Exposition is a literary device used to introduce information about characters, events, settings, or other elements. The story is still in the Exposition part, and the writer is describing some of Darren's memories with his dog, how the weather was etc. <em>The story just need to complete the Exposition, before starting the rising action.</em>
Well, Amal is Muslim, so its most likely for religious purposes, as in Islam, its against the rules to have any intimate touches (for girls) with guys before marriage.
