buy the movie theater snacks on our next double date, but Hannah and I also found out why Henry left me alone on the couch. Emma had been right. Religion. Turns out, Peter was indeed saving himself for marriage, which thrilled Hannah. Henry was not, as he had already lost his virginity at the beginning of college to the girl that he thought he would marry one day. They had dated in high school, and she attended college at a Des Moines nursing school. She cheated on him, he found her cheating on him, and he swore off sex until he was actually going to be married. Both were firm Catholics, and I had to appreciate and respect Henry’s decision. That cleared up a lot of confusion, and put me more at ease around him. Our dates continued from there, mingled with long phone conversations and even spending some nights with one another–– stopping before rounding all the bases, of course.
I was able to go to Seattle for Christmas, but only spent three days there instead of the usual seven or eight that I typically took. That was the compromise between me and Kevin and Dani. My sister was beside herself when I told her all about Henry and the fact that he came from a strong family with religious beliefs. Though our mom and dad raised us Catholic, after Mom’s passing we drifted away from the church. After having her children Alicia found her faith once again, baptized all five kids, and went as many Sundays as they could. I tried to follow suit and Lila and I often went to services ourselves, she coming from a religious family. Hannah attended every week.
Learning that we had our faith in common, Henry quite a bit more serious than I, had helped our relationship tenfold. The awkward moments weren’t there, and we respected the boundaries.
We pulled up to the house, vehicles already cramming the street. Our clown car exploded as we all jumped out, us girls pulling our dresses down and patting our carefully coiffed hair. No precipitation was in the forecast tonight but the air was damp and cold, the promise of snow looming on the horizon. Our group trundled to the house, Peter and Hannah hand in hand, Carmen and Emma chatting animatedly with Max and Lila, and Kyle falling into line. Henry swung his arm around me and pulled me close, planting a kiss on my forehead.
“Well, hello there. You look beautiful tonight,” Henry said, causing my smile to widen.
“Thank you. You’ve all cleaned up quite nicely,” I responded, giving his hand a squeeze. “Are the guys all cool with a house party instead of the bars?”
“Oh, yeah. We actually prefer it this way. New Years’ Eve is just like St. Patty’s Day–– amateur hour,” Henry said as we reached the doorstep. Kyle opened the door without knocking, and a blast of music hit our ears. The party was already in full swing.
“Amateur hour? What does that mean?” I asked, following my date into the kitchen. He whipped out a ten dollar bill and paid the pimply guy in a flannel shirt that held the cups, then offered to pour me a beer from the keg. I nodded my answer.
“Amateur hour. Where everyone thinks they can drink and drink and drink and then get beyond belligerent. Fights, puke, passed out people on pool tables–– that’s what those holidays are all about. People that don’t normally party all of sudden get it in their head that they can do eighteen shots in one hour and still function. The bars are a mess. House parties are the way to go.”
I nodded in agreement, taking my red cup from Henry and waiting for the foam to disappear before I took a sip. Cold and delicious. Kind of. For a beer. But I wasn’t going to complain. “That makes sense. We just have to make sure we call a cab tonight. No one needs to get a DUI.”
“Of course. How comfortable was the ride over here?” Henry asked with a laugh.
“Ugh. Not so comfortable,” I replied. We weaved our way through the crowd in the kitchen, finding the stairwell that would take us into the basement. Loud music thumped from speakers in the area, and a guy stood in the corner scrolling through an iPod.
“That’s one of our friends who lives here. Come on, I’ll introduce you.” Henry took my hand and led me to the guy, who was tall and lanky,