Lori stopped at Jessi's open door and knocked on the doorframe. Jessi turned from her computer and said, "What do you want?"
Lori prompted, "Come in?"
"Come in," Jessi responded.
"Thank you," Lori answered. She went in and sat down. She took a breath, "At breakfast, this morning, you said that you thought Raymond liked you."
Jessi looked uncertain, "He seemed to like me. He kissed me several times and asked me on another date. Doesn't that mean he likes me?"
Lori laughed. "It looked like a lot more than 'liking' you. The two of you looked like you were about to make love right on the dance floor."
Jessi looked surprised, "We looked like we were about to have sex? But we had our clothes on. And you don't have sex on a dance floor."
Lori smiled, "That's usually true. But you were dancing very closely. He had his hands all over your butt and you had your hands on his. You were kissing quite passionately for a couple on a first date. You looked like two people who were about to have sex."
"I don't want to have sex with him," Jessi frowned. "Was that the wrong way to dance? I was trying to see how people were dancing so that I could learn to dance. I thought I should do what Raymond was doing."
Lori sighed, "So you were just trying to copy Raymond? How do you really feel about him? Do you like him?"
"He seemed nice," Jessi said. "I liked him paying attention to me and holding me while we danced." She looked wistful, "Everyone ignores me, except Kyle – and he doesn't want to hold me. Nicole told him not to." She frowned, "I didn't like it when he 'had his hands all over my butt' or when he used his tongue when he was kissing me, but I wanted to do the right thing, so I did it back to him. Was that wrong?"
"Oh boy," Lori sighed. "Let me give you some big sister advice…"
Jessi looked puzzled, "Are you my big sister?"
"Apparently, at the moment I am," Lori said. "When you go out with boys, they usually try to be intimate with you a lot faster than you want to be intimate with them. A girl has to discourage her date from becoming more physical than she wants him to be. The boy will keep trying to push the boundaries. You have to say no until you want to be closer."
"Isn't it wrong for boys to try to be more physical than you want them to be?"
"Yes, I suppose it is," Lori admitted. "That's the way the dating game is played, though, "Boys try to get all they can and girls say no."
"Kyle doesn't try to get 'all he can'," Jessi said, and then added wistfully, "I wouldn't say 'no' to him."
"Kyle is pure and innocent," Lori smiled. "You can't judge all boys by Kyle, and not just because of his special abilities."
"Does it make you angry when boys try to be physical with you before you want them to be?" Jessi asked.
"Not if they take a 'no' with good humor. It feels nice to be wanted," Lori said. "It's only if they persist that it can make me angry."
"So, I should tell Raymond 'no' when he tries to be more intimate than I want him to be?" Jessi asked.
"Of course you should," Lori said. "You don't have to make a big scene. When he put his hand on your butt, you should have reached down and moved it up, then smiled at him to let him know that you were being friendly but not that friendly."
Jessi frowned, "Dating is a complicated game."
"Yes, I guess it is," Lori agreed. "It takes years to learn. You are jumping into it in the middle." She smiled at Jessi, "But you're really smart, and you have a big sister to look out for you."
"Aren't we about the same age?" Jessi asked. "Why are you the big sister?"
"We are, but when it comes to dating, I'm the big sister," Lori said. "When it comes to my homework, you can be my big sister, as long as you don't make me do push-ups."