Inexperienced

I woke up bright and early. I was anxious for meeting Mr. Kent. I had no reason to be nervous, but I still felt like I needed to be accepted by his family. Jared and I had been dating for a few weeks now, almost a month, and I knew it was only time before I would need to meet him.

School was over in a flash. And as I drove home, my nerves got the best of me. Jared said he’d swing by to pick me up around five. That meant I had a few hours to prepare myself. He didn’t give me much of a clue on what to wear and what exactly we were doing other than dinner with his father. Jared had constantly kept asking me if I wanted to back out. It was strange; it almost seemed like he wanted me to.

I shrugged.

I roamed through my closet and decided on my nicest pair of blue jeans and a white blouse. It was simple yet elegant.

When I went to the bathroom, I took a long hard look at myself. It was sort of surprising to see myself this way. I’ve changed. My normally grey eyes seemed to sparkle silver and my once pale skin seemed to sort of glow along with my other features. This must be what love looks like.

Love? Is that what I have with Jared? Am I in love with him?

I heard Jared’s voice from downstairs, as well as my father’s. I grabbed my phone and ran down to greet him.

“Hey,” I whispered as I came bounding down the stairs.

He smiled at me.

“Have fun,” my dad mumbled.

“See you later dad,” I said as I kissed his cheek.

Jared intertwined his warm hand with mine and walked me out to his car.

“Ready?” he asked.

“I believe so.” I smiled.

He leaned in to kiss me softly. “You look great.”

I blushed, rolled my eyes, and took a seat in his car.

Jared’s father’s house was closer than his mother’s. It was the complete opposite of the small farm house. It was a large, two story home. It was modern and very chic.

The inside matched the outside. The walls were painted white, besides the living room which was painted a deep red. The furniture was mainly white, black, or red.

“Jared!” came a nasally voice. I followed Jared’s eyes to see a tall, extremely thin yet curvaceous woman with bleach blonde hair walking towards us. She looked me over. A glare formed on her beautiful face, but as quickly as it was formed, it was replaced with a smile.

“This must be that girl you can’t stop talking me about!”

I smiled at Jared. “Nicole, this is Austin, my girlfriend.”

She opened her arms to me. I kindly stepped into them for a short hug. “Nice to meet you.”

“You two are just in time! I was just about to call your father down, Jared.” She scurried away, ushering us to follow.

Jared grabbed my hand and gave it a little squeeze before following Nicole.

“Come, sit down you two.” Nicole pointed to the seats before rushing off into the other room.

Jared pulled out a seat for me and then took his next to me.

The door swung open and I had to do a double take. Mr. Kent and Jared looked exactly alike. I could see where Jared got his looks from. They both share the same muscular build, although Mr. Kent’s is definitely larger. And they both have the same tan skin and chocolate brown hair. The only difference was that Jared has his mother’s blue eyes. His fathers was a deep brown.

Jared stood up and I did the same. “Dad,” he said formally. “I’d like you to meet Austin.”

I emerged from behind Jared and stepped forward to shake his father’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Kent.”

He looked down at me with a small smile. “Please, call me Ben.”

I smiled and felt welcomed.

Nicole burst through the door with a large tray in her arms. “Dinner is served!”

We all took a seat and began to dish out food.

Dinner was going smoothly, small conversation never seeming to end.

But then things changed.

“So, you two are pretty serious, huh?” asked Ben.

I blushed slightly and Jared took my hand. “Yes, we are, Dad,” said Jared.

Ben looked at me. “You do know he’s leaving after school ends, right, Austin?”

Shock crossed my face. Leaving?

“Dad,” groaned Jared.

“What?” asked Ben in confusion. “You haven’t told her yet?”

“No, because it’s not official.” Jared’s eyes were narrowed into slits.

“I think you know it’s official.” Ben’s voice was full of assurance.

“Where are you going?” I asked softly.

Jared looked at me, taking a moment to answer. His face was hard to read.

“College, my dear,” interrupted Ben. “Out of state, as a matter of fact.”

I gulped. “Oh.”

Jared lifted my chin. “Austin, it’s not official. I haven’t decided where I want to go yet. I just got my acceptance letter a week ago.”

“Are you attending this college?”

“I’m undecided.”

“Jared, if this is where you want to go, then you should go for it.”

“Yes, Jared. Don’t let a high school fling tie you down,” Ben intruded. I turned to Ben. His phrasing of our relationship as a ‘fling’ stung me.

“Dad, don’t talk like that,” Jared warned.

“Well, Jared. You know it’s true. High school relationships just do not last. And you don’t need to be tied down here,” he stated matter of factly.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Here I thought I was making progress with Jared’s family when all along he plans on me being out of the future.

Jared bolted up. “Don’t tell me what does and doesn’t last. I care about Austin!”

“Sure you do, now. But what happens when things change?” Ben raised his voice. “What happens when you no longer feel the same way?”

“Me and Austin are different Dad!” Jared sneered, getting in Ben’s face from across the table.

Ben flew up, flipping the table at the same time, managing to make everything fly everywhere. “You are going because it is what’s best.”

Jared folded his arms across his chest. “No, I’m not.”

Ben’s arms balled into fists and he looked like he was about to fly across the table and tackle Jared. This made me feel uneasy.

“Don’t you test me, boy,” Ben warned. He took a few steps closer to Jared. Jared backed away. I caught a glimpse of ultimate fear in his eyes, but he quickly looked at me and his expression disappeared.

“C’mon, Austin. Let’s get you home.”

I stood up quietly. “Thank you for dinner,” I said softly before nodding my head to signal my leave.

Jared grabbed me by the arm and yanked me to the car in a fury.

Dinner was a disaster. And even worse, I didn’t know what was to come of Jared and I’s future.