An Interesting Turn of Events

Sometimes I can't quite believe where I am in my life. This isn't the outcome I chose, so I constantly find myself wondering things like..."why am I at this bar in Allston drinking Miller Lite on a Saturday afternoon with a bunch of strangers?" When I think back on my life just 6 measly months ago, I would have never thought I'd be where I am right now. But alas, I am, so I'm trying to make the best of it and open my eyes to new opportunities (hence, spending my Saturdays with strangers). Going home to New York is a nice excuse to just be around the things and people so familiar to me. I had written off all of the guys I grew up with as romantic possibilities years ago, so it feels good to just go out at home with no pressure.

And cue, an interesting turn of events...

But let's start from the beginning. A few years ago I went out on Thanksgiving Eve and ran into a bunch of guys from high school. They were the friends of my first real boyfriend and I really, really liked them all. Still do! But they all live in New York so I've lost touch with them for the most part. Anyway, I ended up catching up for a while with one guy in particular. He told me that he had never been to Boston and would love to visit. In my drunken state I gave an enthusiastic "sure!" but once the hangover wore off I felt a little weird about it. I really hadn't talked to this guy since high school and I just didn't want to spend a whole weekend entertaining him. He texted me about visiting a few times, but I kept giving excuses and eventually he quit asking. I hadn't seen him since, but we stayed connected via social media and a random "how are you?" every so often.

About a month ago he added me on Snapchat. I found this peculiar but didn't think too much of it. The day before Thanksgiving I had a picture from him implying that he was back on Long Island for the holiday (he lives in Brooklyn these days -- so from here on I'm referring to him as BK). A few hours later he texted me and asked if I wanted to get together while we were both at home. I said sure and let him know where I was heading with my friends that night. He had plans already so he suggested we either "meet up late night" or meet for coffee on Friday. Meet up late night?? What does that mean?

I told him I'd prefer meeting on Friday (I didn't mention my hatred for coffee) and went about my night -- I had an awesome time catching up with my high school friends and had way too many drinks.

We don't care bout no antifreeze.

Around 12:30 BK texted me and asked if I was still out. I figured what the hell! and told him where we were. He responded with a quick "on my way".

BK showed up looking way finer than I remember from high school. He's a big Brooklyn hipster now but keeps it pretty clean because he works in corporate accounting. We ended up spending the next 3 hours catching up. My friends slowly trickled out of the bar and we stayed, chatting and laughing through last call -- and remember, we're in NY so last call is 3:30 am! We talked about what we'd been up to over the past few years, bonded over our recent failed relationships, and exchanged funny online dating messages (which sparked the idea for this post). I didn't want to leave, but I was really drunk and probably looking half asleep at that point. That's when I noticed he had only had one drink. Apparently he hadn't been drinking earlier and had driven to the bar. What the hell? Oh jeez, I must have been looking/sounding really crazy to a sober person.

In any case, he drove me home and we chatted in my driveway for a while. I wondered if he was going to kiss me in the car. The questions raced through my head: Is there a spark or are we just old friends catching up? Do I even WANT him to kiss me? Are we both on the rebound and attracted to anyone normal after encounters with the internet trolls? Does he still think I'm off limits since his best friend was my "first love" in 10th grade (LOL, I hope not)? Am I just drunk and totally misreading this? BK didn't kiss me, but I got a pretty decent double hug from him. Before I left, we discussed the fact that I ignored his request to come to Boston a few years ago and apparently I now owe him a weekend. We'll see if this happens.

The point of writing this down is to remind myself that as long as I keep my eyes open, unexpected things/people might walk right into my life. I don't actually see anything happening with BK, but it was fun to feel...dare I say it...a little giddy about a guy, even for just one night.