So, I don't know how I ended up in this situation, but I guess it all started when my friend invited me to her and her newly-wed husband's housewarming party.
I rang the doorbell to this two-story home in a gated community and waited for someone to open the door. I was feeling nervous because I knew there were going to be a lot of people at the party; I'm not much of a socializer.
After I rang the doorbell for the third time, someone opened the door. "Mia!" I exclaimed, happy to see her.
"Chris!" Mia sounded excited.
My name is Christia, but everyone calls me Chris. I had been friends with Mia since junior high and I was so happy and devastated at the same time when I got the wedding invitation. It has been a month since the wedding and Mia and her husband were finally done unpacking in their new home. As soon as they threw out the packing boxes, they called up all their friends for a house-warming party and that is why I was there.
I gave Mia a big hug and handed her a basket of toiletries for the house-warming part and a bottle of red wine for the party part. "Come on in," Mia said letting me into her home. "You're one of the last ones to get here!"
"Great," I mumbled. I could already hear the chatter coming from the next room. I looked down as I took off my shoes and saw the many pairs that were gathered in the same area. 'That's a lot of people,' I thought. The non-social part of me was flaring up my anxiety. I don't do well with large groups, especially if I didn't know them.
I followed Mia into the living room where it seemed like everyone was gathered. Some were standing around chatting while some were eating and playing games. "Welcome, Chris!" Eli said with a wave through a crowd of people. "Glad you could make it. Grab some food and make yourself at home!"
"Yeah, Chris. Grab some food." Mia motioned me to the table filled with bowls and plates of food.
"Are you going to eat?"
"I already ate." I didn't want to keep Mia, the host, all to myself, so I told her to go join in with the other guests while I ate. I picked up a plate and piled on some finger food and a bottle of water. I walked to an empty corner of the room and stood there eating as I surveyed the room.
I knew some of the people at the party, but a majority of them were new faces. When I realized that, I felt so uncomfortable. I decided to not stay long and leave after about an hour. I continued eating and heard the doorbell ring. I saw Mia make her across and out of the room to let in the guest. Mia walked back into the room and behind her was a guy.
"James," I murmured as I swallowed my food. I recognized him; James attended the same high school as Mia, Eli, and myself. James was one of Eli's friends. I instantly felt the urge to leave the room, the reason being that I didn't want to be around James. James never did anything to make me dislike him, and that was exactly the problem: I didn't dislike James.
I liked James. Notice the past tense, or at least that's what I had concluded after we graduated high school until just now. It might just be that because I used to like him that the old feelings are resurfacing and I am confusing it for current feelings.
I threw my paper plate, still half full of food, into the trashcan and I walked out of the room into the kitchen, which I saw on the way in, to wash my hands. I turned around and contemplated on whether or not I should walk over to Mia: I needed to use the restroom. I saw Mia laughing with a group of people so I decided to venture in their home in search of the restroom.
I assumed that the room behind the locked door was the restroom so I decided to go upstairs. I climbed up the stairs and immediately spotted the restroom when I made it to the top. I walked in, closed the door and did my business. After I was done, I opened the door and walked out. I knew I shouldn't, but I was curious about their house. I didn't get a tour of the home so I decided to give myself one without permission. I wandered around from room to room; there were four bedrooms!
"Who needs four bedrooms?" I asked out loud as I looked around the fourth bedroom. There was only a couch on the left side of the room.
"Maybe they want a big family," a voice said from behind me. I jumped in surprise, my hand rising up to clutch my fast-beating heart. I swung around quickly and my heart sunk.
"You," I said, out of breath.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," James said with a worried look.
"No, its okay."
"I came up here looking for the restroom and saw you in here. Christia, right?"
"Chris."
"Ah. Chris. I'm James."
"I know," I said. "We went to high school together," I said without thinking.
"Yeah," he said. "We did!"
I was ready to leave the room, but James was in front of the door and he kept talking. "How come we never spoke in school?" James asked.
I just looked at him, not knowing what to say. "I don't know," I said half truthfully. One of the reasons why I never spoke to James was because I had a crush on him and was too insecure to approach him.
"I think we could have been friends if we got to know one another in high school."
"Really?" That came out of my mouth without thinking. "Were you able to find the restroom?" I asked, changing the topic.
"I guess I was too shy to talk to you back then," James said casually.
I didn't know exactly where this conversation was heading and was starting to feel uncomfortable. I so desperately wanted to leave the room and join Mia back downstairs, but James continued talking.
"You know," James said in a lightly teasing voice. "I used to have a crush on you."
My eyes widened. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "What?" James, one of the smartest and most popular guys back in high school used to have a crush on me and was too shy to tell me? 'He's got to be joking,' I thought.
I let out a laugh to hide how uncomfortable I was in the situation. As a reflex, I jokingly hit James' left arm. It is a habit of mine to hit people when I laugh or am surprised or flustered. In this situation, I'm all three. After hitting him, I realized what I did and immediately apologized.
James laughed and rubbed his arm. I decided to leave and tried to walk by past him to exit the room. As I tried to squeeze by, I lost my balance and fell onto James and we both tumbled onto the ground.
So, I guess this is how I ended up in this situation; my clumsy self lost my balance and fell on the guy I used to have a crush on. It took me a second to realize what happened and embarrassment flooded through me. My blood rushed throughout my body and I could feel my face burn up and just knew that it was cherry red.
To make things worse, I heard Mia's voice. "Hey..." I immediately got off James and onto my feet. I saw Mia in the hallway holding a basket of clothes. I was so flustered; I didn't know how to react. James got up as soon as I did and he walked past Mia and down the stairs.
"What just happened?" Mia asked with an awkward smile on her face.
"I tripped and fell," I blurted out quickly, in hopes to clear up the misunderstanding.
"You fell onto James?" Mia chuckled. "Do you like him?"
"What? No!" I exclaimed, caught off guard.
"If you don't like him then why are you so flustered? Your face is so red!" Mia said giggling. The situation must have seemed funny to her.
For a quick second, I thought about what just happened and evaluated my feelings. "I guess I do still like him," I said without a second thought.
"Still?" Mia caught the word I didn't intend on using.
"Hahaha," I laughed nervously. "Let's go back downstairs." I walked past Mia and down the stairs to join the other guests. I didn't see James anymore.
I stood around for a couple more minutes and then decided to leave. I gave Mia a hug and waved goodbye to Eli before heading out the front door. After I left the house, I heard the front door open behind me and someone called my name. I turned around and saw James. My heart skipped a beat before it began to race.
James walked out the door and closed it behind him. My heart sped up even more as he walked towards me. "Chris," James said as he stopped in front of me by the lawn.
"Huh?" I was so honestly confused about what was happening. 'What could he want? Another apology for hitting him; falling onto him?' I stood there, heart racing as I waited for what James had to say.
"Will you go on a date with me?"