Kathy’s P.O.V.
I stood at my closet wishing I had taken the time to go clothes shopping since I’ve been here. Everything I had been what I brought with me from home and none of it seemed right for tonight’s date. Date? That’s what Tony had called it when he had talked about it in front of Logan and the she devil…. But is that what it really was, or was that just him helping me out with Makenzie? We were just going bowling, with a group of friends, at that. Still, I found myself worrying about looking nice, or if his friends would like me. I was over thinking this; finally I just settled on some capri’s and a t-shirt.
Just as I finished putting my hair in a braid, I heard the front door open and close. I walked out to the living room to see Ericka placing an arm full of stuff on the couch. “How was your date?” I asked, raising my eyebrows up and down.
“It”, she giggled, “was not a date.” She disappeared to her room, coming back seconds later wearing a new shirt that had “I survived an After Romeo concert” written on it. “Besides”, she added, coming back into the room while placing a necklace around her neck, “I didn’t get to hang out with him.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I guess hanging out to him meant going to his concert.” She said.
“He’s in a band?”
“Yes”, she answered with a smile. This is the happiest I’d seen her since…. Well, since I met her. “They’re amazing. I met two Juliets; that’s what the band calls their fans, anyways; I met two Juliets that are girlfriends of two members in the band. They’re also amazing. OH MY GOD, and Jayk brought me up on stage and sang to me. And, And….”, She sighed, “I had so much fun. I think I’m in love.” She said staring down at the key necklace she was twirling around in her fingers.
I laughed. “Uh huh.. In love with the band, or with Jayk?”
She gave me a pointed look. “The band.” She answered.
“Riiiiight”, I grinned.
“What about you?” She asked, quickly changing the subject, a clear indication that she liked Jayk a little more than what she wanted to let on. “I thought we were just going bowling with some friends?” She added, looking at me with suspicion. I suddenly felt like I was down at the police station in one of those interrogation rooms.
“We are.” I answered, hoping I did a good job at hiding my excitement about seeing Tony again.
“I don’t buy it, there’s got to be more to it.” She said flatly. “Spill it, missy.”
I smiled to myself. “Ok. We’re going bowling with Tony Oller and some of his friends.” I had to admit, I did a pretty damn good job at hiding my excitement; in reality on the inside I was screaming like a school girl. It’d been a long time since I’d felt this way.
Ericka gaped, dropping the poster she had been staring at to the floor. “Tony Oller, as in Tony Oller from MKTO? How did you; when did you?” She stumbled over her questions.
“Well”, I began. “The first time he totally saved me at the coffee shop. My card kept declining, so he paid for my coffee.” I paused, laughing at Ericka’s face. “The second time he saved me from Logan and Makenzie.” I could tell by Ericka’s face that she didn’t care for Makenzie; clearly Makenzie hadn’t made a good impression at Mama Schmidt’s cookout. I laughed a bit to myself. “Yea, Makenzie was being… Well, Makenzie; she kept throwing the break up in my face.”
“Wow, how very classy of her.” Ericka said with a roll of her eyes.
“Tell me about it; I was about ready to go off on her, but that’s when Tony walked right up to my table and kissed me on the cheek, like we’d been going out. That’s how the whole bowling date thing got brought up.”
Ericka busted out laughing. “He kissed you right in front of Logan? How did Logan react to it?”
“He wasn’t even looking, but Makenzie’s face was priceless.” I grinned.
Ericka smiled from ear to ear. “I bet. Damn, I would’ve paid to see that.” She put her stuff to the side and grabbed her keys. “I’m ready to go if you are.”
We arrived about 30 minutes early, so I wasn’t really expecting to see Tony there yet, but as Ericka and I pulled up I noticed him walking into the building. My heart seemed to skip a beat. “He’s here.” I said. Ericka just laughed and got out of the car. We made our way inside and walked over to Tony who was waiting up at the bar to order a drink.
“Hey”, he said with a huge grin when he noticed us walk up. “You came.”
“Did you think I was going to bail on you or something?” I asked with a smile as he hugged me.
“Maybe”, he answered.
“This is my friend Ericka.” Ericka smiled and said hi, and Tony gave her a side hug. “So, where is everyone?” I asked.
“They’re running a little late.”
I nodded. “Who exactly is coming tonight?”
“Malcolm and his girlfriend Iyana are on their way, and my friend Matt and his girlfriend Bailey should be here shortly.” He answered.
“Oh”, I looked at Ericka, and then looked back at Tony.
Tony cleared his throat awkwardly. “I mean, we were going to do like a couples vs couples thing, but we don’t have to do that.”
“No”, Ericka interrupted. “It’s ok; don’t change your plans because of me.”
“But…” I began.
Ericka pulled out her phone, “I’ll be right back.” She said, and stepped outside to make a call. I stared after her curiously. Maybe she was finally working up the nerve to call Kendall.
“This probably isn’t the ideal first date, but…” Tony said, pulling my attention away from Ericka and back to him.
“This will be fun, I’m glad I get to meet some of your friends.” He smiled. He was perfect, I thought to myself. This all felt way too good to be true. I felt like I was Cinderella at the Ball and I only had a limited time, sooner or later this, whatever I had with Tony was going to run out, just like it did with Lo…. No, I will not think about him.
“Are you ok?” Tony asked.
I realized I must have been staring off into space. “I’m fine.”
“TONY”, someone said from the door. We both looked and saw Malcolm and his girlfriend Iyana walking in followed by Matt and his girl Bailey. Tony introduced me to the guys and their girlfriends; they all seemed really nice and like they would be fun to hang out with.
We waited a few more minutes for Ericka, but it was starting to get kind of busy, so we decided to go get a lane and some bowling shoes before all the lanes were taken. I stared at the door nervously waiting for Ericka hoping she didn’t leave. “Here are your shoes, my lady”. Tony said, handing me a pair of bowling shoes.
“Thank you”. I replied with a smile, before sitting down on the bench to put them on. “I wish Ericka would hurry up.” I said.
“Isn’t that her right there?” Tony said, pointing to the door. I looked and saw Ericka walking towards us; she wasn’t alone either. Right beside her was a guy; he was tall and muscular. I couldn’t even deny it, he was hot.
“This is Jayk.” Ericka said, as she walked up to Tony and me with a smile.
“Ooooooh. Jaaaayyyk..” I said with a grin. “Nice to meet you. Ericka hasn’t stopped talking about….” Ericka glared at me. “the concert.” I finished, deciding not to say what I was originally going to say.
He chuckled and said, “Hi.”
While the guys huddled around the computer to set up the scoring, the girls went off to find the right bowling ball. “So Jayk, huh?” I said to Ericka as we picked up different bowling balls; holding them for a second or two and deciding they were too heavy.
“I needed a partner.” She replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
“Why didn’t you call Kendall?” I asked, picking up a light blue ball; it was perfect for me.
Ericka noticed a lime green one and picked that one up. “He hasn’t called me, so I’m not going to call him. Besides, I kind of ran out on Jayk after the concert. It’ll be cool to hang out with him for a bit.” After finally deciding on the green ball, she walked back over to the group and sat next to Jayk.
“I suppose”, I whispered to myself, walking over and joining Tony.
As the night went on I became more comfortable. Matt, Tony, and Malcolm had us laughing the whole night; even Jayk got Ericka out of her shell. My worries shortly returned when Tony left to use the restroom. Malcolm came over and plopped down beside me while Iyana bowled. Malcolm, who I hadn’t seen stop smiling the whole night, came over with a straight face. “Finally, I’ve been waiting for Tony to leave so I could have a minute with you.”
I bit my lip nervously. “Um, what’s up Malcolm?” I glanced to Ericka for help, but she was in deep conversation with Jayk. Thanks for the help, I thought to myself.
“Look, you seem like a nice girl”, he said, “But Tony is my boy, and I’m here to look out for him. I heard about you and Logan. I just want to make sure my boy doesn’t get hurt.”
He stared intently at me. I knew it was my turn to talk, but all the words left me. I wasn’t expecting this kind of talk, especially tonight, and from Mal. I wasn’t even sure what Tony and I were; this had only been our first…. Date… If you could even call it that. “Um, Logan and I broke up.” I said.
“Yea I know.” Malcolm answered. “Are you stuck on him?” He asked. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to answer that question or not, because before I could reply he spoke again. “I don’t want to see my guy being used as some rebound, or the next best thing.”
I could feel my hands beginning to sweat, and I’m pretty sure my face was beginning to turn a light pink. “Malcolm”, I began; my voice a bit shaky. “I can’t tell you where whatever this thing I have with Tony will go, because I cannot predict the future.” He glanced sideways with a slight frown. “I can tell you that Logan is my past, and I have no intention of going back.”
“What’s going on over here?” Matt, walked up with a goofy smile, placing his hands on Malcolm’s shoulders and giving it a quick squeeze. “Stop trying to scare her away. She’s hung out with us for about an hour now and she hasn’t run from the place screaming and pulling her hair out, I say she’s a keeper.” Matt gave a friendly smiled. Thank you, Matt; I thought to myself.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Tony walking back. Malcolm was up to bowl next. “Don’t ever leave me again.” I said jokingly. Tony laughed.
When the game finally ended Tony added up all the scores, turns out he and I won. Jayk and Ericka only a few numbers below us came into second, which she jumped for joy and hugged Jayk, but stopped once she saw me looking at her with a smile.
“So I’m going to get going.” Ericka said. “Are you riding with me or…….”
“I’ll take her home.” Tony chimed in.
After a few more drinks, we made our way out to the car. Malcolm warmed up to me after his “talk”. Now that I wasn’t under the light, I could see where he was coming from, and I actually thought it was awesome the way he looks out for Tony like that.
“You’re being so quiet.” Tony said, breaking me out of thought. “What are you thinking about?”
“How lucky you are to have such good friends.” I replied.
He smiled. “I heard.”
“Heard what?” I asked confused.
“Matt told me about Malcolm.” He paused for a moment. “Sorry about that. I guess I haven’t made the best choices in women lately and I kind of went off the deep end for a while; he’s just looking out for me.”
I nodded. “Don’t apologize, that’s what friends are supposed to do. It just kind of surprised me because, well, I’m not sure what.” I paused. “Never mind.”
“You’re not sure what we are?” He finished my sentence for me.
We sat in an awkward silence as we pulled up to Ericka’s house. Her car was parked in the driveway, and all the lights were off. I guess her and Jayk didn’t hang out afterwards. “Kathy”, Tony said finally breaking the silence. “I like you.” He said. “I invited you to hang out with my friends and me, because I thought it’d make you feel a little better rather than a one on one. I didn’t want to rush you into another relationship, right after what happened with.. Him.” He paused, and inched a little closer. “I would love to take you out on a real date though, if that’s ok with you.”
“I’d love that.” I replied without hesitation.