How a Teen’s Parents’ No Dating Rule Affects Her Relationships in a New High School Romance

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In my high school romance “What Happens After You Confess Your Feelings to Someone?”, the main character is the daughter of Haitian-American immigrants. While her parents are very loving, they can also be a little overprotective. As a result, they’ve set a rule for her that ends up causing much of the friction in the story.

Chloe’s parents have a “no dating until senior year” rule because they want her to focus on her studies, not boys and relationships. Chloe starts the story as a sophomore, and because of this rule, she won’t be allowed to pursue a romantic relationship with anyone until she becomes a senior. That means she has to settle for being just friends with her crush Mordecai. But she seems to prefer that to being nothing to him at all.

How the Rule Affects Chloe’s Friendship With Her Crush

Much of the story is centered around Chloe’s strong crush on Mordecai, a junior at her school. She loves him even though they share a complicated friendship, one that often leaves her in tears because of his insensitivity to her feelings. But it seems their relationship could be much less complicated if it weren’t for Chloe’s parents’ rule.

The only reason Mordecai claims he won’t date Chloe at the beginning of the story is because she’s not allowed to date. But she tells him he could just ask her parents for permission instead. He chooses not to do that. And this leaves Chloe wondering how he really feels about her.

But what would have happened if Chloe’s parents hadn’t set that rule? Would Mordecai have been willing to ask her out then? We’ll never know, but it’s something to ponder.

As it is, because Chloe isn’t allowed to date, she gets to watch Mordecai go out with girl after girl. And while she sometimes plays counselor to Mordecai when he’s dealing with his own relationship drama, what she really wants is to be his girlfriend.

Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 23 that gives you a sense of how much inner turmoil Chloe’s friendship with Mordecai causes her. In this sample, Mordecai has just shared his college plans with Chloe. She’s narrating.

[Chloe] “Well, learn a lot there. And have fun.”

[Mordecai] “I’ll try. But it would be even more awesome if you went there, too.”

“Why? So I could compete with all the college girls who’ll be vying for your attention? I’ll pass.”

“I don’t know. By then, you’ll be able to date. So…”

“So…what?”

“So, you never know what will happen.”

I so want to hear Mordecai say what I’ve been yearning to hear for so long—that he’ll wait for me—that he’ll ask my parents’ permission to date me—that he wants to be with me and only me. Sometimes it seems like he’s close to saying it, but he can’t get the words out. And I don’t know why.

Why can’t he just wait? Is he that desperate to be in a relationship? And if so, why does he have such a hard time making them stick? Does he ever really intend to date me? Why can’t he make up his mind? And why do I keep letting him play with mine? Oh, Mordecai. I’d cross an ocean to be with you. But you have to ask first.

Of course, even if Mordecai didn’t want to brave Chloe’s parents and ask them for permission to date her, he could still tell Chloe how he feels about her. After all, at the beginning of the story, she has already told him that she likes him. But he refuses to share his own feelings. And all of this contributes to the complex friendship they share.

How the Rule Affects Chloe’s Friendship With Her Good Friend

When Chloe’s father meets Mordecai for the first time, her father is less than thrilled about the idea of Chloe having him as a friend. And despite their emphasis on studies, Chloe’s parents don’t really like the idea of her helping him with schoolwork either. Mordecai isn’t what you would call “parent-approved.” That description goes better with Simon. From the moment Chloe’s parents meet him, they embrace him.

Here’s how Chloe describes their first time playing board games together in Chapter 4, soon after Simon starts going to Chloe’s high school. (He’s a new student at the start of the story.)

And so my family and I play board games with Simon around the wooden coffee table in our family room. We start with a game he’s not so familiar with, which makes our rounds more instructional and, thus, relaxed than usual. This leaves room for a lot more fun and laughing than usual. And also a lot of getting to know Simon.

I could tell almost the instant we met that he’s one of those parent-approved boys—the kind parents don’t mind leaving their daughters alone with—the kind who often serve as a cover for the boys those daughters really want to date. Simon is kind and considerate, he can take a joke, and he asks intelligent questions. And if my parents were to describe him to someone, they would undoubtedly utter the phrase, “He’s a nice guy,” at some point. But Simon might wince if he heard that description of himself.

Despite his niceness, I was somewhat afraid to tell my parents about my new male friend…He is still a boy, after all. But I’m relieved when I see how my parents welcome him into our home—my dad in particular. This means I’ll be free to spend time with Simon whenever I want—though still probably not alone at his house. My parents will have to know him a lot better before that happens.

So, even though Chloe isn’t allowed to date until senior year, it seems her parents are fine with her having a suitable male friend. But knowing that her parents approve of Simon does nothing to alter her feelings for him. She sees him as a friend, and Mordecai is the one she loves.

But she doesn’t choose to love Mordecai out of rebellion. She loved him before she met Simon. And because her feelings are strong, they can’t be shifted that easily. As you read the story, you may even start to wonder, can they shift at all? What’s going to happen when Chloe is finally allowed to date? Will Mordecai ask her out? Or will Simon find a way out of the friend zone and into her heart?

You’ll just have to read the story to find out.

Final Thoughts

In my YA romance “What Happens After You Confess Your Feelings to Someone?”, Chloe—the protagonist—is a good girl. She wants to follow her parents’ “no dating until senior year” rule, and she tries her best to do so. But since she is a teenager, it’s understandable that she would slip sometimes—especially since her crush Mordecai can be unpredictable and her love for him is strong.

If you would like to dive deeper into how the no dating rule affects Chloe’s relationships with her male friends, don’t wait another second to check out this story! You can click here to learn more about it or here to start reading Chapter 1 on Medium. (The first three chapters are free and you don’t need an account to read them. But you’ll need a Medium account to read the rest. And you may also need to become a Medium member.)

~ Ashley C.

P.S. If you would like to sample more of my story-writing style, feel free to click here to read some stories that are currently available.