Fate was working against us yet again. Almost as soon as AJ’s punishment was lifted, I was grounded. I sighed and stretched out on my bed. My mother’s words were still swimming around in my head. Getting caught had definitely sobered my up quite a bit. While I’d known all along that AJ and I were wrong, I allowed my desires to cloud my judgment and lead me to do the wrong thing. How would he react if I told him that we’d have to stop? Could he handle that? Was sex so important to him that he’d want to break things off with me? While he’s very different from most guys in a lot of ways, I couldn’t be sure that he was different when it came to this. It was my fault for letting it go so far in the first place. Was there any going back now?
I was now even more concerned that he’d end up cheating on me when he left for Westwood if I were to go through with this. Surely some girl would be waiting in the wings to do all the things that I was no longer willing to do. I sighed and tried to ignore the pain that was spreading through my brain as I attempted to deal with my new dilemma. I had a lot to think about. Was I strong enough to do this?
My will was tested soon enough. I was able to keep myself under control for the first few weeks, but my resolve weakened one morning before school. AJ walked me to my locker as usual, but he didn’t have much to say. Finally he turned to me and bit his lip as he thought. “I have an idea. Why don’t we skip homeroom?” He stated.
I was confused. “And do what?”
He didn’t say anything in return, just smiled. “Uh uh, no way,” I said as I turned to grab my books. “We’ll get in trouble for skipping and plus I think Mr. Talbert saw me already when we passed his class.” I hoped that my excuses would make him back down, but he wasn’t giving up that easily.
“So?” He replied.
“So, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Where would we go anyway?”
He thought for a few seconds. “The auditorium.”
“Are you seriously suggesting that we do it here…..at school?” I asked. I’d be lying if I said that his offer wasn’t tempting, but I was trying to stand my ground. My eyes shifted to the floor for a fraction of a second while I actually considered it, and that was all he needed to see.
“You want to.”
“Fine, what’s your plan?” I sighed in defeat and shut my locker.
“Go wait in the bathroom until a few minutes after the tardy bell rings and I’ll already be waiting for you.
I rolled my eyes at him and fought back a smile. “See you in a few,” I said as I turned to walk toward the bathroom.
I stood in one of the stalls waiting for the last two girls to finish brushing through their hair and leave. The door shut and then there was silence. Another minute later, the bell sounded and my pulse quickened. I checked the time on my phone and I still had another minute to wait. My nerves made me feel a little bit dizzy, but I wasn’t going to disappoint him. I did, however, decide to text him just to be sure that his part of the plan held up before I risked getting caught.
“You ready?” I asked “I can show you better than I can tell you,” he replied.
I took a deep breath and emerged from the stall. After a quick scan of the hallway, I crept to the auditorium to meet AJ. I wasn’t going back on my resolution, but I told myself that I was only postponing it and that this was going to be the last time. Seriously…..
Chapter Seventeen
Deanna was honking the horn outside just as I slipped my shoes on. I kissed my mom on the cheek and flew out the door.
“Where should we start?” Deanna asked as soon as I shut the passenger side door.
“There’re a few boutiques downtown, or we could go to the mall first,” I replied.
“Mmm, let’s try the boutiques first. Their designs are probably more original.”