No, I Don't Want You To Know Where I Live

It came together quickly.  The friend I met at My Favorite Late-Night Italian Place has suggested for a long time that we go to a sporting event.  I really did want to finally do something together beyond our favorite restaurant.  So this week, finalizing it just now, we are going to ... something he loves, auto racing.  We're going an hour north to watch cars smash into each other.  Honestly I have no idea what to expect.  I hope my friend understands that I'm trying this once and I might not like it.

We ironed out the details over Messenger.  It is so far north that I have to skip out on dinner, which is something I don't like to do.  Anyway, he said he was going to pick me up.  And I hesitated at the idea.  I'll be honest: One thing I am not sure about is whether my parents are going to be OK with not knowing until the morning that I'm not eating dinner at home.  I have decided to concoct the excuse that work which I skipped out on early Friday afternoon (when in actuality we were cut early) is something I need to make up, and my bosses decided it was best to do it in the late afternoon, after which I would maximize my time by doing stuff Saturday night.  I really can't say that I'm working when someone picks me up.  Does that make any sense?

But I have to be honest about another thing: I don't want him to know where I live.  I have never had friends come over to the house.  I think it's kind of shabby, and you guys know I have never cleaned the house, so I know I will probably make a bad impression on any of my friends who drop by.  Also, I always got the sense that my parents did now want any of my friends coming over.  But ... I don't want him knowing where I live because I don't want him knowing about this part of my life.  I know this makes me sound like a prick, but I just don't want him knowing my address, or knowing what my folks look like.  That's a part of my private life I don't want him to know about, or at least not until I know him better, which I don't.

Hey, I need to socialize more.  But at the same time I think I can set boundaries.  And, frankly, I feel OK about lying about the circumstances for these boundaries I don't want him to cross.  That may make me a jerk.  You might not be wrong.