------JESSICA------
I walked to James' dorm with a painful tangle in my chest.
What the heck just happened? The whole thing was such a wild blur, from the moment I opened my eyes while kneeling to the moment I left. I had never seen a penis in real life. I'd never seen another woman naked either. And I'd CERTAINLY never seen a woman having sex in person. He was so... aggressive with her too. Just a few minutes earlier Sarah was speaking so kindly about her boyfriend, how did she go from that, to THAT?
However it happened. It was pretty clear she was enjoying herself. Enjoying herself enough to cheat on her boyfriend though? And with some random guy she'd never met? It felt like a dream, or nightmare, but I had to consider how incredible it must have felt for her to have done that.
I mean, to some extent, I understood. What Adam did with his mouth was... mind bending. If I wasn't shocked out of the moment by him kissing me, would I have ended up like Sarah? My heart felt like an anchor, a constant tugging guilt. James deserves to know what happened. James should have been the one to do that to me. We were supposed to do all of this together after we got married.
But... maybe... Maybe they're right. Maybe I could just pretend it didn't happen. James will still see me as perfectly pure, despite how dirty I felt. My mom REALLY wanted me to pledge to Kappa Phi, and I didn't want to disappoint her by quitting. But how could I get through all 4 years of this, let alone this next party, and still remain pure for James.
I was walking on autopilot, thinking about all of this and struggling with the confusing mess of emotions when something occurred to me. Did mom KNOW this is what Kappa Phi was? I always felt like I could talk to my mother about ANYTHING so I pulled my phone from my bag and sat on a bench outside of James' dorm. I pulled up my mom, and called her. A few rings later, she picked up.
"Hey baby! How are you is everything okay?" She sung, happily, from the other side of the phone. Her voice was deeply comforting, exactly what I needed.
"Hey mom. Yeah I guess it's okay. I just... How was Kappa Phi when you were here? Did they have a... reputation?" I asked, getting straight to the point.
"Oh! Um, yes one moment sweetie." She said, followed by a few moments of silence before she spoke again, this time in a whisper.
"Did the first party already happen? How many stars did you get?" She asked in a hushed tone.
"What? Stars? No, it's on Friday. Wait..." I said, stunned, as her implication crashed into me. My breath caught in my throat. Did she know?
"Oh okay. So just the pre-test then right? I'm sure that was a shock. How did it go?" My mother asked, sounding so kind and supportive despite the information she was relaying to me.
"YOU KNEW? Mom! They... made us kneel like we were praying but then there were... boys in front of us." I summoned the words as best as I could.
"I know baby, I know, it's always a surprise for the new girls. It lets the older girls know who needs more guidance if it's a surprise. Did you satisfy your man?" She asked, as if we were talking about picking up groceries or putting dinner in the oven.
"James is my man! This guy... tried to put himself in my mouth but I pushed him away." I said, flabbergasted by my mothers tone.
"Aw, sweetheart I know that, we love James! I see a lot of your father in him. How do you think I've kept him happy for 30 years baby? Practice, practice, practice! I know it's a shock, but you need to lean in to the experience." My mother said softly, still whispering on the other side of the phone.
"Mom! I'm supposed to stay pure for my husband. For James. That's what we were always taught." I pleaded, trying to draw something I could make sense of from my mother. This was all so confusing.
"Oh baby. This is how you can be a good Christian woman. We're supposed to serve our Lord and our husbands. Men want a woman who knows what she's doing in the bedroom, so long as James thinks you're pure, that's what matters. He gets the best of both worlds." She explained, like she was telling me some secret all women find out at a certain age. A secret that was kept from me, until now, for my own good.
"Does dad know about all this?" I squeaked out.
"Ummm, kind of!" She said, breaking from her whisper with a laugh, "It can be complicated. And it's best that they don't know while you're practicing and learning. It's going to be hard for you since James decided to follow you to college. But if you can keep the secret, you'll make the perfect wife for him when the time comes."
I didn't know what to say, this was so much to take. My whole life I was raised to be pure, innocent, sweet, kind, obedient. Now my mother is telling me I need to cheat on James? And give all my firsts to some stranger? Is this really what all Christian women do?
"It's so much mom. I don't know if I can handle it. I want to be a good wife for James, but this is... scary." I said.
"I know baby, I know, I was scared too. They should have something at the party for you to calm your nerves, you should take it. I caught on pretty quick, and I know you will too. Gosh, it's 4 already and your father will be expecting his afternoon service. I have to go but give me a call whenever baby! I love you!" She said, and images of what my mother was going to do flashed in my head.
I pushed the thought from my mind but I couldn't help but consider. Would she act how I did? On my knees pushing him away? Or would she act like Sarah? Enthusiastically accepting and following instructions? Which would James prefer me to be? For him?
"I love you too, mom." I said, hanging up the phone as I walked up to James' room.
------JAMES------
I heard the knocking at my door, and opened it to my beautiful girlfriend waiting for me. She was gorgeous as always, dressed in a modest floral top and long black skirt. Try as she might to hide them, her curves were still quite visible. I fought back the intrusive thoughts of seeing her naked breasts hanging in front of me while she jiggled them. It was getting harder and harder to deal with these thoughts these days. Years of pent up sexual frustration beginning to burst at the seams.
"Hey baby! How were your classes? Is your roommate here?" Jess asked, walking into the dorm and standing on her tip toes to plant a kiss on my cheek.