Dear Diary,

Holiday weekends are great for sleeping in, shopping online, and getting involved in someone else's drama.

Honestly, the only normal part of my long weekend was Saturday; my parents drove in to visit and brought along a pan of Mom's famous peppermint fudge brownies. I may or may not be on my third one of the evening while I write this entry. To hell with skinny girl rules right now - it's a holiday weekend!

Everything else from the last few days feels like one of my college party adventures gone topsy-turvy. To kick off this unusual holiday weekend, I had a staged double date with David and me across from Kyle and Sierra. The thing is...Kyle didn't really know that it was a double date. The plan was Sierra's, not mine - I swear!

After the cocktail adventure, Sierra wouldn't stop pestering me about Kyle. Her middle school crush mentality has been insatiable, which in some respects was adorable - but in all others it was incredibly annoying.

I tried to bring Sierra up in conversation as much as possible during work lunches with Kyle before the holiday weekend. Kyle didn't seem to latch onto anything about Sierra; he wasn't interested to know that Sierra is a teacher, that she's the youngest of five - and the only girl for that matter, that she's a talented sketch artist (I even showed him some of her Insta posts in mock jealousy), or that she speaks perfect French!

After disclosing my failed attempts to catch Kyle's interest on Thursday during pedicures at my place, Sierra (and only Sierra) boiled up the idea that we should go on a double date. My jaw probably sustained a hairline fracture from how quickly it hit the floor. Sierra's idea was bold, something entirely unlike her.

For whatever reason, Kyle agreed to go to dinner with us on Saturday night after my parents left. I didn't mention anything about the evening being a date - or a double date, for that matter; the event was purely advertised as a group dinner out. When I texted Sierra the good news, a torrent of emojis and incoherent words flooded my phone.

Whatever would happen next, I fulfilled my end of the best friend deal; the rest was really up to Sierra.

David was late picking me up for dinner, which left me in a cranky mood (I detest being late). And Sierra wouldn't stop texting me about how awkward she felt sitting alone at the table for the entire drive there! By the time we arrived, I was irritable and less than my bubbly self.

Once all four of us arrived, things started to settle out. I sat sandwiched between David and Kyle in our rounded booth and made sure that margaritas were the appetizer of choice. Why should we have went for carb-heavy bread when tequila was on the menu?

Sierra tried - bless her heart - to tell a joke to break the tension at dinner. David, having met Sierra a couple of times already, chided her and referenced some earlier hangout joke. All that did was transform Sierra's cheeks from their slightly tanned hue to something akin to an overripe tomato. I managed to jump in and ask about July Fourth plans while sipping on my first marg of the evening.

I wish more than anything that I could have salvaged Sierra's evening there.

Instead of being the overwhelming flirtatious success that Sierra usually is with some tequila in her, she floundered over her words for the evening. Kyle even brought up some of her art - which surprised me (I had no idea that he had been paying attention while I raved about my BFF) - but all that did was make her fidget and mumble about a new piece she's been working on.

The saving grace of the evening was me getting everyone to swap phone numbers (you're welcome, Sierra), so that we could try to go to the park on July Fourth to see the evening fireworks show. It would be dark and crowded, so David and I could sneak off for some couple time to give Sierra a chance at a second first impression.

David seemed less than thrilled to spend another evening out. If you mixed an introvert with a hermit and added a dash of 'essence of anti-social', you'd have cloned my boyfriend.

But it was for Sierra - I insisted that we went.

So we tried to set up Sierra and Kyle again tonight at the park. The entire place was buzzing with activity when we got there just after 7 PM: hot dog stands littered every intersection, carnival games and bounce houses covered most of the lawns, and everywhere we looked for a space to sit was crammed with lawn chairs and blankets. We managed to find a space, but it looked like one of the last ones available.

So much for splitting off for couples' time during the show!

Still, we made the best of it. I downed a couple of hot dogs and prevented the great Ketchup War of David and Sierra with cunning diplomacy (much laughter was shared by all). By the time we all finished eating, the sky was a surreal shade of ebony. Music floated along the calming summer breeze and we all settled in for the show; the first skyward explosions of vibrant colors and whimsical shapes captured everyone's attention.

I love fireworks; they bring up a sense of nostalgia and freedom deep in my spirit. Alone or with friends, I could watch dozens of shows like the July Fourth celebration.

Halfway through the show, I was so moved that I gave David a kiss much deeper than what I'd normally allow for PDA. He didn't seem to mind, though; we stayed cuddled up for the rest of the show. Even better than seeing fireworks was watching fireworks while David played with my hair.

As soon as it finished, Kyle hopped up and said something about a family obligation - some sort of holiday dessert tradition? He disappeared pretty quickly, but Sierra stayed to help us gather up the blankets. She seemed defeated, but at least she gave it her best shot with Kyle. That pairing just wasn't meant to be.

At least, that's what I thought.

As soon as I stepped into my apartment, my phone seized up with incoming text messages. Every single one came from Sierra; they were floods of the screenshots of an amazing text conversation between Kyle and her. Looking at the time markers, it appeared that the two kicked it off after Kyle left the fireworks show.

Maybe something happened while I was locking lips with David?

Come to think of it, Kyle hasn't answered my last text message. And my Snapchat clearly shows that he opened my last message over an hour ago, but he hasn't responded. Kyle hadn't missed a text or snap since we met; he'd usually reply within an hour. But here he was...ignoring me.

Did I do something to upset him? I should apologize at work tomorrow, right?

~Kelsey