I walked from the kitchen, down the long corridor to the living room, which was in darkness, and switched on the television, then started flicking through the channels to find something worth watching. Believe it or not, the most interesting thing I could find on TV that night was a re-run of the Beverly Hillbillies movie, so I sat back on the couch and started to watch it. I hadn't bothered to switch on the light, so the room was in darkness, except for the light coming in from the hallway, and of course the TV screen. I sat against the left side arm of a three-seater couch, with the doorway just to my left, and settled down to take in the movie.

Even though I had seen the movie before, I sat there chuckling at the antics of the Clampett family for some time, probably half an hour, or perhaps even longer. After a while, the sounds of music and laughter from down the long corridor faded, but I hardly noticed.

Then, I saw a shadow in the light from the doorway to my left. I turned around and I saw Ashley standing in the doorway, with a glass of bourbon and coke in her hand. "What are you watching?" she asked, and feeling a little sheepish, I said, "The old Beverly Hillbillies movie." I felt like I'd been exposed as a total dork.

"Oh," Ashley said, stepping in the room, "that's funny. I've seen it before, but it's so funny."

"Everybody's kind of, occupied, down there, if you know what I mean," she said, gesturing down the hallway, and then adding, "I felt a bit like a third wheel," as she took a few steps to the couch, and put her glass down on the coffee table. She stood, looking at the screen for a moment, then she realised she was in my way, so she sat back on the couch next to me. I could see from the way she moved that she was affected by the alcohol. She wasn't drunk, and I wouldn't even call her tipsy, but the bourbon had affected her, and she sat back and giggled at something on the TV.

"Jethro is so stupid," she giggled, "you've just gotta laugh."

"I know," I said, chuckling, and then I forgot my awkwardness for a moment, and did a fairly poor imitation of Jethro talking about his sixth grade education, and Ashley giggled again.

"That's really good," she said, and she turned around on the couch, so she was facing me, and pulled her legs up and folded them underneath herself.

Encouraged by her response, I tried another Jethro impression, this time probably a little better than the first, if I do say so, and once again, Ashley giggled, and said, "You can take him off so well."

I ran out of material, and Ashley turned back to the television for a moment, and then she turned to me, still sitting with her legs folded underneath herself, and she said, "Rick, have you got a girlfriend?"

Suddenly, I felt sheepish again, and I simply, "No," shaking my head.

"No girlfriend?" Ashley asked, looking a little surprised.

"No," I said again, "How come you're so surprised?" I asked, wondering a little why she was even asking.

"Well, you're smart, and you're funny," Ashley said, looking at me, "and you're not that bad looking. I thought you'd have a little girlfriend tucked away somewhere by now."

My ego was nearly bursting. The sexiest girl I knew had just told me I wasn't that bad looking! Okay, she hadn't said I was good looking, but she'd said I wasn't bad looking, and that meant a lot.

"Well, if I did," I said, "I wouldn't be sitting here watching an old movie on a Friday night."

"Same here, I guess," she said, looking down.

I wondered for a moment if she was giving me an invitation, but once again the rational side of my mind told me it was the bourbon, and she wasn't saying things the way she meant. There was no way a girl like her was interested in her friend's little brother.

"You've kissed girls though, haven't you?" Ashley asked me, to my surprise.

The only girl I had ever kissed at time was Judy, and I nodded and said, "Yeah," even though Ashley had said "girls," in the plural. Ashley was sitting fairly close to me, and I could have just leaned over and kissed her, but something told me I was misreading what was going on, so I just looked down, avoiding her eyes for a moment.