Since Summers

twenty nine : nerves

I'd never met anyone's parents, not even Margaux's. But I had the feeling that it would feel exactly like this. The blonde gave me a once-over with her scrutinizing gaze. For some unknown reasons, I wanted her approval. I knew she wasn't Autumn's mom or sister since they didn't look alike yet I still wanted her to like me and that surprised me most because I'd never felt like I needed anyone's approval yet one look at Autumn's eyes telling me that she valued the blonde girl's opinion.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you have company." I walked towards the blonde girl and stuck my hand out as I introduced myself, "You know my name but sadly, I can't say the same."

She raised her brows and shook my hand. "Jessica Williams." Jess slid her gaze from my face as she looked at Autumn and said, "why didn't you tell me that he has an accent?! Dang, Tyler be damned." When she returned her attention to me and offered me a smile, I finally exhaled the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding.

I could hear Autumn groan. "Jess. Don't get any ideas."

"Oh, I don't." Jess grinned and winked at me, confirming that I had her approval.

AUTUMN

It was weird. Yes, that would be the word I used to describe watching my best friend and a guy I only knew for a week sat on the couch and talked about Ireland. First, I didn't know my best friend knew so much about Ireland and Irish people. Second, when I'd opened my door for him earlier, I would've never thought that he and Jess would click almost instantly.

Sure, I had filled her in with what had happened between me and Frazier earlier but I hadn't expected her to like him, especially knowing that he had been the reason Ty and I had broken up.

"--Yeah, Niall performed there too when he as a kid. I think it was a fundraiser for the local football team. I couldn't remember the name, though," spoke Jess like a true fan.

I was feeling left out as I watched the two of them talking so I decided to pipe in, "I thought Niall is a British."

Jess turned and looked at me as if I just sprouted a horn in the middle of my forehead. "Niall is Irish. He was born in Mullingar, Ireland." Her voice rose as she went with her sentence.

"Oh-kay," I slowly answered as I held my hands up. Out of the corner of my eyes, I caught a glimpse of Frazier smiling. It wasn't my fault that I wasn't a Directioner hence my lack of knowledge regarding all their members. All except Mr. Harry Styles, of course. I was a well-established Harry Styles and Shawn Mendes' fan. And as far as boybands went, I loved 5SOS. It was pretty obvious by the way I kept calling Luke's surname.

After another fifteen minutes of talking about One Direction and Ireland, Jess leaned back in her seat and folded her arm across her floral white blouse. "Okay. You guys can go for that picnic, he got my first thumb up."

Frazier raised one brow and looked at me questioningly. I ignored him and kept my eyes on my friend who sat back and looked like she had just conquered a mountain bear or done the mission impossible. "Why?"

"He's a Directioner. No Directioners are bad people, at least the true ones," said Jess with a nod. I was about to open my mouth when she continued, "oh, if you wanna know how I know that he's a true Directioner, I just did a quiz and he knew those tough questions that only true Directioners would know."

She really looked like she had accomplished something and I felt really bad to break it to her that none of those mattered since I wasn't in the mood for a picnic. It was ten PM for Hemmings' sake, who would go to a picnic at night?

"What's the first thumb's up?" Frazier asked, leaning forward with a great deal of interest.

Jess grinned. "Well, I can only give you one thumb's up. You'll get the next one if you treat my friend right and make her happy." She leaned forward and whispered behind her cupped hand, "I hope you have a Ben & Jerry's cookie dough flavor in your picnic box. It's her favorite." Tapping the side of her cheek with her forefinger, she quickly added, "oh, and margarita pizza. She doesn't like tomatoes on burgers but she loves it on pizza."