Amber’s Pov

“You have a guest. That’s also why I came out to get you,” my dad said after he shut the front door, and we were inside.

“What?” I asked surprised.

“Am! Finally, I’ve been waiting forever. Good thing your mom makes such delicious food,” John said coming out of the kitchen.

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” I groaned.

This wasn’t an unusual occurrence. John invited himself over whenever he wanted. He was my only real friend to speak of, so my parents didn’t mind. They wanted me to spend as much time fostering relationships with others as possible. 

“You missed a wonderful dinner,” John said stopping in front of me.

“I’m not really hungry. I had some popcorn at the movies,” I said.

“Movies? Is that where you’ve been? Did you go with Krystal? Is that why she was dropping you off?” my dad asked firing the rapid questions at me.

“No way? Did you already go on a date with her?” John asked.

“Everyone just needs to calm down. This is all still very new for me,” I said trying to slow them down.

“Sorry. I’ll leave you two alone. Let me know if you need anything,” my dad touching my shoulder before going to his room.

“John will you be spending the night?” my mom asked walking in.

“Uh?” he asked looking at me.

“If you want to that’s fine,” I told him.

“Then yes. Thank you Mrs. Liu,” he said.

“Ok I’ll put out sheets on the couch and a pillow for you,” she said going to get them.

“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I’m dying to know,” he said excited following me as I went to my room.

“This is a lot for me to process. A little more than week ago my life was so boring. But now-”

“Would you rather it continue to be boring?” he asked.

“No I guess not but I would rather feel nothing than feel more pain,” I admitted.

“I know this must be scary for you. You are risking a lot opening up to someone. And you and I know how hard just getting through the day can be. I haven’t done much better in the dating department than you since I’ve been in this chair. I’ve been on a few dates, but it hasn’t really turned into a relationship. I’m not afraid to admit that being in a relationship is scary for me. I used to be so confident about how I looked and approached girls. But I over think everything now. So what I’m trying to say is that this isn’t going to be a simple thing, but it could turn out to be better than you had hoped.”

“I feel the same way about dating as you. It used to come so easy to me. Almost too easy, I didn’t even have to work that hard,” I said.

“Hey now don’t brag. I already know that you had a way with the ladies.”

“What can I say? I couldn’t keep them off me,” I joked proudly.

“You,” he said grabbing a pillow off my bed and throwing it at me.

“Ok,” I said holding my hands up in surrender. “But seriously man what am I going to do? She’s different than any other girl I’ve ever liked.”

“Well what happened tonight? Did she seem into you?” he asked.

“If you call kissing me on the cheek into me, then I’d say yes,” I said smirking.

“She kissed you!” 

“On the cheek.”

“Well that’s not ideal, but it’s a start. That doesn’t sound like something she would do if she wanted to be your friend,” he said excited. “And she was smoking hot too. You get all the luck,” he huffed crossing his arms.

“Hey don’t talk about her like that. She’s not just a hot chick. I don’t like her just because she is beautiful. She’s really smart and kind.”

“Woah are you going soft on me or something?”

“No. I just know that I used objectify girls way too much in high school. All cared about was their physical appearance. It isn’t fair to do that to someone. I certainly wouldn’t want anyone to judge me based on just this,” I said gesturing to my chair.

“I didn’t mean any disrespect by it,” he said.

“It’s ok. I didn’t mean to jump down your throat about it.”

“So does this mean we can’t check out girls at the mall anymore?” he asked in a sad tone.

“Let’s not go crazy here. I don’t think I could give that up no matter how hard I tried.”

“That’s my best friend,” he said clapping. “So how are we going to get you another date with this beautiful elegant young woman?” he asked thinking.