When we get to the cinema we’re greeted by Aisling and Dee’s boyfriends—Aisling’s Barry and Dee’s Colm. And there’s a third boy there too. A boy I’ve never met before.
“This is Fionn.” Barry introduces him with a grin. From the way Dee and Aisling glance at me with bright eyes and smug smiles, I know this is some sort of a set up. I groan inwardly, even while putting on a smile outwardly.
“Hey, Fionn.”
Fionn has dirty blonde hair, pale white skin, and electric blue eyes, and even though he’s half a head taller than me, he slouches in a way that makes him look much shorter.
He’s definitely not my type.
I know it even more when Aisling and Dee pair off with their significant others and I’m left to shuffle next to Fionn, who mumbles things about school and exams and how his favorite film is Midnight In Paris because Woody Allen is a genius director. I have to physically stop myself from both rolling my eyes back into my head and running away from the movie theater. Instead, I clamp my hands together and say, “Wow, interesting,” like I’m really interested in hearing about films by pedophile directors.
I keep looking over at Aisling and Dee during the film, trying to catch one of their eyes to say, Get me out of here please! but they’re too busy sucking faces with their boyfriends to notice. At one point, Fionn even tries to slip his fingers into mine. That’s the point where I leap up, announce “bathroom” under my breath, and rush out.
“Well? What did you think of Fionn?” Aisling asks after the film is over and I’ve told them—insisted—that I need to get home. Thankfully, they didn’t let me go off on my own, even though I know they’d rather spend more time shifting their boyfriends. It’s a cool and clear night, so the walk to the bus stop is actually pleasant—except for all the talk of Fionn.
“Seems like you two were chattering away for the entire film,” Dee adds.
I smile tightly, not sure how to break the news to them. Fionn was definitely chattering away during the whole film. So much so that I barely have any idea what the movie was about.
“He’s okay, I guess,” I mumble.
“Just okay?” Dee asks. “I thought he seemed really nice. He’s one of Colm’s best friends, you know.” That’s funny, considering Colm and Dee have been dating for a whole year and I’ve never heard of or seen Fionn before.
“I don’t think we really clicked,” I say. “I mean … we didn’t have much in common. I don’t know.”
“He seemed to fancy you.” Aisling smiles. “You can say it if you fancy him too, you know.” She nudges me with her shoulder like I’m just being too shy to confess my feelings for him or something.
“Was this supposed to be a set up?” I ask. “Because I don’t really appreciate that.”
Aisling rolls her eyes now, while Dee casts me a nervous glance.
“Come on, Maira,” Aisling says like I’m being unreasonable for not wanting to have a random set up with a random white guy sprung on me. “Fionn is well fit. And you haven’t had a boyfriend in ages.”
“Is it because you’re Muslim?” Dee asks in a low voice. “Your parents will disown you or something if they hear you’ve been on a date with a boy?”
I bite back a retort that I know will cause tension, and instead heave a sigh. “No, my parents wouldn’t mind … it’s just …” I can’t even remember the last time I’ve been into a guy like that. Right now, all men seem overwhelmingly unattractive—except the ones on the Netflix shows I watch. Sometimes I think that maybe I like guys more as a concept than a reality. And girls more as a reality than a concept.
I’ve spent the better part of the last year trying to figure out how to say that to Dee and Aisling.
“You should give Fionn a proper shot,” Aisling says. “You’re just too resistant. He fancies you, and you … haven’t even tried with him. At least try shifting him before you make up your mind.”
The idea of having to shift Fionn to make up my mind about him sets my stomach roiling. If not Fionn, though, I bet there’ll be other guys. I wouldn’t be surprised if Aisling and Dee have an entire roster of guys they plan to set me up with. They’ve been talking about it for a while now, and since I’ve been less than enthusiastic about the idea now they’ve just gone ahead and done it without my permission. I doubt there’s an end to this.