It All Started With A Kiss

XV. (Part Two)

  "Beck, you don't look so good, sweetie. What's wrong?" She closed the door and sat at her desk. She looked almost unbearably perky. "Did something happen with you and Jackson?"

"I don't know what's happened with me and Jackson." My voice was shaky.

I didn't know how to proceed. I'd never had this kind of conversation before. I had never even conceived of this kind of conversation.

"Tell me about it. Did you guys have a fight on the way back?"

"No. I thought everything was great. We got together every night. He even slept over twice. I took him to a concert Friday night, and on Saturday night, I took him to dinner. It was like Cinderella and Prince Charming."

Georgia laughed. "I could buy you as Cinderella, but you must admit, Jackson as Prince Charming is pretty funny."

That drew out my first smile in days.

"Well, it was terrific. It was romantic. He came back to my place, and we had a wonderful time. He left after breakfast to go to a tutoring job, but I haven't heard from him since."

"His roommate won't tell me where he is. He doesn't return my messages. I don't understand what's happening."

"Would I be correct in assuming this is your first real relationship? Is Jackson the first guy you've really liked?"

"Yeah. I didn't think about it that way. I went with guys, but it was really no big deal. They did what I wanted; I was always in charge. But I really like Jackson."

"Have you guys talked about your relationship?"

"No. Are we supposed to?"

She answered that with a laugh. "Did Jackson tell you anything about his relationship history?"

"No. I really didn't think about it."

"Ah."

She reached across her desk, grasped my hand in a caring gesture, and then released it.

"I'll have to think about what I can tell you. Jackson has talked to me, and I'm unsure if I should say anything."

"On the other hand, I've lived with him and observed things that wouldn't be wrong to discuss. Can I tell him anything we discuss if I talk to Jackson?"

"I don't know. It depends on what we talk about.

"Fair enough. After you rejected him, Jackson was pretty shaken up. He lost his confidence. He had confidence in who he was, not how he related to girls because he never had. He just thought of them as people with different anatomical characteristics."

"He figured it was just another thing he could do. He didn't go on his first date until he was a senior, and she asked him to go to her prom. I don't know if he's changed enough to talk about it now, but he was a recluse with girls."

"Oh, God, I feel terrible," I said.

"You weren't being malicious. You were just being who you were, not now."

Georgia had a generous heart. It still made me sad to hear it.

"A little later in his senior year, he dared to ask someone to his prom, and she accepted."

"That's it. That's his entire dating history before college. Neither of you had any romantic experience, but at least you knew all about dating, the rules, the moves. He was clueless. When he went off to college, he, well ..."

She decided not to continue with the thought. Was he a virgin when he went to college? How could he learn so much so quickly? Just from books?

"Anyway, we talked about it. He was nervous. You can't imagine how it feels to talk to your kid like that."