’s parent’s house afterward. Me and Theo had been friends since elementary school, so I knew it would be cool if I went over early.
“Did you have fun?” Betty asked.
I shrugged. “It was fine. Me and Cam didn’t talk as much as I wanted to, but there’s always next time. The chicken wrap was really good,” I replied.
“That’s fine,” she said. She placed her hand on top of mine.
Soon enough, I pulled into Edwards' driveway. Theo’s mom was sitting on the patio reading. She waved at me as I got out of my car.
I opened Betty’s door and we intertwined hands as we walked over to where she was.
Theo’s mom put her bookmark in and got up to greet us. “Hi, Josh! How are you doing?” she asked as I gave her a quick hug.
“Hi, Mrs. Edwards. I’m great, how are you?” I asked.
She laughed. “Josh, I’ve been telling you this for almost 15 years, you can call me Claira,” she said.
I smiled. “I know, it just feels disrespectful. You’re like my second mom, I couldn’t call you by your first name,” I told her.
Mrs. Edwards smiled. She turned to Betty. “Hi, darling. I’m Theo’s mom, you can call me Claira or Mrs. Edwards, whatever you’re comfortable with,” she said.
Betty smiled at her. “Hi. I’m Betty. Your house is so pretty,” she said.
“Thank you, dear. Well, Theo and Ansley are down in his recording room. It’s nice to see you, Josh, and it was great meeting you, Betty!” she said to us.
“Bye, Mrs. Edwards. Thanks for having us over,” I said.
I led Betty into the house and down to the basement to Theo’s recording room. Theo is really big into singing and creating music, and he has a room full of sound and recording equipment for when he writes and produces all of his own songs.
Theo’s trying to make it big right now by releasing his music on TikTok, but he hasn’t gone viral yet. He’s studying Audio Engineering so if singing doesn’t work out, he can still do the music and stuff for big artists.
We walked into the large recording room, where Theo and Ansley were sitting on the couch on the far wall.
“Yo, Josh,” Theo said and dapped me up. He got up from the couch, towering over my small girlfriend. Theo was six feet and eight inches tall. His late, unexpected growth spurt during our junior year still surprised me sometimes.
“Hey, man,” I replied. Ansley got up and I gave her a quick hug. Theo and Ansley had started dating at the end of our freshman year of high school, and she’s hung out with us ever since, so I was friends with her.
Betty smiled at them, but looked a little shy and awkward.
“Guys, this is Betty, my new girlfriend,” I said, introducing her.
“Hi,” she said shyly.
Theo smiled at her. “Hey, I’m Theo. Josh is my best friend, I’ve known him since I was five years old. Don’t worry, he’s an awesome guy,” he said.
“I’m Ansley, Theo’s girlfriend. I’ve known Josh for a while now, too, and yeah, he’s great,” she said.
“Nice to meet you guys,” Betty said. She turned to Ansley. “You’re gorgeous, by the way,” she added.
Ansley beamed at her. “Thank you so much! So are you. Your outfit is adorable,” she told her.
“Thanks,” Betty replied.
“Josh, Beckam and Eva are gonna be here soon, too. Eric and Zoe are about to leave,” Theo told me.
I nodded. “Sounds good,” I replied.
Ansley and Betty got to know each other a little bit, talking about their interests and things like that. Theo told me about how cool is audio engineering class is.
And then Beckam showed up.
Beckam and his girlfriend, Eva, walked in and said hi to everyone. Eva, as usual, was glued to her phone. She had a big social media following after her dancing videos went viral about two years ago. She was nice, but that seemed to be the extent of her personality.
The whole room seemed to get tenser when Beckam got there. There’s a chance it was just me, though.
I had met Beckam a few weeks ago during freshman week. He’s Eric’s roommate. Like, sure, Beckam is a cool dude. And he probably should live in a frat house, but he’s a jock and new here so he isn’t yet. But he’s also kind of a jackass.
He’s a tall, muscular guy, probably six foot five. But all he cares about is sports. He doesn’t give a shit about college and doing good, he’s just at school on an athletic scholarship.
I dapped him up and said hi to Eva, who responded without looking up from her phone, like usual. I don’t know for sure if Beckam and Eva are dating for sure, but they’ve been hooking up since freshman week.
Eva went over to sit with Betty and Ansley and Beckam sat next to Theo on the couch with us.
“Is that tiny girl over there yours? What’s her name again? It’s something grandma-y, like Barbara,” he asked me, gensturing to Betty.
“It’s Betty. But yeah, that’s her. She’s nervous right now,” I told him.
He nodded.
“When’s Krew coming?” Beckam asked.
“He’s coming soon. Gigi had to finish getting ready,” Theo replied.
“Of course,” Beckam said.
I don’t really know what his deal was. Krew adores Gigi, and they’re always late because he treates her like a queen. The opposite of what Beckam does.
“The party’s here!” Zoe exclaimed as her and Eric walked in. She dropped his hand and ran over to hug Ansley.
“Oh my god! Josh, she’s beautiful!” Zoe yelled to me.
“Tell her, not me, I already know,” I yelled back at her.
Eric walked over to us, wiping his hair out of his eye. “Simp,” he said to me, jokingly.
“Bro, says you. You just dropped $200 on Zoe,” I replied.
“He spent more on skincare than I did,” Zoe said, walking over to join us.
“It’s only because they had the good Korean brands in stock! My mom was gonna go to Korea over the summer to visit my grandparents and she was going to bring me back some, but she had a work crisis and had to cancel her trip,” Eric explained.
“I could have brought some Indian products back with me for you to try. You should have told me that, silly,” Zoe teased.
Zoe had just gotten back from a whole summer in India. Her family is from there, and her siblings were born in India, but her family immigrated to America right before she was born.
“I didn’t know her trip was gonna get canceled!” he exclaimed.
We all started laughing.
“Calm down, I know. I just just messing with you,” Zoe said, giving Eric a hug. Then she pulled away and went to go sit with the girls.
“Aw,” Theo said. “Finally got to a year,” he said.
Eric and Zoe both went to high school with me, Theo and Krew, too. They started dating the summer before senior year started.
“And? At least I’m not at, what is it now, four years? And still no ring?” Eric joked.
“Hey, I’m working on it. Get on my level,” Theo replied, laughing.
It’s always been like this. Me, Theo, Eric, and Krew had all been super close since fifth grade. And the vibe is different now, because Beckam got dragged in.
“The only ring I’m worried about is a championship ring. I don’t even care about school. They wanted me to play basketball, that’s the only reason I’m there. But yeah, me and Eva still aren’t official,” Beckam said. “I don’t wanna rush into things,” he added, looking at me while saying it.
“But I know it’s right. I’ve never felt so right with anyone in my life. I’m calling it now; she’s the one,” I replied.
“That’s great, Josh, I’m happy for you,” Theo said.
“Yeah, me, too,” Eric added.
We heard giggles from down the hall. Krew and Gigi walked in, laughing and holding hands.
“Hey,” they said simotaneously.
Krew and Gigi started dating right after Eric and Zoe, so they were close to a year. Gigi is still in high school, though. She’s a senior.
Betty came over to me. I gave her a hug.
“Hey, babe, what’s up? You having fun?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, they’re all really nice. Zoe is super fun. She has so much energy,” she said.
Gigi tapped Betty on the shoulder.
“You’re Betty, right?” she asked.
“Yeah,” my girlfriend answered.
Gigi smiled at her. “Great! I’m Gigi, by the way. I’m so excited you’re here, now I’m not the only high schooler anymore. I’m still a senoir,” she said.
“Me, too,” Betty replied.
“Oh nice! Did you get your dress for your homecoming yet? My dress is purple, I’m really excited,” Gigi said.
“Not yet. I’m gonna go tomorrow with my best friend. I’m thinking black,” Betty said.
She and Gigi started to walk off back to where the other girls were, but Betty hung back for a second.
“Thanks for bringing me here. Everyone is really nice, I don’t know why I was so nervous,” she said to me.
“No problem, my love. I’m really happy you like everybody,” I replied.
“Yeah, me, too,” she said, smiling.
“I love you,” I said, after we kissed.
“Love you, too,” she said before walking away.
I turned back to all my friends watching us.
“Awww,” they all said in unison.
I blushed. “Oh my god, be quiet,” I said.
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