“Bless me Father, for I have sinned. I kissed Jack Bartolomucci, and then I slapped him.”

“You slapped him?” he asks, incredulous. Then alarm spreads across his face. Father lowers his voice. “He did something to you that warranted slapping?”

“No, he didn’t, really…well, sort of, at least I thought so last night but today I’m not so sure.”

Fr. Sean sighs and rubs his forehead. “I’m confused, Jel.”

“Okay. Everything he did and said led me to believe he was going to ask me out and I really got my hopes up. But then he told me that, although he wanted to ask me out, he couldn’t because I’m not ready.”

“And then you kissed him?”

I nod. “And then I slapped him.”