I order a brownie sundae and everyone else then orders. I go to pay but Justin pulls out his wallet and pays for me and Matt pays for Caleigh. We object of course but is secretly thankful.We take the booth in the corner. People look at us like we're insane or a nusense (idk how to spell that. shoot me) to society. I guess we look like misfits but I don't care. The fact that i'm pregnant isn't helping much.Everyone else goes to sit but I walk over to the toppings station. This is an ice cream parlor but they serve frozen yogurt too (my second favorite dessert). Everything looks so good. I put peanuts, caramel, strawberry sauce, blueberries and bananas. I still have cravings.I walk back to the table and they all look at me like i'm crazy. "What?""That looks gross." Matt tilts my cup towards him peering over. He lets it go in disgust. "And on top of a brownie sundae." he moves his body like he just got the shivers.They all eat their ice cream instead of talking about how bad my ice cream choices are. I eat it and it tastes delicious. I'll regret eating this later. After 3 minutes of silence, I'm the first to speak."How long have you guys known eachother?"They all look up from their ice cream and look at me. "Well, I joined a couple months ago. Like 4 or 5." Caleigh says."I've been there for a year. I've seen people come and go." Justin says."I joined like 2 months ago." Matt says giving me a half smile. "And in that time, these people become my family.""I'm convinced that Anna girl hates my guts." I twirl my spoon around in the container. I can't blame her. "What happened to her anyway?"They all look at me in silence. Finally Caleigh speaks. "I think it's best if you ask her. I don't feel comfortable sharing her story. She'll tell you when she's ready.""Which'll be never." I mumble."She doesn't hate you. She's just angry. At everybody. You don't know how long it took for her to finally trust us. She's been there longer than me. 2 and a half years." Justin says. I can't help it. My jaw drops. He continues. "It's not you she hates. It's your friends. Your friends made her miserable. She's been through a lot. Probably more than any of us or anyone I've ever seen join and leave." all this talk really makes me curious.I think about that for a long time. They go onto normal conversations and I'm zoned out not listening. This makes me think about how bad they treated Caleigh and even Matt at times. Out of nowhere, I blurt out an apology. "I'm so sorry guys. I know they've treated you two just as bad. It means a lot that you gave me a chance. I hate that they did it and I know I never said anything. I should have. I was just too scared to speak out against them. You guys are probably the coolest people I've ever met and I've only known you for 4 hours. You didn't deserve their abuse and from the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry."I wait for a response. Yelling, cursing, something. Instead, they smile. Matt puts his hand ontop of mine. "We forgive you.""It wasn't you that bothered me. It's them. You always struck me as a sweet girl. It's just annoying you hung out with them." Caleigh says giving me a sympathetic smile."It took my pregnancy for me to realize that.""I wish I could stay and chat but I have to go. My parents are out front." Matt puts on his jacket and stands up. He hugs Caleigh and kisses her forehead and does that stupid bro hug with Justin. I just stand there awkwardly waiting for the goodbyes to be over. He does something unexpected, he hugs me. I embrace his hug and then he's gone.A half hour later, Caleigh leaves.I slide out the booth and onto the other side across from Justin. He is gorgeous now that I can really look at him directly without it being weird."Can I ask you a serious question?" he begins. His face is dead serious. I nod. "What's your favorite color?" a huge smile breaks on my face. I throw a balled up napkin at him. I thought he was serious!"Purple." I laugh. "You?""Green." I make a face. "What?""I hate green."He leans back putting his hands behind his head. "I hate purple."I pretend to be offended. Despite that one opposite, we're very alike.And we sat there for hours talking in that booth.
