“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said in alarm. “Don’t breathe a word to him.”
“But—”
“No,” she said, interrupting me. “He doesn’t need to know that. In any case, it might just scare him. And you don’t want him to back out at the last minute, do you?”
“Of course not.”
“Don’t tell him.”
“He might figure it out, though,” I pointed out.
“How?”
“Well… What if I…make a mistake?”
Missy laughed as she put her hands on my shoulders and gave me a little shake. “You’re over thinking now.”
“Very possibly.”
“As I said before, just relax and enjoy yourself, okay?”
I sighed. “I’ll try,” I nodded. “But can I ask you one favor?”
“What?” she asked suspiciously.
“Just try and find out what the consequences are if you’re caught having a relationship with a teacher.”
“Nat—”
“I’m still going on the date,” I pointed out. “But since I’m doing this, I just want to know what I’m risking. That’s fair, right?”
“Fine,” she huffed. “I’ll do a little research.”
“Thank you.”
I gave Missy a hug, and when I let go, I was feeling a little more confident. “Okay,” I said. “I think it’s time for me to leave.”
She looked at me and shook her head in disbelief. “It’s like I’m watching my child go off to college or something… I just feel so proud.”
I laughed. “Oops, forgot my phone.”
“Here you go,” Missy said, passing it over to me.
“And my purse,” I said, spying it on my desktop.
She shook her head and threw it over to me. “You are nervous, huh?”
“Can you blame me?” I asked. “This is the first time I’ve going over to a guy’s house.”
“A lot of firsts for you tonight, huh?”
“We don’t know that sex is definitely going to happen tonight,” I pointed out.
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, it’s happening… Unless of course, you chicken out at the last moment.”
“I’ll try not to,” I said. “Believe it or not, I actually want to jump this hurdle.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be thinking of it as a hurdle.”