Live While We're Young

Chapter 11: Telling People

Taylor: My parents came home for a little while the next day. “Hey sweetheart,” they said, “What’s new?”

“Not much. Just playing sports all summer so far,” I said, “I started dating Leo.”

“Wait what?” my dad asked. It was like I had just told him I was growing another ear.

“I’m dating Leo. You know Louis’s kid?” I asked.

“I know who Leo is,” my dad said, “Why are you dating him?”

“Because we like each other, that’s kind of how it works,” I said.

“That’s awesome,” my mom said, stepping in.

“Thank you,” I said.

Leo: I came downstairs. “You got home last night pretty late?” my mom said.

“Yeah, I was out,” I said.

“Leo, you have to know there are laws. You’re a minor, therefore you have to be home by 11:30,” my mom said.

“I was home only 10 minutes later,” I said, “and it wasn’t like I was out in public.”

“Who were you with that you weren’t in public?” my mom.

“I was with Taylor,” I said.

“Doing…?” my mom asked.

“Asking her to be my girlfriend,” I said. My dad smiled, walking over to me. He raised his hand.

“High five,” he said. I did.

“You and Taylor are….” my mom said.

“Yep,” I said.

“Don’t pretend we never knew this would happen,” my dad said.

“Oh I’m not,” my mom said. “I’m just a little surprised you didn’t tell me you were thinking of asking her to...be your girlfriend.”

“Yeah,” I said, “We kissed once, then we just decided it was time.”

“You kissed her?” my parents said in unison.

“Yeah,” I said, “Like a week ago.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s, um, great,” my mom said.

“Nice job,” my dad said. I smiled.

Taylor: That day I got together with my friends.

“So,” Amie said, almost instantly, “Are you going to tell them?”

“Tell us what?” Niki asked. I sighed.

“Leo and I are together,” I said.

“Like as in you’re an item?” Niki asked.

“No, like we’ve been sewn together at the limbs,” I said. Niki stuck her tongue out at me. Then she turned to Carly.

“You owe me 20 dollars,” she said. Carly pulled out her wallet and handed it over.

“Wait what?” I asked.

“I made a bet with Carly that you would start dating Leo by the end of the summer. She said she thought you would gauk for another few years,” Niki explained.

“I wish they would have,” I heard Amie mutter. I found my problem. Dang.