“Ok sweetie. Feel better.”
I lay back down on my bed and waited to hear both of my parents leaving for work. The argument that I’d had with my father the night before was still fresh in my mind. He’d referred to me as ‘some careless girl’ and to me that seemed like an unfair assessment. On the other hand, maybe it was fair and it just hurt to hear the truth. I was indeed careless yesterday morning when AJ and I walked right into Antonio. My plan was to be mindful of how I’d hurt him and to make certain that I never hurt him in that way again. I suppose that I was being careless and reckless these days. My only solace came from my belief that it was all inevitable. AJ was meant to be in my life and I was meant to be in his.
At 7:10 I heard my dad leave and my mom was out the door by 7:16. I got up from my bed and went downstairs to sit on the couch to wait for AJ.
7:35……My phone rang. “Hello?”
“They gone yet?” He asked.
“Yeah, for almost 20 minutes now. You can come on.”
“I’m around the corner.” I felt a familiar feeling creep up on me as soon as I hung up the phone. The butterflies were back.
A minute later he was at my door. I flung it open and threw my arms around his neck. Surprised, he smiled and leaned down to kiss my forehead.
“What do you wanna do?” I inquired. “We have all day. Well…..actually we have until noon. My dad may be coming to check on me at like 12:30 or so.”
“Doesn’t matter to me. I’m just glad I’m here with you,” AJ replied, making me blush already only seconds after his arrival.
“Well…..we can go up to my room and talk or watch a movie or something,” I suggested nervously. With the slightest hesitation, I grabbed his hand and led the way. He walked into my room without any reserve and sat down on my bed. Just as I had last time, I stood there in the doorway and stared for a moment. There was no question today whether I’d join him or not. We were already well past the stage where I was afraid to touch him. Actually, the only thing keeping me at a distance now was the fact that I wasn’t sure I could deny myself that luxury anymore. Cautiously, I went to him. He lay there on his back, hands folded behind his head, and he only moved slightly when I eased up beside him.
“So, your dad doesn’t want us together,” AJ stated in a straightforward tone. I immediately regretted telling him that detail of the conversation last night, but the damage was already done. All I could do now was try to smooth things over.
“No, it’s not you,” I blurted out. “He doesn’t want me with anybody. He doesn’t think I’m ready for a relationship.”
There was an awkward silence that I was desperate to break, but I didn’t know what to say. Finally he spoke. “Would you ever consider not being with me because of what other people might say?” He paused and took a deep breath. “Because there’s a very real possibility that others won’t be as excited about us as we are.”
“I know. I thought about that.” When I felt him staring intently, I turned his way. “But I don’t care.”
“How do you think your dad is going to react when he meets me?”
“I don’t really know, but my mom knows and she doesn’t have a problem with it. Why? How do you think your family will respond to me?” I was admittedly nervous about his answer to this question.
AJ shrugged. “Not sure. I’ve never really talked to my parents about stuff like that. But I’m not dwelling on it because regardless of what they feel about it I’m going to do what I want anyway.”
Good answer.
“But don’t you want them to be happy for you?” I asked.