The Ugly Truth

Luckily, the rest of the barbeque went fairly well. I talked a lot with the other girls, who all seemed very nice and even chatted a bit with some of the guys, which is pretty big for me. Kelsey and I had planned to hang out the next day since we hadn’t seen each other in so long and so we could catch up properly.

We had arranged to meet up at an ice cream parlor by the boardwalk and, unfortunately, enough, I arrived early. It was one of those awkward situations when you don’t know exactly what to do while you wait or where to wait either, for that matter. I pulled out my phone, sat on a bench and pretended to be doing something so I wouldn’t look like I was alone there and had no friends to hang out with.

I spotted what seemed to be a group of teenage tourists. You could tell by their beach attire, sunburned skin and that lost look they had in their eyes. Judging from their blond hair, they were probably from northern Europe. You see, in my town, we receive a lot of tourists seeking nice, hot weather and lovely beaches.

I was sitting on a park bench, trying not to stare, but it was hard because they were all looking right at me.

“Hello,” one said, sitting down too close beside me.

“Um, hi.”

I tried to scoot the other way, because he was full of sand and his breath reeked of alcohol.

“I like your dress. Flowers are pretty,” he continued talking in a marked German accent, and pointing at the floral material of my dress.

“Thank you.”

"You're also very pretty. I like pretty girls."

"Um, that's nice," I replied, smiling awkwardly.

"Where's your boyfriend?" he asked matter-of-factly.

"I don't have one."

If he really knew me or was sober, he wouldn't have asked that question. Everyone knew I wasn't the type of girl to have boyfriends. It was always just me.

"Oh, ok."

He seemed bored, which led to his departure. I almost sighed out loud in relief. Luckily, Kelsey arrived shortly and we each picked out a big cone and sat down at a booth near a window.

“I still can’t believe how much you’ve changed.”

I just smiled, not knowing how to respond to that.

“You seem much more confident now and that’s absolutely awesome.”

“Yeah,” I said, looking down at my strawberry scoop.

“Can I ask you something kind of personal?”

“Sure.”

“Do you, like, having feelings for Riley?” Kelsey asked as cautiously as she could.

“Am I that obvious?”

“Nah. I could just tell because I know you. Trust me, nobody else noticed anything,” she said, trying to calm me down.

“It’s just that, I can’t help liking him. My life would be so much easier if I didn’t, but I do.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to justify yourself. You can’t ever help liking someone. It’s just the way it is.”

“The thing is, there’s this other guy, John. And he’s really nice and he likes me.”

“Do you like him back?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. After all, he’s the one who’s always reminding me how much he likes me and not Riley.”

“Maybe Riley’s just shy.”

“He has no reason to be shy. We’ve been friends for too long.”

“You never know.”

“Why are guys so hard to figure out?!” I sighed, sinking down into my seat.

“C’est la vie. Don’t worry, it’ll all work out.”

“I sure hope so.”

As we continued talking, two guys approached our booth. I couldn’t help but notice that one of the two looked a lot like Harry Styles. Must have been because of the hair. The other one was also a brunette, and both were pretty good looking.

“Kelsey, how are you doing?” the one that didn’t look like Harry said, reaching over and hugging her
.
“Lindsay, this is my boyfriend Justin.”

“Hi,” I said, turning to his friend too.

I did not know she had a boyfriend. Well, I hadn’t asked, either. I had been too caught up in my own self-pity to ask her about her love life, which made me feel like a conceited monster.

“This is my friend Joey,” Justin said, seating himself beside Kelsey.

Since the seats were designed for a group of four, Joey had no other choice but to sit next to me.
Justin and Kelsey instantly began a conversation in which Joey and I were clearly not supposed to participate. One, because they were talking about people I didn’t know, and maybe he didn’t either. And two, because they were calling each other babe and honey, which was clearly a back off sign.

“So…” I said, trying to start a conversation.

“So,” he repeated, looking up from his phone only to say that.

Ugh, he was one of those people who talk and text at the same time. Since I didn’t say anything, he just continued his other virtual conversation and Kelsey and Justin continued hugging and talking in a love sick way.

I just stared out the window, uncomfortable as ever. Sad as it may seem, I was people watching: the fine art of observing what people down the street are doing while staying at one same point, usually done when you’re bored out of your mind. Some people stare back, others look away, feeling observed and others are risky and smile or wave.

I spotted a blond guy sitting on one of the tables outside waving. I waved back, thinking I didn’t know him, but when I stopped to look at him, I realized it was John. Never was I so glad to say that. I instantly felt bad for thinking that.

He was seated with a girl of about thirteen that had the same light blond hair as him. She looked over at me with a bored expression and dug her phone out from her purse. I turned back to my booth, wishing someone would notice I existed. I knew Kelsey wasn’t doing it on purpose because that just wasn’t like her, but it was quite annoying. My eyes strayed back to John’s table and I saw he was still looking at me.

Bored?, he mouthed, smiling.

I nodded vigorously, which made him laugh. He motioned for me to go over to where he was. I could. No one would miss me where I was anyways.

“Um, I just saw someone I know. I’m going to go say hi,” I said, standing up.

They all nodded, not paying much attention.

“Wait, should we wait for you to leave?” Kelsey asked, “Like we could go to my house or something and hang out.”

“No thanks, I shouldn’t get home too late.”

“Okay, it was nice seeing you,” she replied, “Maybe we can get together again?”

Judging by her face, I knew she felt bad that we had been interrupted.

“Sure. See you around.”

Justin waved goodbye and Joey merely grunted, acknowledging my unimportant departure. I walked out to where John was, and found he was alone.

“Weren’t you…”

“Yeah, with my sister. She saw some of her friends or something and said she’d be back in a second. She hates when I have to babysit her…”

I smiled.

“You looked very miserable over there,” he laughed.

“It was really awkward, not to mention as dull as watching paint dry.”

We laughed and talked as if nothing had ever happened between us, which was nice of him to do. He was always so nice with me. Maybe giving him a chance wouldn’t be an entirely bad thing. I knew he would treat me right and he was definitely a fun person to be around. I just had to convince myself that that was enough. I had to convince myself that I didn’t need Riley because he didn’t especially need me either.