Corrupt Me

I’m not sure exactly how I managed it, but I came home from youth group that Friday night with a girlfriend. I don’t even remember saying ‘yes’ to Isabelle but she assures me I did. What shocks me is that I apparently said ‘yes’ after she asked me if I’d be her boyfriend. Now, Izzy is a great girl and everything and has already become one of my best friends, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to have anything to do with her romantically. So you can imagine my surprise when her mother picked us up after the youth group and Isabelle jumped in the car, squealing about finally working up the courage to ask me out and it all going well. I didn’t actually listen to her telling her mother any of that information either; it was only when she introduced me that I actually realised what had happened while I was zoned out thinking about how sad Angel looked as Isabelle, Portia and I left the school that afternoon all evening.

“So, Micah…”
I looked up at the sound of my name.
“This is my mom. Mom, this is Micah, my boyfriend,” Isabelle squealed the last word, and my jaw dropped. Boyfriend? I had to think back to when I could’ve possibly changed my relationship status during the three hours I was at Isabelle’s youth group and the one I spent at her house beforehand. Unfortunately, I had no idea when that could’ve happened, seeing as I was in my own little universe practically the whole time since we left the school that afternoon, so I just smiled and nodded to Isabelle’s mother, who smiled back. The ride home was silent for the rest of the trip. I was grateful for that; it gave me time to think. Time to think about why the hell heck I spent so long thinking about the one person at Hillcrest who goes out of their way to try and molest me and make me feel uncomfortable. I mean, I don’t even like the guy, and he’s already plaguing my mind and giving me a guilt trip for turning him down earlier that afternoon. Stupid Angel, get out of my head.

“Micah?” I looked up when Isabelle said my name from the front passenger seat.
“Yeah?”
“Isn’t this your house?”
I glanced out the window, and sure enough, the car was stationed outside my family’s single storey town house.
I blushed, “Oh…yeah. This is it,” I mumbled, embarrassed. I grabbed the door handle while thanking Isabelle’s mother, who shot me a smile in return. I opened the door and placed a foot on the ground. “See you later.”

“Oh, wait Micah. I’ll walk you to the door!” Isabelle called as I stood up. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and nodded, even though she probably couldn’t see the gesture in the dark. She grabbed my hand and walked with me up my driveway to the front door. The sensor light flashed on as we set foot on the front porch and I could’ve sworn I saw the curtain in the living room move, even though the night was still. I shrugged it off and turned to Isabelle.

“I guess I’ll see you on Monday, then,” I said, feeling slightly nervous for no apparent reason.
“Yeah, definitely,” came her quiet reply, as she leaned towards me, obviously going in for the kill…er, kiss. I knew I wasn’t quite ready to kiss Isabelle yet (if at all), so I turned my head at the last minute, letting her place a quick peck on my cheek. She made an annoyed noise against my cheek before she pulled away, and hugged me tightly for a minute or so until the front door opened to reveal my parents, both sporting wide grins.

“Um…um…mom, dad?” I stuttered, “This is…is Isabelle. My uh…girlfriend.”
My mom squealed (yes, squealed, what the hell heck) and grabbed me, nearly crushing my ribs in a tight hug. “Congratulations, honey! I’m so proud of you!”
“Thanks?” I said it like a question. I couldn’t quite figure out why my mother was congratulating me, it’s not like I asked Isabelle to marry me or anything. All I did was say ‘yes’ when Isabelle asked me a question I didn’t even hear, no need to bring out the celebratory champagne (alcohol-free of course, my parents are strict no-alcohol Christians).

“…come over for dinner sometime soon. We’d love to have you, what do you like to eat?” I was brought out of my thoughts by my mother’s excited rambling to Isabelle. Obviously she was more excited about me having a girlfriend than I was. I rolled my eyes at dad, who grinned back at me. We both knew all too well what my mother was capable of when it came to ‘important’ guests. I listened as my mother planned for Isabelle to come over for dinner on a Friday in a few weeks and smiled and nodded when I was asked if that was okay with me. Mom spent another million years chatting away to Isabelle, before Izzy’s mom got impatient and she had to leave. Isabelle hugged me one more time, and trotted off to her car, waving once before getting in and driving off.

My mom hugged me once more, before allowing me to escape to my bedroom. I really wasn’t in the mood for her crap rubbish. I flopped onto my bed, face down, with a huge sigh. I fell asleep wondering, for some unknown reason, how Angel would react when I came to school on Monday morning with a girlfriend. Something made me think that it wouldn’t please him very much, if his hurt expression when I told him I was spending time with Isabelle was anything to go by.