Being a Grown-Up Is Lame

So last night I had a fun-filled night of awkwardness. I was invited to an event by a friend from high school that I haven't seen in about eight years, so I invited St. Paddy's Day Boy to come with me.

It turned out to be a melee of people that I haven't seen since I graduated from high school, except for the odd random meeting at the local mall. Luckily, being able to legally drink seemed to cut a lot of the tension and we all had a good time catching up. It's funny because in my head I still picture a lot of us, gawky and awkward at 15, trying to sneak beer cans into the high school dances. And yet, here we were, all grown up an drinking beer at a bar with jobs and whatnot. Crazy.

Being around the people I used to drink beer and giggle with when I was in braces made me feel insanely old suddenly, as it hit me that we were really adults now, and high school was a decade ago. Making it worse was the fact that St. Paddy's Day Boy is a little bit younger than me, and I found myself feeling exasperated and slightly condescending when he complained about how hard it is to be working (he has only been working for like eight months in the real world). Puh-lease.

I dropped him off in the cab at the end of the night, and there was a peck good-night but nothing more. He's a really nice, fun, cute guy, but I think far too young for me to take seriously. I would like to stay friends with him, but pretty soon I will have to make it clear to him that we are not pursuing a romantic relationship.