White is for Virgins

by Necks, S. Eva

  The things I do for good grades… I hope the woman is happy after this.

  “So, in less than 10 words, please defend the overall trend behind your time frame,” Mrs. Sawyer said, taking a seat on Fox’s desk top.

  “Morals, self-respect, and religious beliefs,” I said, staring at my feet.

  “Fun,” Fox said, and when everyone smirked and Mrs. S gave him a disapproving look he added, “Living in the moment and screwing everyone else.”

  “Mr. Evans!” Mrs. Sawyer scolded, crossing her legs beneath her navy pencil skirt.

  By ‘screwing everyone else’ he meant forgetting about their opinions… right? I smirked, and met the professor’s gaze.

  “So Emery, tell us all about these morals. How do they apply to Hermia, and her actions that night in the forest towards Lysander?” she asked, cocking her head.

  She was having too much fun with this. So is Fox, I concluded after sending a quick glance in his direction.

  “W-well…” I started.

  Smooth, Em.

  “Hermia was - keeping a safe distance from Lysander because girls her age were promised to one man… and they weren’t use to that kind of intimacy. They were raised to… um… save all of that affection for their wedding night,” I struggled with the words but somehow made my case.

  Mrs. Sawyer nodded, her lips pressed in a straight line.

  “And Mr. Evans. Explain the reasoning behind ‘living in the moment’,” she said, air-quoting his words.

  “Hermia’s too caught up in her self-image and cares what everyone else thinks. She doesn’t want to come off as a whore…rrible lady…” he said, catching his words, “And she needs to just let loose and let Lysander be a man.”

  All the guys smirked, and Mrs. Sawyer quieted them down before turning to me. She didn’t ask questions though, so I just jumped right in, a little less shaky now.

  “He respected her, and held it in his... trousers on the opposite side of the tree because he loved her!” I said, turning to face Fox. I’ve realized that I’d grown accustomed to arguing with him, so it was easier to focus on him rather than everyone else.

  “He may have loved her, but she didn’t want to love him,” he reasoned.

  “Are we talking about the same verb here, Fox?” I smirked, and a few snorts came from the class as well, “Because honestly, if they both loved each other – which they did – then they wouldn’t have a problem with waiting. Love is patient.”

  “If she loved him, she wouldn’t have been so afraid of him.”

  “It was considered a sinful act before marriage back then, but people do it as if it’s as easy as a handshake,” I say, blushing at the thought of my words.

  This is so awkward…

  “Well, it is definitely more pleasurable than a handshake,” Fox smirked, and the whole class erupted in fits of laughter. I simply blushed more. I could probably fry some eggs on my cheeks, they were burning up.

  Mrs. Sawyer scolded the class, and then turned to Fox, “Mr. Evans, watch your language or there will be consequences. I expect you to be more mature.”

  He nodded, biting his bottom lip to smother his grin. Fox leaned onto the side of desk as if he were bored, and cocked his head to look at me. Those emerald eyes had gold flecks in them too, just like Holly’s, I noticed. They were so… beautiful. And mesmerizing. Leave it to Fox to be blessed with them, ugh.

  I was a little caught off guard, not knowing whether or not to make another point in my defense… or where to start for that matter.

  “Right, I think it’s best to rule this debate as neutral. Times were different back then, any closing statements?” Mrs. Sawyer said, breaking the silence.

  Fox mouthed, “Ladies first.”

  I cleared my throat. “Uhh… Well back then, young women were raised with manners and etiquette, and saved intimacy for after marriage - which was usually for the purpose of having lots and lots of kids,” I started, gulping and preparing for more. My cheeks were still warm, but I ignored it. “It was rare people would marry for love, so girls were naturally afraid of getting so close to someone twice their age,” I practically shuddered, “Anyway. Um… they were very religious and wanted to praise God, and respect his wishes. They were afraid of eternal damnation if they didn’t remain abstinent,” I concluded, looking back at my converse.

  Fox stood up straight, and I ran a clammy hand through my hair.

  “Right, so people still go to church these days, but they don’t really follow the whole abstinence thing,” he shrugged, “They prefer to make their own decisions, and if they think they’re ready, they go for it. It’s their life, their body, their choice. And it’s a good choice, trust me,” he smirked, looking at a couple guys in the corner of the room that I recognized from the track team. Most people applauded, and I felt like an idiot because they were against every word I’d said…

  This is why I don’t do public speaking! No one wanted to hear about being scared and waiting for love. They didn’t consider love amongst all the smoke and beer clogging their conscience.

  “Alright, alright!” Mrs. Sawyer growled, “Let’s settle down.”

  Once Fox and I returned to our seats, we sat in silence while Mrs. Sawyer passed our graded exams back. I aced it. She also handed out a new list of SAT words.

  “Exam, Friday. This debate was an interesting experiment, expect more of them. Possibly in groups,” the teacher said just before the bell rang.

  ***

  3 hours later, I was licking the strawberry sauce off my fingers in an effort to make them less sticky. Mmm, culinary class had its upsides.

  “She’s abstinent, she said so in C.W. today,” someone said, although I couldn’t tell who because the hallways were crowded to the max.

  “She’s super religious, I bet she like, says all these weird chants and she sacrifices small animals in her attic,” someone else laughed.

  What…?

  “I hear Emery’s a nun, and she lives in a convent. I don’t think she’ll ever lose it,” some annoyingly high-pitched voice announced, louder than all the rest.

  I’m not a nun! What the hell? I didn’t even go to church! I mean, I believed in God, but that was really it.

  I decided against any more public speaking, for the sake of my deteriorating reputation.

  Note to self: convince Mrs. Sawyer that you have a syndrome in which you may not converse in front of multiple people. Or that you’re mute… A doctor’s note of some sort would be more convincing.

  “Hey, you’re tutoring me later, right?” someone asked from behind me.

  “Um, depends on Nina’s mood and if Carlos is back. Which I doubt,” I muttered, “What’d you get on the test?”

  “A 27,” he shrugged.

  “27… percent? Out of a hundred?” I clarified.

  “Mhm.”

  “Shit.”

  “Watch the language, Ms. Price!” he did his best to impersonate Mrs. Sawyer, frowning and narrowing his eyes.

  “She calls me ‘Emery’, actually. Why does she call everyone else by their first name except you?” I asked curiously, frowning at the group of girls shooting daggers at me with their eyes as they passed by.

  “She hates my name, and refuses to call me a wild animal under any circumstances. She just can’t handle all of this,” he said, gesturing to his face and chest.

  “Right, right,” I nodded, humoring him.

  “You ok?” he asked, undoing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt.

  I averted my gaze back to his eyes, although my eyes were dangerously aware of the fact he had pulled his shirt off, exposing his bare chest. It was perfectly sculpted… and was a nice tan color… curse my peripheral vision!

  “Huh? Wha-Yeah… I’m just peachy,” I nodded sarcastically.

  “Wrong answer,” he smirked, stuffing his uniform shirt and tie into his backpack in exchange for his Red Cross shirt.

  I glared at him for a moment before giving in. It’s hard denying anything t
o a guy without his shirt on…

  “The entire school thinks I’m a nun! And that I live in a convent and chant all the time and sacrifice little bunnies and kittens to a shrine in my attic!” I exclaimed, “They seriously care so much about my virginity, it’s disgusting.”

  When I cracked, there was no stopping it. Word-vomit was a bitch.

  He managed to keep a straight face for an entire 4 seconds before bursting into hysterics. I knew I should’ve kept my mouth shut.

  “I’m sorry,” he said in between chuckles, “I lost it at sacrificing bunnies.”

  “You’re horrible,” I concluded, “I’m reconsidering the tutoring.”

  “No! Dude, that’s harsh.”

  “Well, dude, I’m thinking I’m a little too nice these days. People just step all over me and assume things that aren’t true,” I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “Look, I can fix this,” he said, throwing the red polo over his head. The collar was sticking up, and it was rolled under to his left side, exposing half of his sculpted eight-pack.

  “Simple, I’ll make sure they won’t mess with you.”

  “You get them to shut up about me being a nun, or some overly religious freak, and I’ll make sure you get the second highest score on this Friday’s exam,” I offered.

  “Second highest?” he asked, arching his brow.

  I was just a tad OCD when it came to collars, so I reached over and fixed his for him. I blushed a little, but maintained my cool. I was never comfortable being that close to people…

  I gave him my best ‘duhhh’ look, and pointed to my face.

  “Oh, right. Can’t have Ms. Price scoring less than the wild beast, can we now?” he muttered, shaking his head.

  “Deal, or no deal?”

  “Deal,” he smirked, placing a hand casually around my shoulders and pulling me closer to his side.

  This caught everyone’s attention, and my cheeks reacted within seconds.

  “Um… what exactly are you doing?” I whispered, my voice a little shaky.

  “Proving you’re not a nun,” he whispered back, grinning.

  “I’ll see you later, Em,” he said (in a really, really loud voice).

  He ran off in the direction of the track - probably to run a few laps before heading to the Red Cross center – completely deserting me.

  I gulped, pulling out my iPod with shaking hands as I started for home to change my clothes.

  I was going to work his ass at the RCC with those SAT words; once Nina was done working both of our asses, of course.

  Chapter 10

  .EMERY POV.

  “We’re studying today. No matter what,” he whispered to my right side as I shut my locker that Tuesday afternoon. We hadn’t had the chance to study yesterday.

  I sighed and nodded, dreading Red Cross. That was a first, because I’d always loved it there. The RCC was my haven… and now with Nina acting weird and Fox and I having to do more maintenance than anything else… it was just different.

  “What if Nina makes us clean again? And post more signs?” I asked, causing him to turn around and walk back to me.

  “I’ll snap if she does, because we’ve cleaned every inch of that building. And I’ve seen those Blood Drive signs plastered on every other, if not every, damn building in town… there’s nothing left for her to whine about,” he stated. And thus concluded the conversation.

  I could feel him watching me watching Teresa and her gang of girls as they snarled at me.

  Those female dogs... hmph. I believed the appropriate synonym was ‘bitches’.

  My eyes tore away from them as soon as I felt a strong arm wrap around my neck and pull me forward. I looked up, my chin resting against the soft white material of Fox’s dress shirt. In that moment I wished guys didn’t smell so good.

  His cologne paralyzed me, and it took me a moment to regain complete consciousness and take control. My initial reaction was to shove him away, but he saw that coming. He pressed me closer to him, and my reflexes stood no chance against his.

  “Would you mind sharing why you feel the need to suffocate me?” I asked in a sarcastically nice tone.

  He smirked and let me go; taking a step back while I glowered at him menacingly.

  I raised my brow and crossed my arms.

  “You should’ve seen the look on their faces,” he chuckled, leaning against a locker.

  Heat rushed to my cheeks as the realization hit me.

  He hugged me – in the casual friendly manor – to piss the girls off.

  “So you did that to make them jealous?” I asked just to confirm.

  “Yeah,” he shrugged. “They’ll hate you, and then they’ll ask you to go shopping with them.” When I didn’t speak he added, “Or they’ll ask to visit the convent.”

  I shoved him, or made a pathetic attempt to. He started laughing, and I headed for home to change.

  ***

  Nina stumbled out of her office, rubbing her temples.

  “Nina, are you ok?” I asked quietly, stepping toward her, “Is it cramps or something?”

  “Uh – yeah, Emery honey I’m so sorry, I’ve been making you do so much lately. I feel terrible to put so much responsibility on you-” she mumbled, but I jumped right in.

  “Nina, it’s fine, you’re not feeling well. I can take it from here,” I assured her.

  She nodded, a little unsure. “I hate canceling my appointments, but I won’t be able to teach this afternoon’s CPR class… I hope it’s not too late to call every-”

  “Nina, I’ll teach the class. It’s fine,” I told her.

  “No hun, you’ve done enough, I just need a day to get some rest,” she sighed. “You should go home and enjoy a little time off.”

  “I will teach the class, and then I will lock up. It’s final, Nina,” I laughed, leading her to the front door.

  “I don’t deserve such an amazing volunteer, Emery,” she smiled.

  Just as she exited the glass doors and took a right, Fox came jogging in from the left.

  “Hey, was that Nina that just left?” he breathed, running a hand through his matted hair.

  “Yep,” I sighed, “She wasn’t feeling well.”

  “Oh,” he paused, taking a few gulps of water, “Wait, she left? So we can leave too, right?”

  “You can,” I stated, “I have to stay to teach a class. And lock up.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, Fox. I offered to help her, cause she obviously needs some,” I retorted, “Friends help each other out.”

  “Will you stop treating me like I’m retarded?”

  “Only if you stop asking stupid questions,” I quipped.

  “Um, am I interrupting something..?” a third party asked.

  Both Fox and I turned to the front door, and I couldn’t help but blush at the hunk standing in the doorway.