I drove Jessica home and she told me her, Darlene, and Anna had discussed getting brunch on Sunday morning. I was obviously game for this and since I hadn't drank at Anna's barbecue, I could splurge on the extra calories.
The four of us arrived at the waterfront restaurant on the south shore of the island. Jessica luckily called ahead so when we arrived around one, the hostess brought us to a table right away.
"This is awesome," Anna said right after we ordered our drinks. We all agreed as we admired the great weather and beautiful view of the water. The atmosphere was perfect, but I knew the truth. We were all really most happy that the four of us were back together as a united group of four.
Anna began chatting about her class preparation as I caught Jessica running her finger along the bottom of her water glass, clearly not paying attention. I patiently waited until Anna was done making her statements before clearing my throat to speak.
"Jess, how are you holding up?" Since we all wanted to pretend that this little rift never happened, I was concerned that Jessica wouldn't be able to appropriately grieve her break up.
Jessica didn't look up as she shrugged. We all remained awkwardly silent for a moment. I knew Jessica wanted to vent to us about her break up, but there was no need to rush the words out of her. "I needed to end it," she finally said. "I love Josh. I really do. I just don't think I was still in love with him. I know it sounds corny and stupid, but I don't know." She seemed a little flustered from trying to express her confused emotions.
"He's your first love," Darlene interjected. "You'll always love him, but I'm glad you could acknowledge that it just wasn't right anymore." I knew Darlene was being somewhat sincere, but I gave her some side eye. I didn't want anything causing tension among the four of us after the troublesome summer we had and I figured being too encouraging of Jessica dumping Josh was not ideal. I mean, isn't that what got us into the original predicament?
"Yeah, I just wish I could blink my eye and be over him, you know?" Jessica asked. We all agreed and I went as far as to raise my drink that had just arrived. When my first boyfriend and I broke up, I knew it would be difficult to get over him but I had no idea how much time it would steal away from me. Would the same thing happen if I broke up with Justin? Not that I wanted to break up with him, but the thought had crossed my mind. We got along so well and for the most part, we really clicked, but what was with his jealousy? Maybe the circumstances have just been wrong.
"What's going on up there?" Darlene asked, pointing at my head. With all attention on me, I realized I had drifted off into my own thoughts and Darlene clearly picked up on this.
"Nothing, nothing," I said shaking my head. I wanted Jessica to have time to talk to us about not only her break up, but about her whole summer. Darlene, Anna, and her had a lot of catching up to do.
We all pigged out on our omelets and french toast while enjoying our second round of mimosas. Jessica told us all about her time with Josh and elaborated on why she felt the need to break up with him. "Things were great most of the time, but it didn't make up for the fighting, you know?" We all nodded and listened. "I was watching a sitcom one night where the two main characters broke up because they just knew that down the line, they weren't right for each other, and as dumb as it sounds, that's when I knew. We're so freaking young. Why am I going to waste my time on one guy when there are so many other guys out there? I mean, when you meet the one aren't you supposed to just know?" We all silently nodded as we continued to chew our food. Her last statement really made me think, though. Why settle at such a young age? Were the good times with Justin and I good enough to make up for the jealousy crap? I took a deep breathe and told myself I had some decisions to make.
Before we left brunch, we spent about twenty minutes on Groupon trying to find something new and fun to do in the fall. "What about those stripper fitness classes?" Anna asked. I playfully rolled my eyes at her. It's not that I didn't want to try one of those classes, but Anna just loved to seem like the most sexually adventurous of us. Anna actually had met a lot of guys this summer and was pretty open about sleeping with most of them. I was starting to lose count but that doesn't mean I wasn't super jealous of her. She was living the life. We couldn't decide between paddle boarding lessons and rock climbing, so we put off the decision for another week.
As we all started putting in money to pay for the bill, I looked at my phone. Justin had sent me a Snapchat. It was him laying in bed, making a funny face. An involuntary smile spread across my face. What was I going to do with this adorable boy?
In the car, I couldn't contain my thoughts any longer. I blurted out that I was questioning things with Justin and was met with silence in response. Jessica finally spoke up. "I know it sounds unbelievably corny, but you really just have to go with your gut. Don't try to reason it too much."
Darlene and Anna agreed, while also telling me how much they liked Justin. At home, I laid in bed, completely confused.
The four of us arrived at the waterfront restaurant on the south shore of the island. Jessica luckily called ahead so when we arrived around one, the hostess brought us to a table right away.
"This is awesome," Anna said right after we ordered our drinks. We all agreed as we admired the great weather and beautiful view of the water. The atmosphere was perfect, but I knew the truth. We were all really most happy that the four of us were back together as a united group of four.
Anna began chatting about her class preparation as I caught Jessica running her finger along the bottom of her water glass, clearly not paying attention. I patiently waited until Anna was done making her statements before clearing my throat to speak.
"Jess, how are you holding up?" Since we all wanted to pretend that this little rift never happened, I was concerned that Jessica wouldn't be able to appropriately grieve her break up.
Jessica didn't look up as she shrugged. We all remained awkwardly silent for a moment. I knew Jessica wanted to vent to us about her break up, but there was no need to rush the words out of her. "I needed to end it," she finally said. "I love Josh. I really do. I just don't think I was still in love with him. I know it sounds corny and stupid, but I don't know." She seemed a little flustered from trying to express her confused emotions.
"He's your first love," Darlene interjected. "You'll always love him, but I'm glad you could acknowledge that it just wasn't right anymore." I knew Darlene was being somewhat sincere, but I gave her some side eye. I didn't want anything causing tension among the four of us after the troublesome summer we had and I figured being too encouraging of Jessica dumping Josh was not ideal. I mean, isn't that what got us into the original predicament?
"Yeah, I just wish I could blink my eye and be over him, you know?" Jessica asked. We all agreed and I went as far as to raise my drink that had just arrived. When my first boyfriend and I broke up, I knew it would be difficult to get over him but I had no idea how much time it would steal away from me. Would the same thing happen if I broke up with Justin? Not that I wanted to break up with him, but the thought had crossed my mind. We got along so well and for the most part, we really clicked, but what was with his jealousy? Maybe the circumstances have just been wrong.
"What's going on up there?" Darlene asked, pointing at my head. With all attention on me, I realized I had drifted off into my own thoughts and Darlene clearly picked up on this.
"Nothing, nothing," I said shaking my head. I wanted Jessica to have time to talk to us about not only her break up, but about her whole summer. Darlene, Anna, and her had a lot of catching up to do.
We all pigged out on our omelets and french toast while enjoying our second round of mimosas. Jessica told us all about her time with Josh and elaborated on why she felt the need to break up with him. "Things were great most of the time, but it didn't make up for the fighting, you know?" We all nodded and listened. "I was watching a sitcom one night where the two main characters broke up because they just knew that down the line, they weren't right for each other, and as dumb as it sounds, that's when I knew. We're so freaking young. Why am I going to waste my time on one guy when there are so many other guys out there? I mean, when you meet the one aren't you supposed to just know?" We all silently nodded as we continued to chew our food. Her last statement really made me think, though. Why settle at such a young age? Were the good times with Justin and I good enough to make up for the jealousy crap? I took a deep breathe and told myself I had some decisions to make.
Before we left brunch, we spent about twenty minutes on Groupon trying to find something new and fun to do in the fall. "What about those stripper fitness classes?" Anna asked. I playfully rolled my eyes at her. It's not that I didn't want to try one of those classes, but Anna just loved to seem like the most sexually adventurous of us. Anna actually had met a lot of guys this summer and was pretty open about sleeping with most of them. I was starting to lose count but that doesn't mean I wasn't super jealous of her. She was living the life. We couldn't decide between paddle boarding lessons and rock climbing, so we put off the decision for another week.
As we all started putting in money to pay for the bill, I looked at my phone. Justin had sent me a Snapchat. It was him laying in bed, making a funny face. An involuntary smile spread across my face. What was I going to do with this adorable boy?
In the car, I couldn't contain my thoughts any longer. I blurted out that I was questioning things with Justin and was met with silence in response. Jessica finally spoke up. "I know it sounds unbelievably corny, but you really just have to go with your gut. Don't try to reason it too much."
Darlene and Anna agreed, while also telling me how much they liked Justin. At home, I laid in bed, completely confused.
What happened at the bbq? This entire post wasand Josh with a snippet about Caroline not knowing what to do about Justin. Is he controlling? Possibly. However if Caroline had showed up to Alan house and saw Justin and a woman talking by his car I have an feeling she'd react and it won't be pretty. My problem week Caroline is she doesn't own up to anything. It's like she's perfect and does no wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the different perspectives. It makes sense why Justin would be suspicious of the situation, but I'm glad he listened to her.
DeleteAnd I like to incorporate the lives of the other characters in my blogs, but more will be discussed about the barbecue at some point.
I enjoy your blog. I've noticed that you start with a story line and then it goes on the back burner or is resolved quick with no back story or anything. It's annoying for us as readers to be pulledin and expecting to learn more only to get subsequent posts that are about something totally different. You mentioned you'd get back to talking about the bbq at some point, why not now when readers care? It's nice you want to incorporate the lives of other characters. Do so while including Caroline. After all this blog is suppose to be about her life. I felt disappointed by this post because it went in a completely direction. It's like your telling us about Christmas and leave us wanting more only to discuss new years. Then we give up on Christmas you revisit it again but our interest had dwindled.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your constructive criticism! I will try to address these issues in future posts. Thank you for continuing to read :)
DeleteDon't end it with Justin yet I like him
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like him! He is a pretty sweet guy.
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