Chapter 3

Thursday, April 19th. A day I will never forget.

It started out great. School went well. Julie and I managed to make out a little in the hallway between classes. Football practice went smoothly. My sprained ankle was pretty much healed. The doctor had said I could start running and training after three weeks. That was tomorrow.

The day was a great day, until dinner time. My family and I were eating dinner when the phone rang. Dad answered it. Normally he asks whoever calls during dinner to call back. Dinner is family time, no interruptions. This time he laid the phone down and came to get me.

All Dad said was "It's Julie."

I went to the kitchen and picked up the phone. "Hello, Julie?"

"Kyle! I have to see ... sniffle ... see you. Immediately!"

"I can't sweetie. I'm in the middle of dinner."

"Ppp ... pllleeeaasseee ... I have to ... sniffle ... see you right now!"

"I can't. You know how my parents are about family dinners. They'll have a shit fit."

"Sob ... How ... how soon ... will you be ... sniffle ... done?"

"Give me fifteen minutes, OK?" I asked.

"Fifteen minutes. I'll see you then."

"I love you, Julie."

All I heard on the phone were sobs before she hung up. I went back to the dining room.

Mom asked, "What wrong, Kyle?"

"I don't know. Julie couldn't say. She was too busy crying. She's going to come over as soon as we are done with dinner. Hopefully I can get her to tell me what is wrong."

Our family's mood was subdued after the phone call. All of us were wondering what was wrong. The doorbell rang just as I was finishing dessert.

"Can I be excused?" I asked.

"Yes" Dad answered.

I rushed to the door to meet my lover. "What's wrong, honey?" I tried to say. Julie flung herself at me.

"Hold me ... Please hold me!" Julie gasped between her sobs. She clung to me, sobbing and shaking. Mr. Simpson, er, Bill was standing on the porch too.

"May I come in Kyle?" he asked. I nodded. "I'll go talk to your mom and dad, OK?" I nodded again.

I maneuvered my lover to the couch in the living room. She clung to my body, sobbing.

"Julie, what's wrong? You can tell me." I asked repeatedly.

Julie kept repeating her mantra, "Hold me!" as she sobbed on my shoulder. She clung to me. I wrapped my arms around her and rocked her as she cried. I caught snippets of the conversation between Bill and my parents.

"I'm so sorry to dump my problem on you like this Dan and Sharon. I'm so sorry." Bill explained.

"It's OK. What has happened?" Dad asked.

They must have moved into the kitchen because I couldn't hear them as well. I did catch something about a promotion.

"Julie, what is wrong?" I asked quietly. She didn't answer. She clung to me and cried. I rocked us back and forth and tried to comfort her. "Please, Julie. Tell me what is wrong."

My parents and Bill came back into the dining room. I heard them pull chairs out and sit down. Coffee cups clinked on the saucers when they set them down.

Bill said, "I never expected Julie to take the news this badly."

Dad answered, "It's not your fault. We would have to deal with Kyle when he finds out in any case."

Bill replied, "I know she really likes Kyle. He is her first serious boyfriend. I never expected Julie to react like this."

Mom added, "They have been going steady for six months."

Bill continued, "I think that Kyle and Julie have been um, intimate. That might explain Julie's reaction. What do you think?"

"Uh yeah ... I expect that you are right. I believe Kyle and Julie probably have had sex." Dad answered.

Bill asked, "Do you think they are careful?"

"I know Kyle knows about birth control," Mom said. "I'm sure they are safe."

Dad gently pointed the conversation away, "Bill, tell me about your promotion."

"It's a great offer I couldn't refuse. I'll be plant manager. It's a big boost in salary too. I've worked for Case New Holland for fifteen years. This is the opportunity I've wanted."

"That's great, Bill," Dad replied.

Julie was sobbing a little less. I brushed Julie's hair away from her face. "Honey, please tell me what is wrong."

Bill continued explaining, "The hard part is moving. I've lived in Paradise my entire life."

I straightened up a little. I held Julie face in my hands. "Shhhh ... tell me Julie. You're ... moving?"

Julie sniffled and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Dad's moving us ... us to ... Ne ... Ne..." The tears started to flow again.

"Shhh ... Shhh ... Julie please tell me. New Holland?" I whispered in her ear.

Julie choked back a sob and finally said, "No. Ne ... Nebraska."

I collapsed backwards against the couch. I hugged Julie to me automatically. Nebraska! Suddenly my life plans were collapsing. Get recruited by a big college football program. Go to that college with Julie. Get an education together. If things went well, maybe I could get into the NFL. Marry Julie after college was done. When football was over I'd start my career; start a family – all with Julie. The most important part of my life plan was to be with Julie. Now she is moving a thousand miles away.

A tear rolled down my cheek. I wanted to cry too, but I needed to be strong. I was the guy. It's my job. I wiped it away and held Julie's head up. I stared into her eyes. "I don't know how, but we will get through this. We belong together. Some how, some way, we will end up together. Forever!"

"Do you believe that, Kyle?"

"I do. I love you totally. We will find a way through all of this." I said. I kissed Julie on the lips. She was hesitant at first, but warmed to my kiss. We kissed for a minute.

Julie asked, "Do you really think we can stay together, Kyle?"

"Some how. We'll figure this out. There isn't any way I'm going to let you go. I love you too much. I want us to go to college together. I want to make a life with you. I want a family."

Julie shivered as I held her. Her face brightened a little. "I want to do that Kyle. Making a life together sounds perfect."

I gave my lover another kiss. "We'll do this together, you and me."

Julie declared, "I am the luckiest girl in the world. I believe you mean it."

We cuddled for a couple minutes. I asked, "Have you studied for the History test tomorrow?"

"No. Do you want to study together this evening?"

"Sure" I answered. Julie let her father know about our plans to study. He headed back to his house, promising to pick Julie up at 8:30. We spent the rest of the evening studying together. Julie hugged me and clung for a few seconds when it was time for her to go home.

--oooOooo--

I barely slept that night. I tossed and turned. I tried to think of ideas that would allow us to stay together or force Julie's parents to keep us together. At first I came up with some really dumb ideas. Run away where we couldn't be found. Get married secretly so we couldn't be separated. The dumbest idea I had was to get Julie pregnant. They couldn't break us apart if we had a child.

About two in the morning I realized that none of these ideas would work. Julie and I needed to demonstrate our maturity if we would have a chance of convincing her parents to allow us to stay together. Julie and I needed to act like we were old enough to make a lifetime commitment to each other. I must have finally dozed off sometime in the early morning. My alarm clock woke my much too soon.

I explained what was going on with Julie to Ed and Jeremy on the way to school. Julie and I normally spent every second together between classes that we could manage. Today, Julie and I literally clung together between classes. Usually our physical contact was free and unforced. Today physical contact was essential. We needed to touch just to assure each other that we would work things out. At lunch Julie gave me pleasant news. W. J. was going to a soccer tournament in Allentown tomorrow. Julie had the house to herself tomorrow. I explained to Ed that I would help him part of the day with his Eagle project, but was going to Julie's after lunch. He was OK with it. He expected to have enough help for his work day without me.