The Age of Disapproval

The Whispering Gallery

The moment of discovery was mundane but fatal. Mrs. Perkins, the neighborhood's most dedicated busybody and purveyor of fresh gossip, was walking her miniature poodle past "The Attic Window" just as Colton was slipping out one morning at 5:30 AM. He was slightly disheveled, but wore a wide, unmistakable, post-intimate smile.

Mrs. Perkins paused, her eyes narrowing as she mentally subtracted Colton’s known age (eighteen, but in her mind, still a boy) from Eleanor’s (early thirties, a stranger). By noon, the whispers had begun in the pharmacy, the grocery store, and the church basement. The narrative wasn't "two adults dating"; it was "the new woman preying on a local boy." The whispers quickly hardened into accusations. People were talking about it all over town, words spread quickly. Colton got too school and people were asking him was it true that he was dating Eleanor? Colton replied No we're just friends that's all we hang out a lot and talk about stuff you know how friends do. He walked to class and people were staring and whispering. He was really aggravated about it but there was really nothing he could do about it people are going to talk about it regardless.