Not the Right Timeby Allison K. East
Michael Langley felt bad, really bad. He knew he hurt young Jo Loveday, although he never wanted to. It had taken the Matron to point out to him that Jo had a crush on him, and he felt foolish for not noticing it before. He regarded her as a really good friend, and he really did not want that to change. Change was always inevitable, though; and he should have realised that. He went around to the Gilroys’ place to talk to Jo, to set things straight with her, to ensure that they remained friends. It was a mistake made with the best of intentions, the kind that the road to Hell was paved with. Awkward at first, they retreated to the lounge to talk. He thought that the talk was going well, and it was… in a sense. Well enough to lead to them kissing. It felt right, natural, to be kissing her, to enjoy the sensation of her lips under his. Part of him, the sensible part of his mind, knew that he should put a stop to it; but every time they parted to breathe and they looked at each other, he found himself leaning back in to kiss her again. Between kisses, Jo mentioned that the Gilroys’ might come home to find them like that, so they mutually agreed to go for a drive. That was where things went wrong (or right, depending on how one looked at it). The mood between them changed during the drive, and by the time they parked, things were back to awkward between them. Really awkward. So awkward in fact that all he could do was drive her home and she viewed that as a rejection. Which, in a way it was. But not because he didn’t care or that he wasn’t attracted to her. He was surprised by how attracted to her he was. But sitting in the car that night he realised that it was not the right time for them, and he wanted to preserve their friendship as best he could. Not that it did any good. Effectively he had led her on and then rejected her, and Jo was not interested in his attempts to repair their friendship, nor in his explanation (excuse?) that it was not the right time for them. Her ire and bitterness at him even led her to accept a ‘date’ from a guy she would not normally touch with a ten-foot pole. And from the look that she shot him right before she did it, Michael knew that her acceptance of Gazza’s ‘invitation’ was a dig at him more than anything else. Even knowing that it was Jo’s choice and there was nothing he could do or say to sway her, Michael worried about what she was doing. Accepting a date from a bloke who was only interested in how far he could get with her was not the best way for Jo to get back at him, but there was no way he could ever convince her of that (and she would deny that that was what she was doing if he brought it up with her). And while he knew that she could take care of herself, he feared that she would quickly get in way over her head just to prove a point. And he could do nothing about it except pick up the pieces afterwards—if she let him. Michael was amazed at how much he was worried for Jo, how deeply he cared about her, how jealous he was when she accepted Gazza’s ‘date’. He considered her a good friend, but this was so much more. He now realised that his feelings for her ran so much deeper than he ever knew, but he also knew that the time was not right for them; the disastrous attempt at parking proved that. Jo was still young; she had a lifetime ahead of her. There was plenty of time for them to get it together, if indeed that was in their future. Maybe some day the time would be right for them.
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