Jesse

After the baptisms and the Bible study on the beach I seek out Percy alone. It takes a minute, everyone wants one last word with him, but eventually everyone heads to their camp activities.

"Percy!" I say and walk up to him. He smiles at me. A welcome change to being glared at every time he met my eyes.

"Hey, Jesse. What's up?"

"Can we talk?" I ask. He nods and we start down the coast.

"What's on your mind?"

"Your sister." I answer. He chuckles.

"I figured. What about my sister in particular?"

"I screwed up with her in basically the worst way possible to screw up with someone."

"No arguments here."

"But, She forgave me already. And I want another chance." I say. He raises an eyebrow at me.

"What do you have in mind?" He asks. I take a deep breath.

"It's not a secret I like Lassa. I've made that pretty clear. I don't know if she's going to give me another chance at dating her, but I want to try."

"And you're talking to me because?"

"Because I want to do it right this time. I don't know Lassa's parents or have a way to get to Tybee Island. So I guess that makes you the one I need to ask for permission."

"Ah. Will you actually listen to what I say, or is this more of a formality?"

"I'll listen." I tell him. He takes a deep breath and rubs the back of his neck.

"Honestly, Jesse, I don't know." He says, and I deflate a little.

"Why not? I swear it's genuine this time. I won't do anything to hurt her."

"I know that. I trust you now, that's not the issue anymore."

"Then what is?"

"I don't really have the grounds." He tells me. "Not as a blanket call, anyways. I appreciate you coming to me, but I'm not Lassa's dad. You need to talk to her father about that." He answers. I sigh.

"Not Poseidon, I'm guessing."

"No, her human dad. The one who's raising her. I think she mentioned his name is Cass Jackson."

"Why is that even more intimidating than Poseidon?" I ask. Percy laughs.

"Because Cass is the one raising her. He's the one with the actual authority in her life."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Tell you what. Here's what I can do for you. You can hang out with her. Deeper your relationship. Invite her to go with you to the Fireworks for her birthday. Just stay away from anything physical with her, and don't talk about starting a relationship."

"Why can't I talk with her about it?"

"Because what separates friends from a relationship? Physicality and conversation. Talking about it would bring you closer to the line."

"Alright. For how long though?"

"I'd say through the end of summer. Then, Lassa's parents will come to pick her up. You can meet them there." He says. I sigh.

"That's like a month away. And then I probably won't even see her for another 9 months."

"It's the best I can offer you. The alternative is you go around me and her dad and face the consequences for that later on. I can't say what those would be. So you have to ask yourself, is she worth the wait?" I take another deep breath and nod.

"Yeah. She is."

"Then I guess you'll get your answer in August." He clasps me on my shoulder.

"There's a couple good things the time will give you." He says.

"What's that?" I ask.

"Patience, for one. Self Discipline, for another. But lastly, a chance to think about why you want to date her."

"Why I want to date her? I like her."

"And that answer isn't going to be good enough for her parents. You're young, Jesse, and growing up in a culture of do what you want as long as it feels good just use protection. So-"

"I swear, Percy, I wasn't thinking about having sex with her." I tell him, my face flaming. Percy laughs.

"Maybe not directly, but what does dating lead to?"

"Well, yeah, I guess, but that's still a long way off and-" He stops and turns to face me.

"First, don't get so flustered. I wasn't suggesting you did or thought anything wrong. What I was going to say is it makes sense because of the culture you've been raised in that you're not thinking into it too deep. I didn't. I just got lucky with Annabeth being the only person I was ever really with, and I figured it out dangling over the depths of the pit that I never wanted to be without her again, so we went ahead and got married.

"Since you're a Christian though, you need to be thinking deeper. The point of Christian dating is to see if this is the person you're going to marry. If you're ready to think like that, you're ready to date. If not, you might need to wait a bit."

"Well…I'm not ready to get married now." I say. Percy laughs.

"I wasn't suggesting you should be. I said you should be able to think about it down the road. Do you want to date Lassa because you think it'll be fun, or do you want to date her because you can see her being your wife one day?"

"I mean…she's kinda young for me to think of her that way."

"Is she? You already said she's incredibly mature for her age, which she is. And I just got back from living in a time period where she'd be ready to get married soon and running a house by herself, having kids not long after. I'm not saying she's ready to get married now, just that she's old enough for you to be thinking about it down the road."

"Alright. I'll think about it."

He nods at me and walks up the beach. When he's a few feet away, he turns and smirks at me.

"By the way, Jesse, Don't be so embarrassed to talk or hear about sex. If you're married, it's a good thing. Even if you're not, you should still be comfortable with the topic. Nothing's more cringy than a frustrated virgin." I feel my face get hot again. He winks at me and walks off.

I sit in the sand and can't help but feel disappointed. I think about Lassa and her thick curly hair, her striking features, and how her body's starting to grow and curve. She's beautiful. The most beautiful girl in camp. That's enough to hold my undivided attention on its own. It would be enough to hold others too, if some weren't put off by her faith, others by Percy's protective nature towards his sister. But as it is, it seems I have a clear field where she's concerned.

She's Kind and gentle, but has fiery passion. Quick to get angry but quick to cool off and forgive too. She's Braver than anyone else I know, whether it's doing crazy stunts with Skyfall, taking a challenge, standing up for a friend, or the way she lives out her faith no matter how people see her for it.

I can't stop thinking about the one night I got to kiss her. She tasted like salt, she smelled like peaches. In the moonlight, I could see her blush in a way that just made me want her more.

Percy's right. I am young, and I am growing up in a world that says do what feels good, don't think about the repercussions. But also right that I need to think about more so I have an answer ready when I talk to her dad at the end of summer.

It might not be so bad. Since Lassa started giving me flying lessons, I've gotten pretty close with a sorrel stallion named Sunburn. I can't talk with him the way Lassa can, but I've learned to read his body language and gestures. Maybe I can visit her during the year?

Patience. Self Discipline. Thinking ahead.

Can I think about marriage already? I think about Lassa, what I imagine her looking like when she's older. I try to picture an older me standing next to an older her. Marriage. Family. Do I even want kids? Does she? I'm willing to bet she does. I've never thought about it.

I take a deep breath. Marriage is such a foreign concept to me I don't even know how to picture it. So I guess I have a long way to go before I'm ready to talk to Lassa's dad about dating her. But at least Percy said I could ask her to the fireworks this Sunday.