Scotty and I continued attending church activities together. As we grew closer, our church leaders became concerned and started keeping a close eye on us. Scotty had been walking me home from church activities. We would hang out on the side of my house or in my backyard wrapped in each other’s arms for hours. As our church leaders grew suspicious of our activities, they started to intervene. On activity nights, I was confiscated from the gym at precisely 9:00 and accompanied home by a leader so Scotty and I started sneaking away. We’d hide under the stage in the gym or out in the parking lot. We’d wait until everyone has left the church, and then we’d walk to my house.

 

Scotty’s mom started getting worried about us so she put more restrictions on Scotty. She no longer wanted him to attend youth activities since he was eighteen. I still hadn’t turned sixteen, so I was still off limits to him. Call it what you may, but we were “a thing” and everyone knew it, and everyone wanted to keep us from the path of no return.

 

In October, Scotty and I attended a church dance together. We danced every slow song, and Scotty gave me a ride home that night. As we sat in his truck talking, I had my head on his shoulder. He turned his head toward me, squished my nose almost flat, and kissed me. It was awkward, and we laugh about it now, but it was our first kiss.

 

We’d resisted kissing for eight months. We hoped to make it until my sixteenth birthday, but eight months is pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately, once you get that first kiss, it’s not long before kissing takes up all of your time. We kissed in the car, we kissed in the back yard, we might have even kissed in my room. Ahem. Sorry, Mom.

 

photo-booth.jpg

 

Scotty and me in the photo booth at the mall.

 

Since I wasn’t sixteen yet, our actions were risky. I started getting worried that we’d be facing more temptations soon. I expressed my concerns to Scotty. I told him we needed to stop kissing until I turned sixteen on New Years’ Day. We resisted for about a week, and then went right back to our old ways.

 

Mormons are taught not to have sex before marriage. The temptation to do so is very strong when you’re dating and spending every possible minute together. Scotty and I could have easily given in and done whatever we wanted, but there was something keeping us from doing so.

 

To be continued…

 

And now it’s time for a brief three-day intermission. I’m going out of town with my family which will be super fun. I’ll be back on Saturday, and hopefully I’ll have time to post a chapter before we leave that night to go out of town with Scotty’s family. I’ll be back for good Monday night, and then Scotty is starting school full-time at nights, and I will be lonesome. Sniff, sniff.