The Amish Rebel

8

It took about an hour to drive over to the lake. It was large and secluded; we had only passed a couple of other people as we parked the car and headed down the main path. We broke off onto a smaller trail and walked. I followed Gaibe, since he had been here a few times before.

We made our way to a patch of grass, surrounded by tall trees. The lake stretched in front of us. I laid out a blanket while Gaibe pulled out a small bottle of wine and some other snacks. I already had my one-piece bathing suit under my dress, so I took it off. We sat down and admired the still view.

I turned to face Gaibe, who was looking at my hair. His eyes traveled up to meet mine. He leaned in. I met him with a kiss - a quick peck that quickly grew in intensity.

I laid down as we intertwined. My breathing quickened as I kissed his neck.

From the distance, I could hear a plane soaring through the air, but only faintly, as all of my attention was drowning in Gaibe.

~

Later that evening, we drove home.

"So...Was it better this time? I mean, do you remember everything now?" Gaibe asked.

"Much better. Yes. I remember everything." I murmured, blushing as I looked shyly out of the passenger window. We had already stopped for our milkshakes and were sipping on them, which helped to cool us down in the heat.

Gaibe smiled. "I'm glad."

I felt closer to him now than I had ever been since meeting him. It was like our souls were connected.

"Well...Did you enjoy yourself? I'm kind of worried about not having any experience..." I trailed off.

Gaibe cleared his throat, an awkward expression on his face. "Uh...you were my first time, too."

My eyes widened. "What?!"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't rub it in..." He laughed.

"Why haven't you already? I thought that was normal for the English at our age." Sarah exclaimed in surprise.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I've had a lot of chances to. But, I'm Christian, so I've avoided it, until now. I don't know. It's been really important for me to find the right person, too." Gaibe rambled.

I nodded slowly as everything started to make sense in my mind. "Well...I like that about you. At least we have something important in common...in a way."

He smiled. "Yeah, we do."

~

A few weeks had passed since I had been to the lake with Gaibe. I only saw him once a week compared to my usual three times a week - Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday. I had my hands full with helping at the Stoltzfus house with my family, and minding my chores at home. Luckily, I had told Gaibe ahead of time that I probably wouldn't be able to see him much. It didn't help that there was still tension between Noah and I every time I was over at their house...But, I had Rachel to lean on when I needed support, which was a big help.

This particular week, I definitely needed some help. I had gotten sick with a cold that seemed to be getting worse every day. I developed nausea and was throwing up on a daily basis. It was painful and kind of shocking how horrible and weak I felt.

Initially, I brushed it off as the flu, but this was lasting a lot longer than I would have expected, so I began to develop some suspicions... It was no surprise that when I finally was able to visit Gaibe, we weren't able to have our usual carefree hangout, since he quickly noticed my acute nausea...