"MOM! THE DOOR IS MAKING THAT WEIRD SOUND AGAIN!" I hear Chris yell from downstairs.

"THAT'S THE DOORBELL CHRIS! ANSWER IT!" My mom yells back.

I hope that's not Beth. It is five minutes past eight, and I still haven't found anything to wear. It has been a while since I've been to a high school party….that I was invited to. The only thing I have to wear is my traditional pink shirt, blue jeans, white sneakers, and signature pink hat.

"I'm downstairs," Beth messages me. Shit, I guess this will just have to do.

"Hi Chris, long time no see. Is Meg home? "Beth asks Chris as I walk downstairs.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe you have the right address. My sister never has attractive females come to visit her."

"Chris," I say, annoyed as I push past him.

"MEG!" Beth screams with excitement as she gives me a hug. As she hugs me, I can't help but feel unsatisfied with my outfit choice while I look over Beth's outfit. She's wearing a low-cut light brown cashmere sweater crop top, black denim jeans, and black three-inch heels.

"Who's the hot piece of ass?" I hear my father whisper to Brian as Brian wags his tail frenziedly at the sight of Beth. I swear, sometimes my father and dog can be just as creepy as Quagmire.

"Yeah, and why is she hugging Meg?" I hear Stewie babble something.

"Chris, who's at the door?" My mom asks as she walks into the living room.

"I don't know, but she's here to see Meg," Chris explains to my mom.

"Well, that's odd. She is far too attractive to be one of Meg's friends," my mom says.

"MOM!" I yell at my mom. I can't believe they're embarrassing me like this. Oh, who am I kidding? Yes, I can.

"Meg, let's be honest, you usually hang with a bunch of uggos," my mom giggles.

"If you're referring to Ruth, Ester, and Patty, they are not uggos; they're my friends."

"Right, your unattractive friends," my dad adds.

"Ahem," Beth clears her throat, clearly uncomfortable with my family. "Meg, maybe we should get going.

"Okay. I'll be home by midnight."

"You know what, Meg? No curfew tonight." My dad tells me.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah, by the way you're dressed, I'm pretty sure you'll be back home before the party really gets started." My dad says as he high-fives Chris.

I grab Beth's hand leading her out the door and slamming it on our way out. The car ride is filled with awkward silence. Neither Beth nor myself has said a word in the past then minutes.

"Um, it was great seeing your parents again," Beth tells me.

"No, it wasn't," I say, unconvinced by her statement.

"Yeah, it wasn't," Beth says between giggles, causing me to giggle as well.

"They're so embarrassing, Beth. I swear they can't wait to put me down any chance they get."

"Well, in most cases, I would say it's a parent's job to embarrass their children, but I have no words in your case. I can only imagine the shit you put up with on a daily basis."

"I could tell you, but it could take more than a couple of minutes."

"Lucky for you, your dad says you don't have a curfew tonight. So, we have plenty of time tonight for you to unload years' worth of trauma."

I smile at Beth as we pull up to the party. It feels nice to know that someone cares about me. Since senior year, I have spent little time with Esther, Patty, or Ruth. Senior year was hectic. A lot of us have been busy applying for colleges, taking and re-taking the S.A.T, attempting to keep a social life (if you had one), researching scholarships, begging for extra credit, trying to figure out if we wanted to go to college or work a typical 9-5, and figuring out what to wear to prom. Even the popular crowd and insecure bullies were preoccupied with senior year to engage in tormenting some of us.

"YAY!" Beth screams excitedly as she parks the car. "Lucky for us, we got a nice spot. It's easy access if we decide to bail early."

"I like how you think," I tell her as we leave the car. As we begin to walk up to the house, I check my surroundings. Just in case, this does end up like an episode of "Law-and-Order SVU." Beth's cousin has a nice house, nicer than my house. Very traditional upper-middle class rural home with a country farm style exterior, porch swing, huge oak tree in the front, a big lake in the back that reflects the moon's glow perfectly, and slightly drunk high school students walking freely along the premises.

"Social anxiety?" Beth asks me as we walk up the steps.

"Huh?" I ask her confused.

"You don't really socialize outside of your close friends, do you?"

"What makes you say that?" I laugh nervously, hoping that my laugh doesn't give it away.

"You are walking beside me hip to hip like a little kid on their first day of pre-school." Beth giggles at me.

"Yeah," I sigh, embarrassed that Beth can easily read me. Of course, I have social anxiety, even though I have never been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. I've always had a hard time fitting in. Whenever I attempt to make friends, socialize, or exist, I feel like a failure. I'm often either ridiculed, excluded, or, in worse cases, caused bodily injuries. Hell, when I attempted to find a date to prom, a student shot his little brother so that he could take him to the hospital to avoid going to the prom with me.

"It's okay, just stick with me tonight. And if you're feeling uncomfortable tonight, just let me know, and I'll take you home," Beth reassures me.

"Okay."

While walking through the slightly crowded house, I try to look at the photos on the wall to see whose home we are in. It just dawned on me that I never bothered asking Beth who her cousin was.

"BETH, YOU MADE IT!" I hear a familiar male voice shout from the kitchen.

"KENT!" Beth shouts back and walks towards the kitchen with me tailing behind her.

Wait, did she just say Kent? Walking into the kitchen I see Beth hugging Kent Lastname. I instantly cringe inside. Instant horrid memories cloud my brain from my huge crush on Kent last year. We're not talking about a school-girl crush; we're talking about me seeking help from Quagmire. To make it a long story short, I asked Kent out, and we went on a "date," only to find out that he was gay and was crushing on Chris. I wanted to be with Kent so bad that I asked for roofies from Quagmire to give to Chris so Kent could sleep with him, and Chris could tell me about it later. Luckily, common sense kicked in….at the last minute, but unfortunately, Chris and Kent found out about my plan. Kent and I could have been friends had I not gone psycho, but hey, lesson learned…whatever that lesson may be. We haven't had much interaction with each other since then, besides just passing by in the hallways without exchanging looks at each other. I wonder if he still remembers that tragic event. As on cue, Kent and Beth break from their hug, and Kent stares at me, confused.

"I didn't know you were friends with her," Kent says to Beth, not breaking eye contact with me. The way he emphasizes " her" makes it clear to me that I am not welcome here. I guess it's time for me to mentally prepare to be humiliated.

"Meg was one of my best friends from back in the day." Beth explains to Kent causing him to finally look away from me.

"Back in the day? Beth, how many kids, you know, talk like that at our age?" Kent tells Beth in between laughs.

"Well, technically we're not kids anymore," Beth tells Kent.

"It's been a minute, Meg. The fact that we even go to the same school, and I can't recall the last time I've seen you." Kent tells me with a smile.

"Yeah," is all I can say, stunned at the fact he's smiling at me. Maybe he forgot.

"I think the last time I saw you was the night you tried to get me to sleep with your brother, even though he wasn't gay."

I was wrong. What sane person could forget a night like that?

"Yeah, sorry again about that," I say, followed by an awkward giggle, hoping it will eliminate the awkwardness.

"Hey, It's in the past," Kent says, shrugging his shoulders and smiling at me.

"Really?" I ask in disbelief. Did he just forgive me for that?

"Yeah," Kent says, shrugging his shoulders and smiling at me. "I'm a shame to admit this, but," Kent looks over his shoulders to see if anyone is in ear distance of us. "One time after football practice, I stole my crush's jock strap and would jack off to it at night for almost a week."

"Wow," I say with a mix of shock and amazement. Not gonna lie; I'm kind of turned on at the thought of Kent lying naked across his bed, masturbating to a musky, sweaty jock strap. Before the visuals become more graphic, I hear Beth and Kent laugh.

"You're such a perv," Beth giggles at Kent, giving him a playful shove.

"Hey, who hasn't done fucked up shit to get their crush's attention?" Kent asks, still laughing.

Beth looks between me and Kent and raises her hand. Surprisingly, all three of us share a laugh. In the town of Quahog, I guess what I did could be considered minor compared to what other people…mainly my family or my dad specifically, have done to others regularly. I feel myself slowly relaxing as Kent, Beth, and I continue to socialize. The moment does not last long when I hear another familiar voice.

"Who the hell invited Meg Griffin?"

I should've known I would run into Connie D'Amico.

Author Note

I hope you continue to read. Let me know your thoughts.

Episode references

"Barely Legal" S5 Ep 8

"Friends Without Benefits" S11 Ep 7