Opposite Ends

eight

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                      When Isaiah and I dropped Halley off, things immediately became awkward. As soon as she closed the front door to her house, Isaiah turned up the radio so that neither of us could speak to each other.

                      I felt confused, because he had just kissed me the night before and now he was blocking me out. What did I do?

                      About halfway home, I gathered enough courage to reach over and turn off the radio.

                      "Hey." He mumbled, because I turned it off.

                      "Isaiah, we need to talk." I said.

                      He sighed lightly. "About what?"

                      "About this whole thing." I gestured between us.

                      "I think you've already got it all figured out, Jessa." He said. This time when he spoke, he sounded annoyed.

                      I glanced at his face, confused as to what he was getting at. "What do you mean?"

                      "I heard you talking to Halley this morning."

                      My stomach lurched. "I thought you were sleeping." Did he actually hear the whole thing?

                      "You said this wouldn't work out." Isaiah sounded hurt.

                      "Well, it wouldn't."

                      "So you're not gonna even bother to try."

                      "Isaiah, do you know how much crap we'd be in if my mom and your dad found out?" I exclaimed.

                      "So? Who cares? They decided to get married without our consent so why should we get permission from them to date?"

                      Date. He wanted to date me. I was silent for a moment, trying to process in my mind what he just said.

                      "There's a difference. They are our parents."

                      "Yeah, exactly. Which means we are the first people they should ask before they make a decision like that." He exclaimed.

                      I realized he was right. My mother should have asked her only daughter if she could marry a strange man. But she didnt so why should I?

                      Isaiah pulled into our driveway and turned off the car engine.

                      "Fine." I said.

                      He glanced at me. "Fine?"

                      I opened the passenger door and got out. "Let's go on a date tomorrow night." With that, I closed the door.

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