The Color of a Dream Read Free Page B

met Angela. She, too, had
decided to take a year off after high school and she was working as
a waitress in one of the airport restaurants. Just like seeing
Bentley for the first time, it was love at first sight when she
approached me in the staff parking lot, needing help because she’d
locked herself out of her car. I called AAA for her and waited for
them to arrive, but when she finally got into her car, the engine
wouldn’t start. So after arranging to have her vehicle towed to a
repair shop, I gave her a lift home.
    Three weeks later, we were seeing each other
every day and I was head over heels in love. I hadn’t had much
experience with girls and I never imagined it could be like that,
but everything about Angela suited me. She was a bit of a math
geek, like me, and she hadn’t had much experience in the dating
scene either. I couldn’t understand why, because I thought she was
the most beautiful creature to ever walk the earth. Her hair was
jet black, cut in a shoulder-length bob with bangs, and she had
giant brown eyes and a soft, smooth ivory complexion. She was very
petite at five-foot-three and went to yoga class three times a
week. Every time I saw her, I felt like I’d been run over by a
truck. She was fun and sweet and incredibly kindhearted. Bentley
loved her, too.
    Before long I started thinking about moving
out of my parents’ house and getting a place of my own. My parents
didn’t approve, of course, because they still wanted me to go to
university and make something of myself.
    When I brought it up at the dinner table one
night, my father’s bushy eyebrows pulled together and two large
vertical creases formed between them. He set down his fork and
knife and leaned back in his chair.
    “How will you ever go to a good school if
you’re tied down to some waitress here in town, struggling to pay
your rent every month?” he asked.
    “Maybe I don’t want to go to a good school,”
I defiantly replied. “Maybe I just want to keep working at the
airport.” My mother fidgeted uncomfortably and her eyes pleaded for
me to walk away from this one.
    He scoffed at me, as if I were a fool.
“Believe me, when the shine wears off of this exciting new
relationship and you’re stuck in a dead end job, arguing with that
girl about how you’re going to pay the phone bill, you’ll feel
differently, and you’ll wish you had listened to me.”
    “Maybe so,” I replied, “but it’s my life and
I’m not a kid anymore. I’m nineteen and you have to let me make my
own decisions.”
    He and Mom exchanged a look, as if they were
carrying on a mental conversation I wasn’t privileged to be a part
of.
    Then Mom leaned across the table and clasped
my hand. “Jesse, it’s not that we don’t like Angela. She’s probably
a very nice girl. But you’ve had so little experience in that area.
How can I say this…?” She paused, then continued. “It’s important
to try on some different styles and sizes before you make a
commitment you can’t get yourself out of.”
    She was so much gentler than my father.
Nevertheless, I frowned at her. “It’s not like we’re moving in
together.” Though the idea wasn’t far from my mind. Angela and I
had only been seeing each other a month, but I figured—and
hoped—moving in would be the next step. For now, I just wanted a
place where I could have my privacy to be with her.
    My father still hadn’t picked up his fork.
“Your mother’s right,” he said in that deep, reverberating voice
that made everyone quiver. “You should be dating lots of girls
before you settle for just one.”
    “Like Rick does?” I tersely asked. I set my
fork down and leaned back in my chair. “He dates all kinds of girls
and manages to have a whale of a time. Do you want me to be more
like him and break lots of hearts?”
    “That’s not fair,” Mom said. “Rick has
always worked very hard at school and sports. He’s incredibly busy
and doesn’t have time for a serious