Fly Until You Crash

As soon as Justin dropped her off that night, Addie rushed inside and called Slade. She knew that he was probably at a party or with people, but she had to gush to someone for fear of bursting of excitement. Before Slade could get a “hello” in, Addie took over the conversation and relayed every detail of her night, with her friend listening patiently.

“He said he definitely wants to hang out with you guys sometime this weekend, so when would be good? Oh, and he smokes, so you can have some bonding time while I sit by myself somewhere,” Addie rushed, finally finishing.

“Well, that was the most informative ten minutes of my life,” Slade responded. “I’m sure we’re all free tomorrow night, I just got home or I’d ask everyone. You can do that. You seemed to pick a real winner if he admits that he lights up on the first date.”

“Whatever jackass, I’m just telling you what I was told. I’ll text everyone now and ask about tomorrow. Anyways, why are you home so early?”

“Parents of the kid whose house we were at came home early. Party sucked before that, though.”

“Boo hoo, you need to take a weekend off anyways. I’ll call you tomorrow when I know what’s going on, kay?”

“Sounds good, night.”

“See ya.”
---------------------------
Justin got to Addie’s house around seven on Saturday night, he was the last one to arrive.

“Everyone’s here already, we’re in the back room watching a movie,” Addie greeted him with a hug. She was never one to kiss on the first or second date. They walked to the back, Addie paused the movie, and introduced Justin to all her friends. After a chorus of “heys”, everyone settled back into their seats and finished the movie. Addie baked a few frozen pizzas to feed everyone, knowing that they wouldn’t be enough to satisfy six most likely hungry boys, plus herself and Jess, but didn’t feel like making anything else. When the movie was over and the food was done, the group moved to Addie’s dining room table to better acquaint themselves with her new beau.

“Are you in school or working or anything right now?” Slade questioned, first to jump on the interrogation. He wasn’t going to let his best friend date a deadbeat.

“I graduated two years ago, and I tried going to community college for a bit but I wasn’t feeling it. I for my dad’s contracting company now. It’s nothing special, but the money isn’t bad,” Justin said, trying to play up his low-income job to the best of his ability. “I’m planning on trying my hand at school again next semester, studying to become a history teacher. Kinda nerdy, but I’ve always liked history. My problem before I dropped out was that I had no idea what I wanted to do and wasn’t willing to take the time to try and make school work. After working a pretty shitty job for awhile, I learned that I needed higher education.” He was clearly winning over Addie’s friends, but Slade was getting a bad vibe from him. He kept his mouth shut about it and engaged in more conversation, trying not to go over-protective parent no him, but still trying to learn as much as he could. Once everyone but Slade had left, he gave his views on Justin.

“He doesn’t seem like a good guy,” he started, cut off by Addie rolling her eyes. “I’m just looking out for you, and I don’t want you hanging around a bad seed. I’m not saying he’s terrible, I just don’t have a good feeling about him.”

“Of course not, as soon as I find someone I like you gotta bring me down. Everyone else seemed fine with him,” Addie retaliated, angry.

“I didn’t say that I don’t like him, I just don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to hang around him. I obviously can’t forbid you to see him, I just want you to look out for yourself and not get sucked into anything. I trust you, and I want you to be happy, but get to know him better before you do anything.”

“Well obviously, I’m not easy. I know you’re looking out for me, or whatever, but you don’t need to worry. I can handle myself,” Addie stated.

“I know you can, I don’t know if you can handle him, though."