You Ask Too Many Questions!

Since Nathan’s prom and since I had been ceremoniously deleted from his Facebook page for major infractions*, I had no idea where his love life was or if he even had one. Given his change in demeanor, the last few months, I treaded lightly on the conversation path. I kept it to the parent-teenager minimum, which was “Hi,” “How are you?”, “What’s new?”, “Where are you going?”, “What time will you be home?” and “I love you.”

*First infraction: I asked him if he was depressed, because of some song lyrics he posted. Second infraction, and the one that got me booted off his Facebook page: I told him to change his Facebook picture.

In my defense, I thought I was just doing my job as “Mom” with the first infraction. For the second infraction, I was a tad guilty; Nathan was displaying his prom picture, which featured Kelsey. Of course, Quinn had told me that he found out that Kelsey went to her prom with someone else. She told Nathan she wasn’t going to her own prom; and I never said anything, and it bugged me.

Was Kelsey playing the field? I guess so, and she was entitled. Should she just have been honest with Nathan? Probably, but sometimes, especially in matters of the heart, honesty is hardly ever heard.

When I picked Nathan up at his Dad’s today, I said, “Hi.”
He said, “Hi.”
I said, “Where do you need to go tomorrow?”
He said, “I need the car to go to work tomorrow, and if it’s okay, after work, I need the car, because I’m going to hang out with a friend.”

I told him that he could take my car. Though, just then, my Law & Order ears perked up or I was back to that Maxim coffee commercial; Nathan never says “a friend.” Being quite daring and risking the wrath of a bitter angry teenager, I asked, “Who’s the friend?”

Nathan paused; aha, my sleuthing instincts were right! He said, “Megan.” I stupidly said, “Oooooooooohhhhhhh.”

He gave me the eye roll as if wishing he said, “Michael” instead of “Megan.” I asked, “So, what are you doing?” He hesitated and said, as if he was about to give me the PIN number for his ATM card, “I don’t know. We’re going for a walk or something.”

I grinned but only in my head. Not only had he pretty much aced his History and Biology AP exams (4 out of 5), he had mastered mind reading somewhere between Subway and the soccer field. He said, “See this is why I don’t tell you anything. You ask too many questions!”

I knew I was already at the parent-teenager question-asking maximum, so I pushed further with, “What’s she look like?” Nathan said, “Um, I don’t know.” I had to laugh, though at the same time it made me think what a good guy he was for not even dwelling on the physical attributes.

I asked, “So, she’s going to be a Senior, too?” Nathan nodded. I then asked, “Does she play sports?” And, Nathan, for one who said I asked too many questions, had so many answers for me and responded with, “Soccer and Track.”

There was a momentary pause; and, I thought, “Should I push the adolescent envelope?” So, I decided to try for new answers to old questions and asked, “What color is her hair?” Nathan listened to what I said, processed it, and then got a befuddled look on his face and said, “Oh! Jeez. It’s long. I forget what color it is!”

It was now time for Plan B; revert to questions that are less personal. I asked, “So, what does she want to be when she grows up?” He said, “I don’t know.”

He then said, quite unexpectedly, “Remember when you picked me up that time, and I was sitting next to a girl?” I wanted to say, “Nathan, I barely remember the route I took to get to your Dad’s house after work tonight, never mind something that happened when I picked you up months ago,” but I didn’t. I answered, “No. But, that’s okay. Never mind.”

I figured it was time to stop. I had already got more information about of Nathan in 15 minutes, than I had got out of him the last six months. I decided to abandon this mission; it had been successful!

After we ended the conversation, I said, “So, what’s new?” Nathan said, “Nothing.” And, we were back to normal.

Nathan thought I was prying in his life. When I thought about it as we drove along Route 110 in silence, I was really being a voyeur of sorts. I could think of nothing better than watching and being reminded of new, young, and untainted love. ♥

Bless the Weather Note: A big thunder storm just passed through; while it’s loud and scary, I love it just the same. I had a bad day yesterday. This is the way my day felt in weather; however, you have to bless the weather that makes you stronger. ♥