“Isn’t your mom right next door?” Claire whispered.
“Yeah but she’s out for the night,” her boyfriend whispered back.
Claire and Aj had been dating, albeit in secret, for three weeks now. They actually managed dates out a few times a week without anyone but Denise getting suspicious. Most nights though, they spent in Aj’s room (or Claire’s, it just depended on if Aj was sharing a room) watching a movie, playing cards or just talking; it was rather nice.
This particular night was movie night and they were both sitting cross legged on Aj’s bed.
“I am NOT watching Mega Sumo Wrestling!” Claire stated.
“But it’s funny!” Aj told her.
She crossed her arms. “Nope.”
“Fine. What do you want to watch?”
She surfed through the menu and asked, “L, C or A?”
“C. Why?”
“Cinderella it is!” Claire squealed and Aj groaned.
“Aw come on! Not Disney.”
“Have you ever watched Cinderella?” Claire questioned.
“”No.”
“That settles it. We’re watching Cinderella.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Man. There was an earthquake. And it wasn’t stopping because Claire kept shaking.
“Claire sweetie, wake up,” the earthquake said.
Wait--earthquakes didn’t talk. She opened her eyes to find Denise, Aj’s mom, shaking her shoulder.
“Denise, what’re you doing in my room?” Claire asked, rubbing her eyes as she sat up.
She saw Aj sleeping beside her and groaned. “Oh man,” she shoved Aj sideways. “Why’d you let me fall asleep?!”
“Wassgoinon?” Aj mumbled through his rude awakening.
“You let me fall asleep!” Claire whined. “Brian’s gonna be PISSED.”
“He doesn’t know, he asked me to tell you he and Leighanne were going for an early breakfast and that they’ll stop by when they get back,” Denise told Claire.
Claire sighed. “That’s good. I’m going back to my room.”
She got out of bed and put her slippers on. “I’ll see you guys later.”
Denise stopped her at the door. “Why don’t you and I go out today?” she asked. “We’ll have a girls day while the Boys are doing today’s interviews.”
“That sounds like fun,” Claire told her. “I could use a girly day. I’ve been around the guys too much.”
“Ok, we’ll meet in the lobby at noon and go for lunch first.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you then. ‘Bye J!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Claire and Denise were seated in a little restaurant called “La Beya” going over menus.
“Diet coke please,” Claire told the waitress when asked for her drink order.
“Make those two diets please,” Denise said.
“Sure thing. I’ll be right back with them.”
They sat in silence while waiting for Mona, the waitress, to bring their drinks. Claire got the feeling that there was something Denise wanted to talk about.
They placed their food orders and drank their soda slowly while looking around the room.
Denise still looked a bit troubled so Claire asked, “Denise, is there something you want to talk about?”
Denise swallowed and sat her glass back down on the table. “Actually,” she said. “There is.”
“What is it?”
Before Denise could elaborate, Mona returned with their food.
After a few bites, Claire said, “You were saying?”
“Oh. Yes. I wanted to know why you were in my son’s room this morning.”
Claire was almost certain this wasn’t what she really wanted to say. “We were watching Cinderella last night. I guess we fell asleep.”
“But why were you with him in the first place? I’ve noticed you two spending a lot of time together lately.”
“Well, it was kind of…a date,” Claire confessed.
Denise’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
Claire nodded.
“Are you dating my son?” she asked.
“Yes, but my brother doesn’t know and I’d rather he didn’t find out just yet if that’s okay with you.”
Denise nodded, saying, “You guys will tell everyone when you’re ready to. How long?”
“Three weeks and thank you.”
They finished eating and headed to the mall.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
They were resting and drinking Starbucks in the food court when Claire noticed the look Denise was giving her. She’s only seen the look twice before, once when she was eleven and had started her period and then right before she left on tour. Claire hoped it didn’t mean what she thought it meant.
Denise took a deep breath and began, “Claire, I don’t know if your mothers (Denise knew Claire’s background) have talked to you about this so I’m going to.”
Claire thought about interrupting Denise but thought it would seem rude, so, even though she’d already had “the TALK” twice before, she let Denise continue. Hopefully, there’d be an opening for Claire to say that she’d already heard this.
“You’re at the age when you’ll start feeling different about boys. You’ll want to do things you never thought you’d ever want to do. And it’s quite possible that boys will try to get you to do things with them; if you don’t want to do those things, don’t. Make sure that you don’t let them touch you inappropriately, because, if teenage boys are still the same as they were when I was a teen, they will try,” Denise paused and took a breath. “But if you become,” it looked like the next word was painful for her to say. “Sexually active, make sure you protect yourself. Use condoms and birth control if you have it. If you have neither, no sex.”
Claire was sure her face was redder than a brand-new crayon, even if said crayon had never left the box.
“Denise,” Claire said, unsure of how to continue. “I probably should’ve told you this when you started talking but my mom, both of them, have already had this chat with me.”
Denise looked a bit relieved. However, she added, “Just one more thing and we’ll get back to shopping. If you and my son, um, sleep together, please make sure you’re safe. I don’t want to have to explain to your parents why their sixteen year old came home pregnant.”
“We’re not sleeping together. I promise. I don’t plan on having sex until I’m married. So we don’t have to worry about any surprises,” Claire told her.
Denise got up to throw their trash away and Claire said aloud to herself, “Nothing could possibly be more embarrassing than getting the sex talk from your boyfriend’s mother now could it?”
Chapter End Notes:
I found in writing this chapter that I'm leaning more toward only wanting BOYS when I have children. It would be just awkward for me to have to give my kid a sex talk, especially considering that I NEVER got one.
