driveway."
"You have got to be kidding me."
"No."
"Riley, that doesn't make sense. I saw you-you looked miserable when I showed up. You didn't even want to be around me. You
fled the house for God's sake."
"I wasn't miserable, I was a nervous wreck. I left to go see Joshua
so I could talk to him about you."
"What the ... ?" My mind was spinning. I tried to think back to
that first night, but my mind was foggy.
"Please don't freak out."
"I'm not. I'm just confused."
"Honestly, this isn't a game to me. I like you, and I genuinely
wanna help you get through all this stuff that you're dealing with.
You've got a lot on your plate, and I wanna help; that's all. I don't
have ulterior motives of any kind, and I don't have any intention of
acting on my feelings. We were so relaxed today that I think I let my
guard down and my feelings were more noticeable."
I was speechless. I wouldn't have guessed he felt the way he did
in a gazillion years.
"Are you upset?"
"No. Just shocked. I didn't see this coming."
"I can understand that."
I looked down at my busted Route 44 cup and wished that I
hadn't thrown it at him. My mouth was going completely dry.
"You can have mine when we get back in the car." How he knew
what on earth I was thinking was beyond me. The boy was definitely
tuned in.
"Thank you."
"Since I've been so honest, I might as well tell the rest."
"There's more? Good grief, Riley."
He ignored me and continued. "I promised myself that I wouldn't
try to start anything with you as long as you were living in our house.
I plan on keeping my word, but once you've moved into your new
place, I'd like to ask you out on a date."
"You would?"
"Yes."
"That's over two months away; your feelings will more than
likely change by then. You'll probably be sick of me."
"If my feelings change at all, I can assure you that it won't be in
that direction."
"What if I'm not interested?"
He laughed. "I hadn't even considered that a possibility."
"Oh yeah? Being a bit arrogant, aren't you?"
"We have a connection, Charlie. I feel it-don't you?"
"I suppose. I feel something; I just never thought about it."
"Well, don't get so excited about it." He was obviously disappointed in my lack of enthusiasm.
"Maybe your feelings aren't romantic ones. I mean, it's not like
you have to fight off being physical with me or anything. We've spent
a lot of time together including many nights of sleeping right next to
each other, and I didn't feel any kind of tension or anything."
He laughed again. "I wouldn't say that."
"You wouldn't? You haven't tried to kiss me or touch me in any
way.
"It's strange. What happens in that time together-at night and
how I feel about you then is very different than I feel at other times,
like right now for instance. I take my job very seriously."
"Your job?"
"Helping you feel safe. I realize that your need to feel safe is
much more important than my personal or physical interests."
"So you do have a physical interest in me?"
"Oh yeah, I'm a seventeen-year-old boy. I'm human, you know."
"How human?"
"Let's just say that if I were Catholic, I'd spend much of my time
in a confession booth."
"Oh." I was shocked by his bluntness. He was laying it all out
there for me to know, and I was completely caught off guard by his
honesty-and by his feelings.
"Look, right now I just wanna be your friend. I want us to hang
out and get to know each other. I want you to know me so that when
I do ask you out you'll say yes. I don't ever want you to think that this
is a game for me because it isn't."
"When are you planning on asking me out?"
"Depends on what time of the day you move out."
"Gotcha."
"But for right now, we're just friends; nothing changes, all right?
Don't worry about anything. Don't act weird or uncomfortable."
"All right. And once I move out?"
"Katy bar the door."
"You best prepare yourself, Riley, I may say no."
"No, you won't."
"I could."
"You could, but you
"You have got to be kidding me."
"No."
"Riley, that doesn't make sense. I saw you-you looked miserable when I showed up. You didn't even want to be around me. You
fled the house for God's sake."
"I wasn't miserable, I was a nervous wreck. I left to go see Joshua
so I could talk to him about you."
"What the ... ?" My mind was spinning. I tried to think back to
that first night, but my mind was foggy.
"Please don't freak out."
"I'm not. I'm just confused."
"Honestly, this isn't a game to me. I like you, and I genuinely
wanna help you get through all this stuff that you're dealing with.
You've got a lot on your plate, and I wanna help; that's all. I don't
have ulterior motives of any kind, and I don't have any intention of
acting on my feelings. We were so relaxed today that I think I let my
guard down and my feelings were more noticeable."
I was speechless. I wouldn't have guessed he felt the way he did
in a gazillion years.
"Are you upset?"
"No. Just shocked. I didn't see this coming."
"I can understand that."
I looked down at my busted Route 44 cup and wished that I
hadn't thrown it at him. My mouth was going completely dry.
"You can have mine when we get back in the car." How he knew
what on earth I was thinking was beyond me. The boy was definitely
tuned in.
"Thank you."
"Since I've been so honest, I might as well tell the rest."
"There's more? Good grief, Riley."
He ignored me and continued. "I promised myself that I wouldn't
try to start anything with you as long as you were living in our house.
I plan on keeping my word, but once you've moved into your new
place, I'd like to ask you out on a date."
"You would?"
"Yes."
"That's over two months away; your feelings will more than
likely change by then. You'll probably be sick of me."
"If my feelings change at all, I can assure you that it won't be in
that direction."
"What if I'm not interested?"
He laughed. "I hadn't even considered that a possibility."
"Oh yeah? Being a bit arrogant, aren't you?"
"We have a connection, Charlie. I feel it-don't you?"
"I suppose. I feel something; I just never thought about it."
"Well, don't get so excited about it." He was obviously disappointed in my lack of enthusiasm.
"Maybe your feelings aren't romantic ones. I mean, it's not like
you have to fight off being physical with me or anything. We've spent
a lot of time together including many nights of sleeping right next to
each other, and I didn't feel any kind of tension or anything."
He laughed again. "I wouldn't say that."
"You wouldn't? You haven't tried to kiss me or touch me in any
way.
"It's strange. What happens in that time together-at night and
how I feel about you then is very different than I feel at other times,
like right now for instance. I take my job very seriously."
"Your job?"
"Helping you feel safe. I realize that your need to feel safe is
much more important than my personal or physical interests."
"So you do have a physical interest in me?"
"Oh yeah, I'm a seventeen-year-old boy. I'm human, you know."
"How human?"
"Let's just say that if I were Catholic, I'd spend much of my time
in a confession booth."
"Oh." I was shocked by his bluntness. He was laying it all out
there for me to know, and I was completely caught off guard by his
honesty-and by his feelings.
"Look, right now I just wanna be your friend. I want us to hang
out and get to know each other. I want you to know me so that when
I do ask you out you'll say yes. I don't ever want you to think that this
is a game for me because it isn't."
"When are you planning on asking me out?"
"Depends on what time of the day you move out."
"Gotcha."
"But for right now, we're just friends; nothing changes, all right?
Don't worry about anything. Don't act weird or uncomfortable."
"All right. And once I move out?"
"Katy bar the door."
"You best prepare yourself, Riley, I may say no."
"No, you won't."
"I could."
"You could, but you
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