Now, with years to look back, I see Nathan for what he was - a rebound, a diversion, and a temptation. A test, if you believe in that sort of thing. I do. Always have.
Of course, at the time I didn't recognize it. Or didn't want to. Allen and I had been "finished" for well over a year. I didn't need a rebound. So what if I wasn't really seeing anyone? I'd been busy. Between starting at the Universtiy as a junior and the rest of my life I'd just been to busy to date. Right?
One of the first Bible verses I actually memorized (waaaay back at some summer kids program) was 1 Corinthians 10:13. Not sure what that one is? Let me save you the trouble of looking. The middle part says "God... will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist."
I was a smart kid. Even at ten years old I could read between those lines. I understood that temptation would come, and resistance would be tough. Through my teenage years, faith gave me the strength to say "no" to many temptations. Cheating on assignments? No. Drugs? No. The back-biting gossipy cliquishness that ruins so many girls? No. I wasn't perfect... my commitment to attending my classes was intermittent, and my relationship with my parents was complicated, but I tried to avoid the obvious traps.
Until Nathan.
I embraced that particular temptation enthusiastically. No, I didn't have sex with him. However, as any teenager will tell you, there is plenty of fun to be had without actually "doing the deed." And we did have plenty of fun.
Jade was dissappointed.
Actually, if there's a stronger word than dissappointed, it would be more accurate. She didn't speak to me the entire time he was in town. And he stayed for three weeks. She didn't have to see him much, though. She mostly worked nights at the Super Cinema downtown. If live theater wasn't happening, she was behind the scenes at the movies, flipping the switches. One of the set designers worked at the concession booth. That was the kind of area we lived in.
It quickly became clear that he saw my lovely hometown as "quaint." It had "potential," he said, but he wasn't ready to give up the convienences of big-city life in Chicago. The way he described it, I couldn't blame him. I can't imagine actually living in a city that size. Maybe sometime I'd go there and visit. Let him show me the sights.
I knew I wouldn't do that. If I ever ended up in Chicago I doubted I'd even let him know I was in town. But it was fun to compare.
I showed him the sights. The museums. The parks. The weird statues in some of the parks. I took him to the coffee shops with the "art" on the walls. He told me about Millenium Park and the Chicago institute of Art. He had a gift for describing things so I could really see them. Of course, the Chicago photo book we got at a used bookstore/cafe the first weekend helped a bit, too.
Having settled the question of how long he'd be around, we just had fun while he was here.
Three weeks. You can have a lot of fun - and make a lot of memories - in three weeks.
