“Sit down,” Mr. Welch growled at Alison, who promptly took a seat on the couch in the living room. “Now you’re going to tell me where you’ve at all hours of the night.”

“Honey, what were you thinking?” Mrs. Welch asked her, clad like her husband in a robe.  “We’ve been up sick worrying about you since one a.m.  If you needed to stay out late, the least you could have done was called so we wouldn’t worry.”  Their guilt trip didn’t make Alison feel any better than she was already feeling.

She hemmed and hawed.  “I fell asleep, Mommy,” she finally said.  She purposely directed her comments to her mom, knowing she would be more sympathetic than her dad, who was fuming as he paced up and down the carpet.  “I was studying, honest, and I just fell asleep over my History,” she lied, feeling like she was going to hell.

“What about Lisa?” Her dad asked, Lisa being the so-called friend she had been studying with.  “We called her house and her parents said they hadn’t seen you all day.  How do you explain that?  Alison, if you wanted to go out and see that boy all you had to do was say so and be back at a decent hour. We’re more than fair with you and Samantha when you want to date, but you lied to us and had us up worrying all night.  I’m furious with you, do you hear me?  And I do not want you seeing that boy again.  What the hell were the two of you doing until three A.M.?  Huh?  Answer me that.”

Alison sat quietly for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts.  She knew she was in deep shit and was trying to figure a way out of it.  The only problem was, she had never been in trouble before and had no idea how to fix this.  If only she were Sam, who had lots of experience with early morning grillings by their parents.

“Mommy … Daddy … I was with Justin, yes.  I went over there and studied – I can even show you my homework – and we went out to eat.  When we got back, we both fell asleep.  That’s the honest truth. Nothing else happened.”  She conveniently left out the sexual interlude the two of them had shared. There were some things you never tell your parents, she thought.  Besides, if her father heard the truth he’d probably have a heart attack.

Her father continued his pacing.  “I just don’t understand this.  You’ve never done anything like this before.  Sam, I can understand – we’re used to that.”  There was a discreet cough from upstairs where Sam was listening, letting Alison know she didn’t appreciate that last remark.  “But you, you’ve always behaved properly.  This is not behaving properly, Alison, and you’re going to be punished.”

Alison bowed her head.  “I know, Dad.   I expected it when I woke up, that you would punish me.  But please don’t make me stop seeing Justin,” she pleaded.  “It wasn’t his fault!  We fell asleep, that’s all!”

Her mother entered the conversation again.  “Honey … are you … having sex with this boy?  Please be honest with us … if you … if you decided to have sex, there are things you need to know.”

“Mom, I’ve already taken Sex Ed, I know all there is about … sex,” Alison answered, her face crimson.  “And no, I’m not having sex with Justin!  We just fell asleep, I promise!  This is all just a mistake.  Please don’t turn this into something that it’s not.”

“Well, what do you expect us to think?  You stay out until three in the morning, having lied to us about who you’ve been with – this is not behavior we expect from you.  I don’t even know what to say to you now,” Mr. Welch said.  “You deserve to be punished for the way you’ve lied – and that’s the least of things we’re upset about.  God knows what you’ve been doing.  We’re not naïve enough to expect you to tell us.  Your punishment will be—“

Mrs. Welch interrupted.  “I think the best thing for everyone is to sleep on this and discuss it tomorrow,” she said, ever the peacemaker.

“But I want to—“ Mr. Welch began, only to be cut off again.

“I said in the morning, Julian,” Mrs. Welch said again.  “It’s late and we’re all a bit angry.  In the morning we can discuss this with clear heads.  Alison, I think it’s best if you go to bed.”

Alison stood.  “Okay, Mommy.  But I just want to let you know that I didn’t do anything like you’re thinking.  And I don’t plan to stop seeing Justin, since we didn’t do anything wrong.  Maybe you can punish me but when it’s over I’m going to start seeing him again.”

Mr. Welch looked even more furious than before.  “Are you defying my orders?  I don’t know what’s gotten into you since you’ve met this boy who is nothing but trouble —“

“His name is not ‘boy’,” Alison replied with a bit of anger in her voice.  “His name is Justin and he’s a good person.  “Just because I made a mistake doesn’t mean he’s wrong.  I don’t care what you say I’m not going to stop seeing him because of one mistake.  You can punish me ‘till the cows come home and I’ll still see him after.  And you can’t stop me.” 

With that said, Alison picked up her backpack and headed for the stairs, angry herself.  She’d always played by the rules and now she was being punished for one mistake.  Sam had gotten away with tons more mistakes than she had – she wasn’t going to be persecuted for one mishap.

“We’ll talk about this in the morning,” her father called after her.  “And be prepared to eat your words. This is not something that I’m taking lightly.”

Without bothering to answer, Alison headed up to her and Sam’s room.  There was nothing left to say. She wasn’t going to stop seeing Justin no matter what anyone said.

*~*

“What happened?  What did you do?  What did they say?” and eager Sam asked the moment Alison entered the room.  She immediately made her way over to her bed and flopped down, exhausted.

“I’m going to get my punishment tomorrow,” she told her sister.  “Dad thinks Justin is nothing but trouble and I think he’s going to tell me I can’t see him anymore.  If that’s what he’s thinking, I have another thing coming for him.”

Sam sat up, totally interested.  She’d never seen Alison defy their parents before.  “Are you crazy? Daddy will kill you if you don’t listen to him.  I know you like Justin but is it worth going against him? And what happened tonight?” she repeated.

Alison sighed.  “We fell asleep, that’s all,” she told her.  “We went out to dinner and came back, our stomachs full, and dozed off.  Justin woke me up about thirty minutes ago and got me home right away.”

Sam looked skeptical.  “You mean to tell me that all you did was fall asleep?  No fooling around? C’mon, Ali.  This is me you’re talking to.”

“Well,” Alison thought over what she wanted to say, “we kissed and stuff.  We did not have sex, if that’s what you mean.  I’m nowhere near doing that with anyone, you know that.  It was innocent.  It’s nothing you haven’t done before,” she finished.

“There’s a big difference between you and me and you know it,” Sam replied.  And nobody stays out ‘till three without getting something on.  You don’t have to tell me but I know – believe me, I know.”

Alison got up from lying on the bed and got into her pajamas.  “Think what you want, okay?  I told you what happened and you can choose to believe it or not.  Whatever, I don’t care.”  And she climbed under the covers and snuggled in, thinking over her evening with Justin.  It had been magic and no one was going to ruin it for her.  Most importantly, it was private and not to be shared with anyone, not even Sam, her closest ally. 

“Well, at least when you broke curfew, you did it with a bang,” Sam said.  “I hope you’re ready for what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

“Mmph,” was all Alison said.  “Goodnight, Sam.” And with that she turned her lamp off and lulled herself to sleep with thoughts of Justin and the wonderful things he had shown her tonight.

She definitely wanted more.

*~*

“So what happened?  Did you get in trouble?” Justin wanted to know.

Alison moved the cell phone he had given her from one ear to the other.  “I’m on restriction for three weeks,” she said miserably.  “I’ve been commanded to go from home to school and back again, and no studying with ‘friends’ for the duration.”

Justin let out a curse.  “We fell asleep, for fucks’ sake!  It was just an accident!  How are we supposed to see each other for three weeks?”

“I don’t know,” Alison answered.  “I was thinking we could maybe meet after school for a few minutes or whatever, but I don’t want you driving all that way for a few minutes worth of time.  It’s way out of your way.”

“No, no,” Justin said.  “Even if it’s only for a few minutes, it’s worth it.  I can’t believe your parent went so haywire about it when you’ve practically never done anything wrong.  Why didn’t they give you the benefit of the doubt?”

“My mom said it’s because Daddy was so worried,” Alison told him.  “And there’s nothing I can do.  I told them that I wouldn’t stop seeing you though.  They even asked me if we … you know,” she said uncomfortably.

“Had sex?” Justin asked.  “Did you tell them no?  Because we didn’t, Ali.  I know we fooled around but it was just innocent fun.”

Alison bristled.  “Had fun?” she asked.  “That’s the furthest … I mean, I’ve never done that with anyone.  It wasn’t just innocent fun to me,” she said, a little upset.

“Don’t get upset, baby,” Justin replied.  “I didn’t mean it didn’t mean something, I just meant we didn’t get our freak on, you know?  All we did was kiss … and touch …”

Alison turned red when she thought about what had transpired that night.  “I know.  But it’s just I never went that far before.  I always expected to do that stuff with the man I’d marry,” she said frankly.  “But I got carried away, I guess.”

“Are you saying you didn’t enjoy it?” Justin asked, his voice husky.

“You know I did!” Alison exclaimed.  “It was like I’d never imagined.  I guess I’m just shy about those sort of things,” she finished, her face still burning hot.

“I like that about you,” Justin said.  “I like that I’m your first … and if I have my way, I’m gonna be your last,” he told her.

Not knowing what to say, she sat in silence. 

“Ali?  You there?” Justin asked.

“I’m here,” she replied.  “I guess I just don’t know what to say to something like that.  It’s more than I expected from you.”

Justin chuckled.  “I think I may surprise you,” he told her. “I’m strictly a one woman man, and I think I’ve found the right woman.  You’re everything I’ve ever wanted, Alison.  I think about you all the time, and all I want to do is be with you.  I don’t know how we’re going to get through these three weeks.”

“Not only the three week,” Alison reminded him.  “My parents think its’ best if we don’t see each other anymore.  But I can’t do that … I want to be with you too much, and I told them that.  Whatever we have to do, however much we have to sneak around, and then I’m prepared to do it.  I want to be with you, too.”

“Then we’ll make this work, baby,” Justin said.  “Like you said, whatever we have to do.  Your parents don’t get home until five or six.  That means we have a few hours to spend together, right?”

Alison sighed.  “They told me they’ll be calling me to see if I’m at home at the right time from school.  I have to be there to answer the phone or else I’ll get in even deeper trouble.”

Justin consoled her.  “Look, we’ll figure something out.  Don’t worry, okay?  I can’t not spend time with you.  No kissing, no holding … it’s not an option.  I’ll figure something out.  You know, Ali, you’re eighteen – you can do whatever you want.  Legally, you’re an adult.”

“But where am I supposed to live?  I can’t defy their orders and expect to live under their roof, Justin.”

“So live under mine,” he said, blowing her mind.

Could she do it?  Should she do it?  Alison had no idea what to do … the only thing she knew was that she couldn’t stay away from Justin.

Maybe it was time to make that move.