About parties.

“Alice, you’re gonna use all our credits on this?” Sarah asked, seeing Alice swipe the card over the machine again.

“I’ll add more, I promise,” Alice said.

“I’m fine doing some more races, but I want to try that gun game, too,” Grace said. “Oliver, why didn’t you bring us here before?”

“Um…”

“Because you’re the definition of normies,” Noelle told them bluntly. “You don’t look like the type to enjoy these games.”

“I’d be offended, but you’re not wrong,” Mila admitted.

“Yeah…” Grace said, grimacing. “If someone had brought me to a date here a year ago I would’ve been disappointed.”

“Same here,” Sarah agreed with a soft sigh.

“...” I felt a small knot in my throat along with some small inadequacy. “I’m sorry.”

“Huh? What for?” Mila asked.

“You’ve made an effort to understand the stuff I like. I… I don’t think I’ve done the same.”

Diana chuckled and turned to look at the other girls with a small smile. “Really? Is that true?”

“Fuck no,” Sarah said. “What are you talking about, Oliver?”

“Yeah, you do that all the time,” Alice said.

“Ah, I know what this is about,” Grace said. “It’s because we like parties and you don’t, right?

I pursed my lips and nodded.

“Oh. Yeah, I suppose we haven’t gone to one in a while,” Mila said. “Haven’t felt like it, actually.”

The girls began a new race, though they weren’t paying full attention to it. They kept talking despite the loud sounds and music of the arcade cabinets.

“Really?” Alice asked. “You three used to love it.”

“It’s gotten awkward,” Grace said. “We don’t go with Oliver, so we end up getting hit on or asked why our boyfriend is not with us. It gets annoying.”

“Besides, part of the appeal was to flirt a bit, see if there was someone new that was interesting to meet,” Sarah said. “We obviously don’t do that anymore.”

“I don’t know, I never flirted much to begin with,” Mila said. “I liked to dance, eat and drink. Thomas still throws the best parties because he always makes sure there’s tasty stuff to eat. But now he’s busy with someone else, so he throws parties less often.”

“Sorry, I don’t see the appeal at all,” Noelle said. “But I don’t dance and I’m hesitant to drink **** around strangers.”

“I used to like our birthday parties when we were kids,” Alice said. “Remember how we used to play tag, hide-and-seek and stuff like that?”

Grace smiled wryly. “Yeah. Then we started getting older and those games began to turn into something… different.”

“Hm? Different how?” I asked.

“People wanted to play hide-and-seek as an excuse to hide with someone and make out,” Sarah explained. “And instead of tag, they wanted to play spin-the-bottle.”

In case you’re wondering, yes, there was a very faint feeling of discomfort hearing Sarah tell us this. I mean, it was a little strange to think my girlfriends had been there, likely playing these games. However, I didn’t feel jealous or anything like that. It was easy to ignore. After all, this was all stuff from before we had a relationship. Hell, it was from before we even knew each other.

“Are parties in university more mature, Diana?” Alice asked her.

“Hah! Hardly,” Diana said. “I suppose no one is playing tag, spin-the-bottle or hide-and-seek, but they all make up for it by smoking weed and drinking even more. Remember, drinking and smoking without restraint doesn’t make you mature, it makes you a fool. The few parties I enjoyed were those that had some karaoke. I never sang, but the atmosphere was more lighthearted and fun. Not that I went to many to begin with.”

“Oh! That sounds fun! Let’s do some karaoke next time!” Mila said.

“Sure, I’d be down,” Grace said. “But bottom line, love. You don’t need to **** yourself to like everything we like. You already do a lot to understand it and accept it. We’re doing the same. But even if we like to play some games here and there, it’s not like I now suddenly love video games.”

“Still… Can’t say I haven’t fantasized about bringing you to a party and spending all night making out in a corner of the room,” Sarah said. “You know, to show up those annoying couples who do the same.”

“Oh, totally,” Grace agreed.

“Guilty,” Mila said.

“Even so, I think I should at least give it another shot,” I said.

“Isn’t the issue that you go to parties where Oliver doesn’t know anyone?” Diana asked. “That’d be awkward for anyone, not just someone with social anxiety.”

The race ended with Alice’s second win. She was getting the hang of it now. “Then… let’s throw our own party, on our terms and with the people we want to invite,” Alice said.

“That… doesn’t sound bad,” I said.

“Yeah, it doesn’t,” Sarah said. “How about it, Noelle? Think you’d like that? There doesn’t need to be dancing and it’d be with people we know.”

“Yeah, I think that could be fun,” Noelle said. “But where?”

“Let’s just ask Thomas,” Grace said. “I bet he’d be up for it.”

“I’ll ask him, but don’t assume he’ll just say yes,” I told her.

“If you’re doing that, I’ll take the chance and get together with Holly like I promised her. I’ll drag Maria into it, too.”

“Aww, you don’t want to party with us?” Mila asked her, pouting.

“If it’s a party with your friends, then it’s better I step aside for now. I would only make things awkward. I told you I don’t want to get in the way of you all having your own experiences. And I also have my own plans, like I said.”

“Wait, Holly?” Noelle asked. “As in… Oliver’s mom?”

“Correct.”

The girls turned to me with questioning looks. I shrugged.

“I don’t know how it happened, either. They hit it off the other day, but I knew it would happen.”

“Crap, she’s becoming the favorite in-law…” Grace said, muttering. “I need to get her something nice…”

“What does your mom like, Oliver?” Noelle asked me.

I smiled wryly. “Cocktails.”

Sarah groaned. “Oh, then we already lost. Good to know.”

It was a really great Sunday.