It was Friday night and as was their habit over the past few years, Timothy and Rae were lounging around in her room watching movies on her laptop. They were currently in the middle of a teen drama comedy when during the obligatory party scene Rae paused the movie and turned to Tim.
"We're both eighteen and this is our final year of high school, don't you feel that we've been missing out?"
Tim looked back at Rae with a puzzled expression. "Missing out how?" He gestured to the screen. "You mean like that? You know that isn't real, or at least that it's super exaggerated."
Rae flicked her hand dismissively. "I'm not talking about that, well not really. What I'm saying is that half of these movies involve people having sex for the first time. You've heard other people in our classes talking at school right? You know a lot of them are having sex."
Tim shrugged. "Sure, I guess. But that doesn't mean we're missing out. Being eighteen doesn't mean you or I have to be having sex. Having sex is something that should happen only when you're ready, not because everyone else is doing it."
Rae nodded. "What makes you ready though? A lot of the people who've been talking about sex at school still act so immature. Do you think they weren't ready?"
Tim had to stop for a moment to think. "I don't know, but sex still isn't a matter of comparing yourself to others to see if you're ready."
Rae tilted her head to the side. "Fair enough. So what do you think makes a person ready to have sex?"
The question had Tim somewhat stumped and he took quite some time before replying. "I guess the person has to be somewhat mature." An unimpressed look from Rae made him nod to acknowledge that his answer wasn't great. He tried to explain further. "I'm saying they have to understand what sex is and means and then want to have that experience."
"That still wasn't very clear but I think I get what you're saying." Rae smiled. "From what you said, I'd say we're both ready. I'm sure that you understand what sex is all about. And you do want to find out what it's like, don't you?"
Tim just stared at her for a moment as if he wasn't going to answer. But Rae could tell that he was only stalling, he knew she wouldn't let the question go. A moment later Tim shrugged. "Sure. Of course I'm interested in sex, most people our age are."
"I'm interested too. So maybe we should be doing something about it. That way we could actually find out what sex is like." As Rae was talking the somewhat obvious thing that she and Tim could do popped into her head and she frowned slightly as she considered the idea more.
A small frown appeared on Tim's face as well. "I'm not sure that just being interested in sex is a good enough reason to go ahead and do it. I don't think actively looking to have sex is the right way to think about it and that isn't the kind of thing I want to do." He pointed at her laptop. "The characters in these kinds of movies that are trying to get a girlfriend or to have sex always seem kind of pathetic or creepy."
Rae couldn't argue with that point, but she wasn't about to be put off by what Tim had said. "That just shows you're more mature than most of the guys at school. We won't be acting like desperate virgins and we won't be creepy pests."
Tim seemed amused by her response though his expression was also touched with disbelief that they were having this discussion. He seemed to want to argue the point further but then sighed. "Even if you and I are ready to have sex, who would we have sex with? We're not all that social." He gestured to the paused movie. "We spend almost every Friday here watching movies and we don't hang out with anyone other than Vanessa, Henry and Travis."
Rae looked at Tim as if she couldn't believe how dense he was being. "We could have sex with each other."
A shocked expression briefly appeared on Tim's eyed face before being replaced with caution. "Are you just messing with me?"
His reaction was amusing but Rae still felt a little sting that Tim thought she was joking. "No. I wasn't."
"Oh..." Tim's expression shifted to a thoughtful frown. "I uh, I don't know if that's a good idea."
"Is there a reason why you wouldn't have sex with me?"
The slight edge in her tone had Tim flustered and he tried to explain himself. "Well, it would be weird wouldn't it? We've known each other since we were six years old."
"So you don't think I'm attractive?"
"What? That's not what I'm saying. You're uh pre... good looking. It's just... "
"Is it because I'm a ginger?" The minor tension that had built between Tim and Rae broke and they both laughed.
When they were younger Rae had been subjected to some childish teasing and quite a few derisive comments about her copper red hair but never from Tim who had no idea what was wrong with having red hair. Insults weren't much of a problem any more so her being ginger had turned into something of a private joke between her and Tim for whenever someone dismissed her for whatever reason.
"Well how about me? I'm hardly a top athlete or a boy band star."
Rae looked Tim over with a considering eye. "Don't sell yourself short. I think you're quite handsome."
Tim smiled briefly but then his expression became neutral and he shrugged. "I don't know Rae, us having sex seems like it could be trouble."
"Well it was just an idea. I really think it would work out okay. Maybe we can talk about it more later."
Rae unpaused the movie and they continued watching. They made comments to each other but neither of them brought up the discussion they'd just had, even when a discreet sex scene happened in the movie.
When the movie ended it was getting late in the evening and Tim was due to go home. It seemed like Tim was going to avoid addressing Rae's idea of the two of them having sex but she wasn't about to let him go before they talked about it further. Just as they were at the front door with Tim about to leave Rae sprang a question on him. "What do you think about us having sex?"