Double Date

"You swear his friend is cute?" Anna asked at a nearby coffee house Saturday morning. She was working on lesson plans while I worked on statistics homework.

"Yes!" I enthusiastically lied. How was I supposed to know if Scott's friend would be cute? After all, I hadn't even seen Scott since the night we met.

"How do you know?" She asked. She clearly wasn't falling for my bluff.

"All the guys he was hanging out with were cute so it's a likely conclusion."

She rolled her eyes at me. "You're lucky I swore off Chris and need a rebound bang."

I widened my eyes at her. "No, you can't," I whined. "I'd like something serious to happen with Scott and if you sleep with his friend, that'll throw off the whole good girl vibe I intend to give off." After just getting out of a relationship with Justin, I knew I was entitled to a fling (not to mention, very susceptible to falling into one), but I really didn't want to follow that pattern.

"Fine," she said as she rolled her eyes at me. "I'll hook up with him a few days later and make him swear not to tell Scott."

"Ha," I sarcastically laughed. "A guy's not going to tell his friends he hooked up with a girl? Yeah, right."

"The friend better be cute," Anna replied with a smile. "That's all I'm saying."

The next day, I picked her up around 4 and we headed to a restaurant for a football game.

I wore a red plaid shirt, dark jeans, and plain flip flops. Anna must have missed my text where I told her this place was very casual, because she was wearing this sexy, black top she usually wears when we go out. I was starting to question my choice in asking her to join me on this double date.

When we got to the restaurant, Scott and his friend were sitting at the bar, eyes locked on the screen. I lightly touched Scott's back to get his attention. "Hey," he said before practically jumping off his bar stool. "It's great to see you again."

"You, too," I coyly said as he pulled me in for a hug. I suddenly felt shy as Scott pulled away and looked into my eyes with a foreign intensity.

"This is Anna," I said after a few seconds in a daze.

"Nice to meet you, Anna," Scott said as he shook her hand. "And this is Martin." Martin was taller than Scott and a little heavier, but he was also pretty attractive. He was wearing a Colts jersey which created a fine juxtaposition next to Anna's scandalous top.

"Hi," Anna happily said to Martin, but I couldn't tell if her enthusiasm was sincere. "So, are we doing tequila shots before this game?"

Anna always wanted to take tequila shots, even when the situation did not call for it. I tried to think of how to respond, but I was happy when Scott interjected first.

"Uh, well we have a table waiting for us. Maybe we should just sit."

Anna shrugged and when Scott followed the hostess to the table, Anna was right on his tail. I awkwardly trailed behind next to Martin.

We sat down at a small, square table. I sat with Anna across from me, Scott on my left, and Martin on my right. We all chatted as a group for a little while before the game started. As I addressed questions to Scott, I began to get frustrated with Anna. "Oh, my sister's an accountant," she quickly interjected when he told me he worked at a big firm in the city. "How do you deal with those long hours?"

I get that we were all talking as a group, but Anna had this super annoying tendency to try and monopolize everything when we were talking to guys. The last time I can recall her doing it, and that she actually had the chance to do it, was with Evan. (Remember him?)

Once the game started, it almost didn't matter. These boys were so engulfed in the Colts game and how their fantasy teams were doing. Anna and I basically didn't even exist. We still had a great time and they tried their best to explain what was happening to us, which was cute.

During half time, I noticed Anna was chatting more with Martin and clearly enjoying a nice buzz. I was happy to see her enjoying the double date, but I was not happy to see her, again, trying to get the attention of Scott. Anna definitely deals with some insecurity issues, stemming from her crazy mother and beautiful sisters, but there was only so much I could let slide. Now that I'm single again, I can not deal with her inadvertently trying to steal the attention of guys. I knew she wasn't trying to cause harm, but I made a mental note that maybe I'd have to have a talk with her.

Even though I felt slightly deflated from Anna's antics, I did my best to show Scott I was interested. While he watched the game and tried to explain things to me (even though I made sure to use my little knowledge to impress him), I flirtatiously touched his arm or laughed extra hard at his jokes. I didn't know if it'd be enough to make it clear that I was actually the one on a date with him, not Anna.

Once the game was over, we said our goodbyes to the boys and I was unpleasantly surprised when Anna gave Scott an extra firm hug. How do you tell a friend that she's being totally inappropriate without offending her? It's not like I can say, "Hey, Anna. Your insecurities are showing!"

Lucky for me, Scott still seemed interested. When I got home, I had a text from him that read, "I had a great time tonight. Dinner Friday?"

Of course, I wrote back, "yes :)"