An Alienating Secret

Would You Maybe Want to Hang Out?

--Anith—

I approached Jenna after lunch ended and gave her a big hug. "Thank you so much. You really came around."

Jenna patted my back. "Don't worry about it. You were right. I couldn't let the boys get in the way of our friendship. And if I couldn't beat them, why not join them?"

I smiled at Jenna. "Wow, you sound so wise. I'm so happy that it's all worked out. Well... so far."

Jenna nudged me, looking at the direction where the boys were. "They're right there. Now's your chance."

I admitted, "I'm a bit nervous, to be honest. But it's now or never!"

Jenna nodded and pushed me gently in the right direction.

Fidgeting with my sleeves, I approached the boys. (Chris and Brian were there too, the ones I didn't want at the study session at my house). I had some concerns, but my biggest was that Andrew and Noah wouldn't want to give the girls a chance.

I stepped up to the boys and forced myself to act natural. "Hey, guys. How are you all doing?"

Chris smiled at me. "Pretty good. How bout you?"

"Well, I had some things to talk to you guys about."

"Oh? We're all ears." Jeremiah said. He glanced at me and then at Chris and Brian. I understood the question in his eyes: Do you want them to leave, or...?

I shook my head slightly and went on with my point. "I was talking with Jenna and the girls and... to be honest, me going back and forth between you and them has been a bit weird. So, we were all wondering if, maybe, we could all hang out together? Once, I mean, just to see if we could all be friends. But, of course, if you'd want to keep hanging out with them, you could. If not, that would be totally fine."

Brian shrugged. "Eh, sounds great to me."

Andrew shook his head. "I'm not too sure. To be honest with you, Anith... I don't think they're the best friends you could have."

I sighed. "Yeah, I can see that. But I talked to Jenna recently about how I felt in the group. It seems like things will get better, at least from her."

Noah turned to me and crossed his arms. "I just can't help remembering how picky that girl is with food."

"Well, we all have our little issues, right?" I asked, lifting my hands up. I made eye contact with Conner. He seemed sunken.

"Anith, I-I just don't think they'll like me." Conner said. "I'm the weird German, remember?"

I dropped my hands. "Conner, that's not true. They're willing to give you a chance. I mean, this is the time to open their horizons! I think you could really help with that."

Conner shook his head. "I feel a bit unsure about it all. But, I guess..."

Andrew got a bit mad. "So you want Conner to become friends with them just to open their horizons?"

"No!" I countered. "Honestly, I just want you two groups to be ok with each other. I care about you all a lot, and I have things in common with both sides. It's weird to see my two friend groups be on bad terms with each other, you know?"

Jeremiah asked, "So if we get on good terms with each other, you'll feel better?"

I nodded. "Yes, but I think the only way to get on good terms is to talk with each other. So you can see what I see in them."

Brian addressed the other guys. "C'mon, this'll be fun."

Conner looked at me. "But won't we have to hang out multiple times to get to know each other?"

I shrugged. "I agreed with the girls that they would hang out with you once and then make their decision about future hangouts. I mean, if you'd hang with them, of course."

Andrew sighed. "I'll have to think about it."

Noah nodded. "Me too."

Conner looked at me. "Could I give you an answer tomorrow? And we'd be just hanging out at lunch, right?"

"Yes, and yes." I answered.

Andrew smiled. "I'll give you my answer tomorrow too."

Brian asked. "Wait, what if Andrew says no? Does that mean I shouldn't hang out with the girls?"

I sighed. Once again with this question. "I think the simplest answer would be to stay as a group in our decisions. But I don't want to pressure anyone into anything. After all, I switch between the groups, so everyone should be able to."

The boys nodded. Thus, that was that.

That night, I let the girls know the decision would be delayed on the SuperAwesome 6 group chat.

Jenna was the first to respond. "Welp, that's that for now." And I couldn't agree more.

I just hoped it would all work out. I understood the boys... especially Conner (and Noah. He's such a foodie!). It was hard to go into a group after such a long time of awkward separation. But hard doesn't mean impossible. The only question now is...

Would the boys want to go through the trouble?