Unexpected Life

First love

Rosalind's first love felt like ' The Love'. As do most first loves. He was perfect to her. For 7th grade you could not tell her any different.

His name was Brian. He had brown hair, blue eyes, a smile that could light up the darkest room, and the perfect tan. He was the quarterback for the football team and quiet, but popular.

He was kind and respectful. Now the dating rule was a semi-strict one. She was allowed to hold hands at school, sit with him at lunch, and call him on the phone after her chores and homework were completed. Everyday he would wait for her on the steps of the building. As she would walk up he would take her books and walk her to class. When the lunch bell rang and she walked out of class he would be waiting by the door. Again, he would carry her books for her to her locker. They enjoyed lunch together with their friends laughing and talking.

Rosalind would rush home everyday after school, quickly finish her homework, complete her chores, and then call Brian and talk to him until dinner was ready. After dinner she would complete her nightly routine then call Brian back and talk for another hour before bed.

Things continued in much the same manner all through 7th and 8th grade. The rules stayed the same for her through junior high. She never minded the rules much always happy that she could spend time with him in any way.

Through the summer before her freshman year many things were changing. Her brother was packing for college. He wanted to get there early and get settled in so he could explore a little before classes started. She was feeling a little sad that she was not going to have her big brother home as much anymore. He had decided on NYU. A school that for from Texas felt like it might as well be another country. She knew how much he wanted the change though. He had always wanted to live in a big city. Watching him go was going to be very hard though.

This wasn't the only change happening however. Rosalind herself was changing. She had already been through the normal teenage changes. Those had started when she was in the sixth grade. These changes were bigger. It felt like it was almost over night she was going from looking like a little girl to looking like a woman. With all the sports she played she had always been fit. Now as she looked at herself in the mirror she had more womanly curves than before.

With all the changes she knew this year was going to be a big one. She missed Brian. He was away at football camp and wouldn't be back until a week before school started. She wasn't going to get to see him until their first day of school, which was three weeks away. She couldn't wait for school to start.

She was struggling a little with balancing. She was excited about school but sad because they were only a couple of days away from taking her brother to the airport and saying goodbye. They had taken a few family trips this summer to spend as much time together as they could. They camped out on the beach for a weekend. They went with friends to the lake for a weekend and spent a week on the Frio river in a cabin.

Tonight was Charles' big farewell party at the restaurant. All their family and friends were coming for dinner. With lots of work they made the restaurant look very festive. They had balloons, cake, tons of food, and a Good luck poster. There were definitely many tears and hugs. After the party was over everyone pitched in to clean up and headed to bed. Charles' flight was taking off very early the next morning.

The next morning they got up and had breakfast together. As his parents loaded his bags into the car Charles hugged his Uncle Jack and said goodbye to everyone in the restaurant. They loaded up in the car and headed for the airport. It wasn't until Charles was walking towards his gate after hugging his parents and sister that Rosalind began to tear up. She was saying goodbye to her brother and she wasn't going to see him again until Christmas. It was going to be a long 3 months. At least she had school to look forward to to keep her distracted.

The next two weeks flew by like nothing. She had worked in the restaurant with her parents to make things go faster. It had really helped. Today was the day. She was going to start high school and see Brian. She was buzzing with excitement. You could almost see her vibrating with the excitement. She had spent hours the night before trying to pick out the perfect outfit. She hugged her parents and headed off to school.

When she arrived she saw him waiting on the front steps of the school. Just like everyday since the beginning of 7th grade. His smile made her heart melt and his hug made everything feel better. They walked in to the school holding hands. Classes went by quickly. There was definitely more work this year than the years before, but nothing she didn't think she could handle. Before she knew it the lunch bell was ringing. As she walked out of class Brian was waiting for her. They walked to the cafeteria talking about their new classes and volleyball tryouts after school.

Once they got their food and sat down at the table to eat she noticed Brian looked a little distracted.

" So what has you so distracted?" she asked a little worried about what he was going to say.

" Well I have been thinking about us actually." he responded not giving away much on the subject.

" Oh Yeah? What have you been thinking?"

" Well I have actually been thinking about the fact that we are in High school now, and I was wondering if your parents might change the rules a little. You know since we are older now. I was wondering if they would let me actually take you out. On a proper date." He said.

" You know I have not actually even thought to ask that question. We have had so much going on at home I don't think they have even had the chance to really think about it. Maybe I could talk to them about it tonight at dinner." she replied.

After school she headed to volleyball tryouts whole Brian headed to football practice. After tryouts Rosalind headed home to get her homework and chores done. She was nervous about talking to her parents. She knew that things couldn't stay the same. She was going over the topic points in her head. She finished her homework and chores and called Brian. They talked for a bit then she headed down to do her shift in the restaurant.

At dinner that night once her parents sat down at the table she said she wanted to discuss something with them.

" Of course Sweetie, anything." Dalia replied

" What is going on, Dear?" her dad asked.

" Well its nothing bad. I just wanted to talk about the dating rules. Now that I am in high school." She started. " I was wondering if the rules were going to change now. I am more mature than I was in junior high. I was wondering if I was finally going to be able to finally go on a real date with Brian?"

" Well we haven't really had a chance to talk about things." Her mother responded while looking to her father for confirmation before continuing. After a subtle nod from Jones, Dalia continued. " I think that because you showed us over the last couple of years that you two can make good choices and follow our rules that it is a good Idea to let you guys have a little more freedom than before."

" I feel the same way your mother does about this. Brian is a good boy and I know that he will not let anything happen to you." Jones agreed. " The only thing I would like to say is that if you are going to be going on an actual dates there will be rules that are a little different. I would like for either his parents or us to be the ones that drop you off and pick you up."

" I think that is a very good idea. I will tell Brian that you have changed things too."