I grumbled as I was being forced to go over to the Haner’s house. I wasn’t thrilled to be going to this barbeque at all. After Junior had yelled at me, I decided that I was dumb for not accepting his apology right away, so now I was feeling really ashamed of myself.

What made it worse was that Junior kept calling every day too. I always told my mom to tell him I was in the shower and would call him back. Of course I never did though. I wouldn’t know how to even begin to apologize to him for being so difficult about everything.

Sadly the more I ignored and avoided Junior, the worse the situation got. I just couldn’t stand up to the circumstances I had made for myself. I wasn’t ready for this. It was too soon for me.

I was almost sure that my mom thought Junior and I were having romance trouble or something though. She kept on giving me that motherly look, and it was disturbing to even think about. I could never think of Junior like that. It was just impossible.

I stood behind my parents as they rang the doorbell of Junior’s house. Even knowing that his dad was there didn’t help me think of this as a positive experience.

I wasn’t prepared for the drama I knew I was in store for when Junior was the one to answer the door. Immediately his eyes met mine, and I was already feeling the awkward in the air.

“Well hello, Brian. You’re becoming more and more handsome every day,” my mom said cheerfully. My dad offered Brian a handshake and a smile.

They both walked in passed Junior, and I almost couldn’t think. I didn’t know what I was going to do in this uncomfortable position.

“Hi,” I said softly. I could have hit myself. That was what I chose to open up with?

“Hey,” he whispered.

I walked in, and I wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk. I pushed my thoughts aside when he walked away from me. I was a bit relieved. I honestly didn’t want to talk about it.

I made my way to the kitchen, hoping to see his dad in there. His dad loved to cook, and I could often see him in there.

I was disappointed to see that it was just his wife, Suzy, in there. She greeted me, and I quickly found myself walking to the backyard disappointed.

There weren’t very many people that I could talk to. There were even less people who I wanted to talk to. It was a nerve wrecking thing. I had no one to entertain me for the next however many hours my parents wanted to be here for.

“Well hello there, Arianna. You are looking more grown up every day.”

I turned around quickly, and I was suddenly very happy.

There standing before me was the man of my dreams, and he looked so beautiful. Even with all of the imperfections that time gave him, I thought he was the best looking man ever created.

“Hi, Brian,” I breathed out happily. He gave me a friendly smile.

“So how has school been going for you? Are you still that straight ‘A’ girl? I hope so; you were always so smart.”

I stared at him for a bit before I answered him. He was just so gorgeous.

“Oh of course, I study every night, and I pass all my tests. I’m very fond of school,” I said quickly, hoping that I said all the right things.

“I think you should tutor Brian. He’s getting terrible grades.” He replied.

I bit on my lip, wondering if tutoring Junior would somehow give me more time with his dad. It most likely wouldn’t involve Brian too much sadly, and Junior was still probably upset with me.

“I dunno if that’s a great idea right now, Brian. You see Junior and I are caught up in a misunderstanding. I don’t know if he even wants to talk to me right now,” I explained.

Brian’s face scrunched up a bit in confusion.

“Are you sure? He hasn’t said anything about it to me. I even brought up the tutoring to him, and he seemed to think it was a great idea. I can ask him again if you want,” he said casually.

“Well if he doesn’t mind, you can just call me to tell me what will happen about it.” I replied.

I began to twirl and play with a strand of my hair. I could feel my nerves bubbling up. It always took a while for them to pop up on me.

“Nonsense, Arianna. Brian will call you himself. He is the one you will most likely be tutoring anyways.” Brian decided.

I sighed internally. I wanted Brian to call me, not Junior.

“Look I have to go help Suzy with the rest of the small stuff now, but I hope that you go talk to Brian and make up a bit. You two are such good friends,” he added.

I shrugged, not knowing what to say back to him. I waved goodbye, and I looked around the backyard again. There was still no one to talk to.

I jumped when I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I turned to see it was some boy that I recognized as one of Junior’s friends.

He was fairly tall compared to me. He was just a little shorter than Junior, and he never acknowledged my existence before. It made me wonder.

“H-hi,” I stammered. I pushed some locks of hair behind my ear. I was never particularly good around boys I didn’t know.

“Hey, Arianna, right?” he asked. I nodded my head slightly.

“I’m Zack. I’m a friend of Brian’s. The younger one of course.” He babbled.

I smiled slightly, seeing that he wasn’t so good with new people as well. It made him less intimidating.

“W-well I just wanted to tell you that I’ve always sort of thought that you were kind of interesting… to look at. N-not that I stare at you or anything ‘cause t-that’d be creepy as fuck.” He rambled.

He talked some more like this for a while. I thought about cutting him off to tell him that I wasn’t really interested in him at all, but I found him kind of entertaining. Well I found his stuttering entertaining at least. Not to mention that I had no one else to talk to.

“N-now I know that you’re a good friend of Brian’s and all, w-which doesn’t affect how I see you. N-not that I see you a certain way or anything; you’re just a girl. A special girl though,” he said.

I started laughing finally, causing him to smile finally.

“You’re funny,” I chuckled. He bit down on his lower lip. I finally noticed the two lip rings he had. They were a nice touch, considering he had plump lips.

“D-do you think you’d like to go get ice cream sometime,” he asked bashfully.

I stopped smiling, not knowing how to answer him. I most certainly didn’t want to hurt him in any way, but I hadn’t given him any reason to believe that I was interested in him in the least. I liked a certain older man.

That’s when it hit me.

Just because I liked Brian didn’t mean that I had to cut myself off from other guys. I was waiting to be an acceptable candidate for Brian. I didn’t want to be completely inexperienced for him.

What if he liked more experienced women? I surely wasn’t experienced enough if he did.
That did it. I needed to say yes to this boy. I needed to become more womanly for Brian. I needed to be qualified to be his girl.

I opened my mouth to agree to the ice cream date, but then Junior appeared.

“Well hello there, you two. Are you guys enjoying yourselves?” He asked throwing his arm over Zack’s shoulder.

Zack shot him a glare, and Junior seemed to ignore it.

"So how is the barbeque going for you, Arianna?" Junior asked.

"It's nice," I said casually. Junior seemed to be upset. I wasn't sure if he was just in a bad mood or if it had to do with me not apologizing to him. Whichever one it was, I didn't want to make him any more mad.

Zack was still glaring at Junior. I was sure that he was trying to wish Junior away with his mind.

"Uh, hey Arianna, come with me for a bit. I forgot to show you the new guitar my dad ordered last week," Junior said.

"Okay," I agreed cheerfully.

I loved everything that had anything to do with this kid's dad, including guitars. I learned how to play just to try to impress him.

Junior grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me away from Zack, who I entirely forgot.

When we got to his dad's room for the music related items, I was confused. I didn't see anything new. There was no new guitar.

"Hey, Junior are you sure there's a new guitar?" I asked confused. He sighed deeply.

"Are you that stupid, girl? I was just trying to drag you away from that snake, and I knew that guitars would do the trick. Did you not know that Zack was trying to muster enough courage to hit on you?" He hissed.

[i]Why would he drag me away for that reason?[/i]

"Oh I knew that he was hitting on me. He asked me out on a date, Junior." I said casually as I looked over the older guitars.

"What did you say," he murmured.

"I was actually going to say yes to him, but then you interrupted us. I think he didn't like that very much, so I didn't answer with you around," I replied.

"You're so stupid! You would've gone out with him?" He yelled.

I jumped. I was caught off guard by his anger. I didn't quite understand why he was mad at me. I didn't do anything wrong.

"Well yes of course I would have," I retorted.

"You don't even know the kid! He's a stranger!" Brian roared.

I rolled my eyes.

"He's your friend, so I know he's not a molester or something." I shot back.

"Did you even think about how I would feel about it all?" He questioned.

I shrugged, not understanding him at all.

"What? Is your friend too good for me or something? I don't get it, Junior. I'm not marrying him. It's just a date." I said simply.

"You're so stupid sometimes, Arianna!" Junior yelled. He walked out of the door and made sure to slam the door hard.

I was so confused.