Talisman 01 - The Emerald Talisman

mind went haywire for a second, trying to think of where I wanted to start.
    “Boys,” I finally said. “I—I don’t understand them.”
    Jo suppressed a giggle and smiled appreciatively.
    “Yes, I remember what boys were like when I was your age. And that’s what they were—boys. What’s going on?”
    I looked in her eyes and sighed as she took pity on me. Her depiction of boys my age wasn’t good news.
    “Well . . .” I thought about Nicholas. He wasn’t what I would classify as a boy, but he sure wasn’t acting like a man “ . . .they can be so immature.”
    “Ah,” she said, as she put her arm around my shoulder, looking at me with a tender expression. “Have patience, they’ll grow up eventually . . . just give it a few years.”
    “Years?”
    My gift constantly reminded me girls matured faster than boys, so I didn’t understand why this revelation shocked me. Maybe it was because I’d compared every guy to Luke, who was very mature for his age and hoped I’d find someone like him someday. No one ever measured up until I met Nicholas. Or at least that’s what I had thought. Now I wasn’t so sure.
    “Well, I’m sure you heard about what happened,” I began, my tone somber.
    “With your accident? I’ve heard bits and pieces. Tell me what happened.”
    I smiled because she really wanted to know, and I kicked myself for not fighting harder to have the privilege of sitting in her kitchen sooner. Her kind, listening ear was always there through my toughest storms. She never judged and knew exactly when it was time for listening or time for finding solutions.
    The non-mountain lion version of the story flowed easily from my lips as I’d told it so many times already, but I fought the urge to tell her everything, knowing she’d overreact and tell my dad, which meant I’d never be allowed to leave the house unchaperoned again. It hurt again to tell her how Nicholas had reacted at the theater, which was a complete flip from the week before. I studied her face and emotions to see what she thought. Her quiet concern bothered me.
    “I’m not sure if he really is busy, or he’s blowing me off. What do you think?” I asked sheepishly.
    She took another bite of her cookie and thought for a moment.
    “Well, I’m not sure Julia. I think young men have a hard time expressing how they feel about things, especially to a woman they might like. You say he seemed rushed and surprised to run into you? I don’t think that’s a good sign.”
    I bit my lip to hold back a tear. The honesty hit me like a punch in the ribs.
    “Or he might just be acting tough, like men are supposed to act. They may like a girl, but then they don’t show it, possibly because they are afraid they’ll be rejected. You may think it’s easy for them, but it takes a lot of courage to put your feelings out there. Imagine being in their shoes. Take John for example. It took him a whole year to finally ask me out,” she said with a chuckle.
    I sighed secretly on the inside.
    “I hate to tell you this, but it seems young men don’t get over this until they get some relationship experience. Maybe he was embarrassed because Sam was with you.”
    I knew he wasn’t embarrassed. It was more like distracted. He had a legitimate reason to go. And he was afraid too, not the fear you feel when you’re scared, but the one you feel when there’s impending danger.
    “It’s hard to know exactly what’s changed. I’m sorry honey. I think you need to try to move on. For some reason, he’s not interested in getting to know you right now.”
    Listening to her words, something in my heart broke, but I knew she was right. Even though I still longed for him to stop by my house and end my agony, I knew he wasn’t going to—at least not this new Nicholas anyway. I needed to face the facts. It was over. There would be no us and I needed to move on.
    “Julia, these things happen. There will be a few guys in your life that you will have a huge connection with. Some will be poor timing for you; some will be poor timing for him. But one day, the timing will be right for the both of you and hopefully, that will be the one you’ll spend the rest of your life with. I know you’ll find someone who’s as wonderful to you as John is to me; you’ll see.”
    She smiled again and I forced a fake smile in return. Her love for him beamed like the sun reflects off new snow and I saw John in a new light—Jo’s light. And I decided, for her,