t wait all day. ”
“ You ’ ve waited the past two. I ’ ve been really impressed. ”
“ Seriously? Did he ask you? ”
“ Ask me what? ” His attempt at being coy is really starting to annoy me.
“ You know. He was going to ask if he could take me out on my first date. ”
“ Oh, that? ”
“ Yeah, that! ”
“ We might have talked about that, ” he says, exiting the highway and pulling into a parking lot. “ Are you ready? ”
“ Yes! ” I exclaim. “ I really want to go out with him. ”
“ Tessa, focus. I was talking about taking the wheel. ”
“ Already? I thought you ’ d get us through the boroughs. ”
“ You ’ ve got to start somewhere, ” he says with a shrug as he gets out of the car. He comes around and opens the passenger door for me. “ You brought your permit? ”
“ Of course, ” I tell him.
“ Well, let ’ s go, Contessa. What are you waiting for? ” After giving the keys back to me, I climb out of the car. He takes the passenger seat, fastening the belt and watching me as I make all the seat and mirror adjustments. Before I pull out of the lot, he turns the volume down on the music.
“ I can barely hear it, ” I whine.
“ We were having a discussion, remember? ”
“ Oh, yeah, ” I say with a smile. “ So can I go out with him? ”
“ I don ’ t know, Liv, ” he says sounding truly unsure of his answer. “ What do you see in that kid? ”
“ What do you mean? He ’ s a really nice guy, Dad. ”
“ I just think he ’ s too old for you. He ’ s a senior? ”
“ Yeah. So? I ’ m a junior, remember? ”
“ You skipped a grade, though. There ’ s a two-year age difference. ”
“ You ’ re five years older than Mom. ”
“ It ’ s different when you ’ re older. We were twice your age when we started dating. ”
“ Well, our age difference is only half as much as yours is, ” I counter.
I can see a smile spread across his lips at my logic. He nods his head slowly. “ So it is, ” he states simply. “ Well, tell me a little more about him. ”
“ He ’ s smart, and he studies hard. He ’ s trying to get a scholarship. ”
“ Where does he want to go to college? ”
“ I don ’ t know. ”
“ You don ’ t know? That seems like something you should know of a guy you want to go out with. He told me he wants to go to Columbia. That ’ s very ambitious. ”
“ He could do it. He ’ s at the top of his class. ”
“ I ’ m sure he could, ” he says. “ It ’ s very competitive, but I ’ m not discrediting his intelligence. He ’ s a pretty bright kid–very inventive in your art class, if I remember correctly. He was always finding creative solutions to your projects. ”
“ He ’ s really nice, too, ” I tell him.
“ You ’ ve mentioned that, and I should hope so. I don ’ t want your first date to be with a jerk. ”
“ So I can go with him? ”
“ Well, what did you have in mind, Liv? Did you talk about what you wanted to do? ”
“ No, ” I tell him. “ I ’ d just found out he wanted to go out with me five minutes before we got home. We weren ’ t entirely sure you ’ d say yes. ”
“ Well, he wanted to take you to some place in Greenwich Village. Some inordinately fancy restaurant, actually. ”
“ Really? Where? ”
“ I said no, Liv. ”
“ What? ” I ask him, glaring at him.
“ Eyes on the road, Tessa. Watch the traffic. ”
Frustrated, I turn my attention back to the road. “ Why can ’ t I go out with him? ” I glance briefly at him, waiting for an answer. “ I ’ m gonna be sixteen, Dad. That was the rule. You can ’ t go back on that. ” I look at him again, and he ’ s got this smug smile on his face. “ This isn ’ t funny! ”
“ Livvy, calm down. ” He squeezes my shoulder and I shrug away from his hand. “ Watch it, Livvy. I ’ m not going to spend the day fighting with you. We can go back home now. ”
“ I ’ m driving now. We ’ re not going
“ You ’ ve waited the past two. I ’ ve been really impressed. ”
“ Seriously? Did he ask you? ”
“ Ask me what? ” His attempt at being coy is really starting to annoy me.
“ You know. He was going to ask if he could take me out on my first date. ”
“ Oh, that? ”
“ Yeah, that! ”
“ We might have talked about that, ” he says, exiting the highway and pulling into a parking lot. “ Are you ready? ”
“ Yes! ” I exclaim. “ I really want to go out with him. ”
“ Tessa, focus. I was talking about taking the wheel. ”
“ Already? I thought you ’ d get us through the boroughs. ”
“ You ’ ve got to start somewhere, ” he says with a shrug as he gets out of the car. He comes around and opens the passenger door for me. “ You brought your permit? ”
“ Of course, ” I tell him.
“ Well, let ’ s go, Contessa. What are you waiting for? ” After giving the keys back to me, I climb out of the car. He takes the passenger seat, fastening the belt and watching me as I make all the seat and mirror adjustments. Before I pull out of the lot, he turns the volume down on the music.
“ I can barely hear it, ” I whine.
“ We were having a discussion, remember? ”
“ Oh, yeah, ” I say with a smile. “ So can I go out with him? ”
“ I don ’ t know, Liv, ” he says sounding truly unsure of his answer. “ What do you see in that kid? ”
“ What do you mean? He ’ s a really nice guy, Dad. ”
“ I just think he ’ s too old for you. He ’ s a senior? ”
“ Yeah. So? I ’ m a junior, remember? ”
“ You skipped a grade, though. There ’ s a two-year age difference. ”
“ You ’ re five years older than Mom. ”
“ It ’ s different when you ’ re older. We were twice your age when we started dating. ”
“ Well, our age difference is only half as much as yours is, ” I counter.
I can see a smile spread across his lips at my logic. He nods his head slowly. “ So it is, ” he states simply. “ Well, tell me a little more about him. ”
“ He ’ s smart, and he studies hard. He ’ s trying to get a scholarship. ”
“ Where does he want to go to college? ”
“ I don ’ t know. ”
“ You don ’ t know? That seems like something you should know of a guy you want to go out with. He told me he wants to go to Columbia. That ’ s very ambitious. ”
“ He could do it. He ’ s at the top of his class. ”
“ I ’ m sure he could, ” he says. “ It ’ s very competitive, but I ’ m not discrediting his intelligence. He ’ s a pretty bright kid–very inventive in your art class, if I remember correctly. He was always finding creative solutions to your projects. ”
“ He ’ s really nice, too, ” I tell him.
“ You ’ ve mentioned that, and I should hope so. I don ’ t want your first date to be with a jerk. ”
“ So I can go with him? ”
“ Well, what did you have in mind, Liv? Did you talk about what you wanted to do? ”
“ No, ” I tell him. “ I ’ d just found out he wanted to go out with me five minutes before we got home. We weren ’ t entirely sure you ’ d say yes. ”
“ Well, he wanted to take you to some place in Greenwich Village. Some inordinately fancy restaurant, actually. ”
“ Really? Where? ”
“ I said no, Liv. ”
“ What? ” I ask him, glaring at him.
“ Eyes on the road, Tessa. Watch the traffic. ”
Frustrated, I turn my attention back to the road. “ Why can ’ t I go out with him? ” I glance briefly at him, waiting for an answer. “ I ’ m gonna be sixteen, Dad. That was the rule. You can ’ t go back on that. ” I look at him again, and he ’ s got this smug smile on his face. “ This isn ’ t funny! ”
“ Livvy, calm down. ” He squeezes my shoulder and I shrug away from his hand. “ Watch it, Livvy. I ’ m not going to spend the day fighting with you. We can go back home now. ”
“ I ’ m driving now. We ’ re not going
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