Page 2 of A Good Book

Ben dragged me to the third row from the blackboard because he liked to record all of his classes to relisten to the lecture before bed. So I had to actually pay attention instead of scribbling poems in my notebook, which should have been fine since it was a creative writing class.

I wrote a message on my notebook and slid it toward him.

How many times have you done it?

Ben squinted at it before peaking his eyebrows at me.

The professor removed several books from her bag and glanced up to survey the rest of the students making their way to their seats.

Ben retrieved a pen from his backpack and scribbled:

Done what?

He knew darn well what.

IT!!!

Ben smirked. He loved getting me riled up.

I don’t know.

How could he not know? He was on the verge of turning nineteen, not twenty-nine. If I knew I’d had sex zero times, then he had to know if he’d had it five or ten times.

8?

Ben shook his head and bobbed a thumbs-up.

10?

Again, he signaled up.

15?

The professor cleared her throat and asked everyone to take a seat and quiet down.

I frowned at Ben, so he scribbled on my notepad again.

30+

My jaw dropped, and Ben returned a muted laugh while pressing his finger below my chin to close my mouth.

Ben needed more Jesus in his life.

CHAPTERTWO

LISA LISA & CULT JAM, “HEAD TO TOE”

Gabby

“Doesyour mom know you have a crush on this guy?” My roommate Olivia asked as I applied a little blush and cherry ChapStick in the full-length mirror behind our dorm room door.

I knew nothing about makeup because my parents frowned upon me wearing it, but I wanted Matt to see me as all grown up.

“Who said I have a crush on him?” I rubbed my lips together. “He’s a friend. Our families go way back. He dated my oldest sister.”

She reclined in her desk chair, hair-sprayed bangs the size of two sausages and the rest of her red permed hair pulled into a banana clip. She pushed her glasses up her nose. Olivia always wore electric blue eyeshadow and thick mascara with dark red lipstick, and she did so with confidence.

“Matt plays baseball,” she crossed her arms over her chest, “and he’s in law school. And he has good manners. He rarely missed a Sunday in church. He’s smart. His family owned most of the land in Devil’s Head. Dude … I feel like Itotallyknow this guy because you’ve not-so-casually mentioned him a hundred times. I don’t talk about my family’s ‘friends’ or my sister’s ex-boyfriend because that would be weird. So you totally have a crush on him. Just admit it so we canreallytalk about him. Like do you think about kissing him? Would you have sex with him or would your sister be mad? What about a girlfriend? Does he have one? How far would you go on a first date?”

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