The afternoon of Brian’s dinner with Abby, Nick came over to his house around 3 to hang out and play some basketball. They played until 5 before going inside to rest. Brian was starting to get a little nervous, but he didn’t want Nick to see. He rested for a few minutes then left Nick alone while he took a long, hot shower to help calm his nerves. When he got out of the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist and went out into his room to find something to wear. Brian jumped out of his skin when he saw Nick lying on his bed.

“Jesus, just scare the hell out of me,” Brian said, taking a pair of boxers out of a drawer and going into his closet to find clothes.

“I got bored down there by myself. So, you gonna dress up all spiffy for your big date?”

Brian stuck his head out of the closet door. “It’s not a date.”

“Yeah, whatever you say.” A couple minutes later Brian came out dressed only in khakis with his towel draped over his bare shoulder. “You really gonna wear those pants?”

Brian looked down at his pants then back up at Nick. “Yeah. What’s wrong with my pants?”

“I think you should wear jeans.”

“Why?”

“Because… things are more noticeable when you wear khakis.”

“What are you… Nick!”

“What? I’m serious dude! What would Abby think if you…”

“Nick! Stop it!” Brian’s face was red with embarrassment and from trying not to laugh.

“She’ll think that you want her…”

“I am not listening to this. Nick is not sitting on my bed talking to me about this. La la la,” Brian sang to himself while he walked back into his closet.

“But you do want her, right?”

“I’m not listening to you. La la la…”

“Yeah, he wants her,” Nick said to himself then busted up laughing when Brian came back out in a pair of blue jeans.

***

Abby was going through almost ever piece of clothing she owned to find something decent to wear. Most of her good clothes were either in the washer or still dirty. She knew that it wasn’t a date so she wasn’t really sure why she was making such a big deal over her clothes. Sure she wanted to look nice for Brian… but it wasn’t a date. She just had to keep telling herself that. It was nothing but a nice, casual dinner with a friend.

Sasha walked into the room eating potato chips, amused to see her friend’s clothes thrown all over the room. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“My clothes suck.”

“Want to borrow some of mine?”

“Your clothes don’t fit me very well. Plus, we haven’t done laundry in like forever.”

“So? That doesn’t stop me from wearing them. Are you getting all dressed up… oh wait! You have a date with Brian! Oh, la la.”

“It’s not a date.”

“Sure, sure. It's a date. If it's not, then you would have just worn what you were wearing earlier.”

“I…” Abby stopped, knowing that in a way Sasha was right. “I don’t want to look like a slob.”

“You live with me. You're like Monica on 'Friends,' the neat-freak. I'm the messy one. Besides, Brian would love you for you.” Sasha climbed up on the bed and started bouncing up and down. In a sing song voice she said, “Abby's gonna get laid. Abby’s gonna get laid, all night long!”

“Shut up, I am not. Wait, that sounds kinda bad... but I'm not. Brian... we... whatever it is going on between us isn't like that.”

“Sure. I see the way he looks at you and the way you look at him. I know what you can wear. That little black dress that you said you would never wear because it was too short. Wear it and watch Brian grow into a man.”

Abby looked up at her friend. “Sasha! No, I will not wear that. I will never wear that dress. I’ll find something eventually.”

Sasha started singing again. “Abby and Brian sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…”

Abby picked up the closest thing she could get her hands on and threw it at Sasha. “Will you stop! Brian doesn’t think of me like that. He just… doesn’t. I need to go check on the food.”

“Whatcha making?” Sasha asked, following Abby into the kitchen.

“Pot roast with carrots and potatoes.”

“Sex food!”

“You’re impossible.”