Underage

[12] I'll Think About It

Underage
[12] I'll Think About It

"You didn't answer his question?" Grace asks me. She passes me a soda and my order of Chinese food. Beauty and the Beast is on playing on the television and we haven't changed out of our pajamas since she slept over the night before. "He asked you to be his girlfriend, his real girlfriend, and you said that you'd think about it?"

"I didn't know what else to say."

"Oh, I don't know. How about, 'Yes, Ethan I would love to be your girlfriend, I've wanted nothing more since you kissed me during Spin the Bottle but you were too dumb to notice?'"

Grace takes the spot next to me on my couch and hands me a fork. I stab a piece of chicken, rather hard, before eating it. "How do I say yes to somebody who's going to be gone in a few months?"

"Really, you're asking me that question?"

I laugh. "Should have thought that one through." She pushes against my shoulder and laughs. "How do you do it? How do you just say goodbye to someone you've spent so long with?"

"It's harder with different people, but I don't let myself feel that much for them. I haven't found that one person who doesn't bore me yet."

"I think it's going to be Cooper," I say. "You two look like you're very happy with each other."

"We are," She says. "I really like Cooper. We're both going to Wepner in the fall, so if anything does happen it wouldn't be too bad."

"You think anything is going to come of it?" I ask.

"It's too soon to tell."

We watch Beauty and the Beast while eating our food. We know every word to every song in this movie, and we belt out them out. It's always been one of my favorites. It never fails that this is the movie Grace and I always want to watch when we get together. I don't think we'll ever get bored of it.

I had asked Grace to spend the night last night when we left the mall. Ethan kept his distance when I told him I would think about his question. It's hard, taking him seriously. Does he really want to be my boyfriend, or is he just saying this so he can get back at Julia? Does he really like me? I just don't know what to think.

I haven't heard from him since yesterday, but I know it's only a matter of time.

My thoughts keep drifting back to the puppy shop we never made it back to. There was something about that dog, about Magnus, that made me want to bring him home and love him. He just seemed so sad in that place, they all did. I want to buy them all and give them a home. I have got to ask my landlord if I can have pets.

Grace goes home a little after the movie is over and our food is gone. I clean up a little, although there's not much to clean. There's still a few boxes in my guest room that need to be unpacked. They're mostly old blankets my mother used to quilt that are made out of my baby clothes, and books I have yet to buy another bookshelf for.

I kneel down onto the carpet, opening a random box to find it filled with photo albums. My mom takes pictures of everything. She's always loved photography. Which means I have a million photos of myself as a naked baby. I flip through the top photo album. The first few sleeves are filled with pictures from my sophomore homecoming. My hair was cut real short and I had bangs—a bad phase of my life. I'm surprised Ethan still seemed to like me.

Ethan and I went together that homecoming. In simple Ethan fashion, he buttered me up with a trip to the puppy shop and then told me I couldn't hold a dog unless I said I would go to homecoming with him. In the picture, I'm wearing a short black dress and heels that made me almost as tall as my date. He's wearing all black to match me. It's the one time I convinced him to wear something besides his leather jacket. He looks a lot younger, his face is rounder and he's a bit skinnier than he is now. It's hard to believe that it was two years ago. He looks so much older now.