14 year old boy with new girlfriend

by Beth
(Illinois)

My incredibly well-behaved, straight A, wonderful person son, recently started "dating" a girl in his school who he says is also a straight A nice girl who treats him nicely. He has not actually spent any time with her outside of school but recently when we came back from a family trip he said he needed to go and see her for a short while and didn't want us to drive him there (a few blocks away) and he wanted to ride his bicycle there because he "didn't want me at all involved with this" and it was "new and uncomfortable for him to discuss with me." He said, "You are being overprotective" when I told him that I was concerned for his safety and didn't want him to ride in the rain in the dark and refused to let me drive him there. He said he would be back soon and he would call me.

He has never done anything like this before and although I am not really deep down worried I wouldn't want him to ride in the dark even if he were going to his friend's house and I don't understand what he means about keeping me totally separate. I feel very hurt is it only because I see him slipping away?