BARRIERS OF A FIRST LOVE
Chapter Three
Rose sat on the park bench, too bored to even
think. Cal and her parents thought that she was with her friends, and her
friends thought that she was with Cal. It was one of the conveniences of having
a boyfriend that didn’t go to her school.
Okay, Rose, she thought to herself. You have the whole night
to sort your life out. So let’s start from the beginning--I hate Cal. I know
that hate is a strong word, but that’s why I’m using it. But maybe it’s unfair.
Is this what I get for dating an older guy? I mean, he’s twenty. Well, I
don’t care how old he is. He shouldn’t push me like that.
It was the day before Rose’s seventeenth
birthday that Cal had taken her out for a special dinner. It was mid-May, and
she remembered how magical the night had seemed to her. They had driven out to
the country and sat on an amazing hill with soft, lush grass to have their
picnic. It wasn’t until the candles were half-burned out and the food was
mostly gone that he had leaned in and kissed her. As he pulled away, he had
said, "You’re a year older now, and before you were maybe too young, but
don’t you think that you’re ready now?"
She had laughed, and asked, "What do you
mean? Ready for what?"
Then, his hand, his dirty, filthy hand, had
traveled up her arm and over until it was cupping...she’d pulled away and
choked out, "Cal, stop!"
She’d tried to get up, but he had pulled her
back down. "C’mon. You know that you’re the only one of your friends who’s
still a virgin. Why are you fighting this? We both know that it’s what you want."
She hadn’t been able to say another word, but
had finally managed to scramble to her feet and demand that he take her home.
The next day, he had apologized and promised
that it would never happen again. And, in her naive desire to please, she had
forgiven him.
And now I’m stuck. I know what he’s
capable of, and if I even threaten to break up with him, he’ll rape me. Or
worse.
Okay. So maybe I shouldn’t start with Cal.
Something easier, maybe. I know. I think that I should switch to fat free ice
cream. Yes. I really need to get over that...