“How about you admit that I’m a loving sister to you and you babysit Kyle five times as community service?” she countered.
“Will you admit to being evil?” I asked.
She smiled and shook my hand.
Mom went and got the jury.
“Angie and David have decided to settle out of court. Angie admits to being evil, and David agrees that Angie is a loving sister and agrees to babysit Kyle five times.”
Everyone seemed to agree that sounded like a fair settlement. I’d been watching Kyle about once a week anyway, so I was fine with my community service. I went over to Dad to get my condoms and stuff them in my bag. He hugged me.
“Your mother needed that. Thank you,” he said, as we both looked over to see her smiling.
Tom stopped me before I could go get Mona and go up to my place.
“Tomorrow is President’s day and you’re off from school. Could you come down to the office and meet with us?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“We want to plan out the next few months and talk about the opportunity Adrienne is proposing.”
We agreed on a time and I caught Mona’s eye so we could leave.
MONA WAS SURPRISED when I took her out back and up to the apartment. She didn’t know that was where I lived.
“This is handy,” she commented.
She sat on the couch with a leg curled under her butt. I went into my bedroom to drop off my bag. The apartment was chilly, so I turned up the heat and put on a sweatshirt. I found her looking at my pictures on the wall. Kendal had put up about twenty pictures in exchange for allowing some of the employees at the law firm to have some of my photos for their personal use.
“You look good in these. Is modeling fun?”
“Sometimes. So, what did you want to talk about?” I asked, sitting down on the other end of the couch.
“I’ve been thinking about the party. I hope you don’t think I do that all the time.”
“No, it didn’t even cross my mind.”
She looked at me, as she tried to figure something out. I finally took pity on her.
“Hey, just say it. I won’t judge you.”
“It’s just hard to trust boys. Every time I’ve been with a guy, he’s bragged about what happened.”
“I haven’t talked to anyone about ... anything.”
She blushed. I think she knew she was the one that let the cat out of the bag about our evening when she talked to her friends. We also didn’t make it a secret when we came back to the party.
“I know. I’ve talked to Tracy, and she said I could trust you. I just don’t know how to ask for what I want.”
“Why don’t you just tell me and we can work it out from there.”
“All right, here goes. I want to have fun with you, but I don’t want to date you. I’d like our time to be private. When we were together at the party, you let me do my little dance and didn’t attack me. I think we could explore some things together.”
“Are you thinking we would just hook up and then just be friends?”
She nodded.
“You do realize that’s just a fantasy, right?” I asked her.
“What do you mean?”
“In my vast experience,” I said, winking at her to let her know I was joking, “sex changes things. If we were to start spending time together, I would develop feelings for you. I might even fall for you. You’re a special, sexy lady. I wouldn’t want to start something without you knowing that this would probably happen.”
“That’s something I’m worried about, but in the reverse. I’m also worried you’d think I’m easy. I don’t want you to think badly of me.”
“Are you hooking up with every guy you date?”
“No!”
“There you have it. I don’t think you’re easy. I never did.”
“I was worried. I just threw myself at you. I figured that was why you insisted on wearing a condom. I really have only been with two other guys.”
“The condoms are as much for your protection as mine. I have a daily reminder of what can happen even if you think everything’s safe. Don’t get me wrong, I love my nephew to death. But I’m just not ready for that kind of responsibility.”
She smiled at me and scooted over so that she could snuggle with me. She put her head on my chest.
“Alright, I’m going to put all my cards on the table. I like you a lot. If there was a chance you were even close to looking for a girlfriend, I’d be all over you. But I don’t want to be your rebound girlfriend. And I don’t want a serious boyfriend. I know it’s cliché for the quarterback to date the cheerleader. I’m not interested in that. Tracy is much more socially conscious than I am. From what I’ve seen, you don’t really worry about that, either.”
“No, not intentionally. I’m too much of a people-pleaser at times, but I’m not trying to be the king of the hill, so to speak,” I said. Then I went to the heart of the matter. “Are you going to be fine with the other girls I spend time with?”
“Are you going to be fine if I spend time with other guys?”
“No, I’d stop what we’re doing if you hook up with someone else.”
“Thank you for being honest. I think most guys would say that it’d be okay, but if it happened, would act like jerks.”
I just shrugged.
“It doesn’t seem quite fair that you get your cake and eat it too. How do you justify the double standard?” she asked me.
I thought about it for a moment. I had agonized over this in the past. I was comfortable with my position now. I decided to be honest.
“I’ve thought about this a lot. This is just how I’m wired. I get jealous when I think of someone I’m with spending time with someone else. I also wouldn’t want to intrude on your happiness. I’ll not be the boy who snakes another guy’s girlfriend.
“Nor am I going to turn my back on my friends. If we can spend time together and help each other out, I think that’s great. I also sometimes find someone and we want to do things together as a one-time event. That’s why I’m not looking for a girlfriend. My brother went a different route: he dated one girl at a time, each for a few weeks. I can’t seem to walk away from women like he could.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I need to think about this,” Mona said.
We both stood up and she gave me a hug and left for home. I went back down to the house. Cindy was feeling neglected, so we snuck back up to the apartment for a little while. We came back down to find Kyle throwing a fit.
“Let me fix this,” I told Angie, taking him from her.
I walked him around the house, talking to him in soothing tones. He settled down and was soon out like a light. Angie took him from me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. She took him upstairs and put him down. The teenagers all played Monopoly while the ’rents got tipsy on wine. I teased Beth and Tracy that they would have to drive their parents home. Greg ended up cleaning us all out. When the game was over, Beth took me aside.
“Hey, how did your talk with Mona go?”
“It was okay. She needs to think before deciding if she wants to hang out with me. I’m not the typical boy.”
“No, you’re definitely not. Do you want me to talk to her?”
“Only if she comes to you. I don’t want her to feel pressured. I like her and don’t want to lose our friendship over this. I think we could be more, kind of like you and I are.”
“So you’re not looking at her as a potential girlfriend?”
“Let’s not rule anything out; but if I had to answer that right now, the answer would be no. I kind of got pushed into going out with April. I really wasn’t ready for anything, and I’m sure she sensed it. I don’t want to make that mistake again. For now, I just want to have a little fun. I think I’m done falling in love, at least, for a while.”
“Good. Wait till college before you get serious.”
I gave her hug. The party broke up and everyone went home. My mom found me.
“Thanks for letting me be Judge Mom today. I had fun. I’m glad that you and Greg get along so it’s not necessary for me to be a judge anymore. I think justice was served today.”