It was still weird that I had that kind of fuck you money.

Hopefully, I didn’t screw up and make my mom mad at me from heaven.

“I think my look is complete,” I said in between bites.

“Now you’re ready to look hot at parties with your arm candy over there,” she giggled, kicking me under the table.

Kelly was from a silently wealthy type of family. They stayed out of the news–out of the press. Her dad paid for everything she ever needed but never gave her too much. Her father thought that holding her by a tight leash and restricting funds would tamper her wild side down, but she wasn’t wild–she was a social butterfly. It was mostly about how she dressed; he punished her for being too “alternative” in her fashion choices.

His loss. She was never going to dress like the norm.

Picking up her phone from the table, she squealed. “It’s Shane! I’m going to go meet him. I’ll see you at home? I’ll be there to help bring the bags in–swear!” She saluted me and ran out of the restaurant.

“You two are cute,” Garrett said, poking my arm.

I tried not to blush. “Thanks.”

“So, I wanted to know... would you be my date to the next baseball game?” He scooted into the seat Kelly left empty, moving his food with him.

I wanted to, but I worried that he was going to try to have sex with me. It made me nervous to do it for the first time but maybe getting it over with this semester would help me with coming out of my shell. He was a kind, attractive guy who seemed genuinely interested in me, and I couldn’t imagine it would be all bad.

Shit, did that mean I’d have to tell him I was a virgin?

Putting my head on his shoulder, I tried to calm my nerves about putting myself more out in the open. “That sounds nice. We should go get food after the game, too.”

“I could be down for that,” he said, playing with a couple strands of my hair.

We ate comfortably until I realized I needed to get ready for the party and get my bags thrown into my room. “Looks like I should be getting back to prep for this banger party. Drive me home?”

After we met and I texted him, he replied immediately. I got the first crush butterflies–considering I’d never had a boyfriend before. We texted for a couple of days and scheduled our first official date, making me even more nervous about getting into my next era of life. We agreed on being non-exclusive for a while after I told him some of my hesitations about getting into a serious relationship in college. Everything was fine.