Something Good Can Work

“Ah!” I scream; it’s mostly for effect. Penises are so gross looking! Plus I don’t really want to see my best friend getting it on either, yuck! “Oh my gosh!” I close my eyes, throw up my hands, and try to back out of the room.

I hear Cassie scream, then rustling around. “God, it's Monday, isn’t it?” She yells.

“What are you doing?” The male voice asks, presumably as Cassie proceeds to dress herself for the day. He sounds severely disappointed.

I don’t say anything but continue to back down the hallway. Getting out of the apartment was my ultimate goal.

“Sorry Iris!” I still don’t say anything, because I am extremely grossed out to the max. As you probably have already guessed.

“Cass, I’ll just see you at the lecture…” I say, and my voice cracks a bit. I realize I sound like 4 year old but oh well. I’m 19, but I’m like this little Virgin who still whispers the word ‘vagina’. I’m only half-kidding.

With those final words, I race back through the kitchen and out. The air hits me and I blink slowly. Yep, that really just happened. Then:

I’ve got a class to attend!

I’m briskly walking down streets and soon I’m finally on campus.

“You stupid brat!” I heard behind me. I turn to see Cassie literally sprinting toward me. “I’ve been following you for like, five blocks! What the heck?”

I look at her and I notice that her outfit didn’t match, probably because she was in such a naked rush. “Oops?” I say and she slaps my arm.

“Ugh, seriously. That was kind of ridiculous, Iris. I swear I’ve exercised enough today to last me a lifetime.”

“Well,” I say seriously, “You did quite a workout with all those sex positions.”

Cassie laughs, but I don’t. It was like I didn’t even know her anymore. Cassie certainly wasn’t a virgin, I didn’t judge her for that, but it was with a boy she loved. It had meant something to her, especially at the time. It still probably meant a lot. But this, this was just mindless sex, without passion or purpose. It was having sex for the sake of having sex.

And, being a virgin, I had this idea in my head that sex was meaningful – an expressive way for two people to show their love. It was a big deal. Whether these ideals are naïve or not, I didn’t care. It was my thought process. It was certainly subject to change but for now, I was steadfast in my beliefs. And I thought Cassie was too. Guess not.

“Yeah, that is kind of embarrassing, sorry you had to see that.” She tosses her hair over her shoulder with a flourish, like she hadn’t been running after her best friend for five blocks.

I look away, suddenly annoyed with her, but she continues. “It was like, completely unplanned. When you left, he was like all over me. He walked me home, like a gentleman, but the next thing I knew he was in my bed. This morning he woke up next to me and couldn’t keep his hands off. Then, you walked in, all awkward and adorable.”

I scoff and she looks at me, “Oh, Iris, don’t be so… judgmental. It just happened, sue me. Besides, he said he wanted to hang out again. He said he really liked me and that he couldn’t get enough of me. So I’m really excited to see him. But, you know, on a real date.”

I look away, shy that she called me out on my opinions. “Tonight are you?” I ask and she shakes her head. “Good, because I thought tonight we could do girl’s night? Maybe watch 500 Days of Summer, eat lots of ice cream, and build a fort?”

“Oh, Iris! You’re a genius!” Cassie gushed, and opened the door to the lecture hall. I step inside after her. “Now, let’s just get through Sociology and we’ll talk later.”

- - -

After we finished almost half the tub of ice cream, Cassie looks at me expectantly. “So now that you saw my boy naked, tell me more about Library Boy.”

There’s this boy I’ve met, his name is Dylan. Cassie doesn’t really know him, because they’re way different. While Cassie has been frolicking around with naked men she doesn’t really know, Dylan is in the library. Or doing some sort of studying. He’s very concerned with his future, even though he’s already made it into college.

He’s nice enough, we just haven’t hung out often. It’s because he’s too busy studying, thus his nickname from Cassie: Library Boy.

I smile slightly. “Well, he’s fine. He’s all worked up because his Biochemistry TA talks really fast so he reads the textbook a lot to grasp what’s going on. We haven’t hung out in like, two weeks.”

“Ugh,” Cassie scoffs, “Not even a text?”

“Well no,” I say, defensive, “But it’s completely understandable. And I’m pretty sure you don’t even know what Biochemistry is, Cass-cat.”

Cassie takes a large scoop of ice cream and shovels it in, “Well, maybe not. But who cares? What I do know is that you are a catch. And he should definitely be giving you all the attention in the world. But no, that loser insists on reading Chemology.”

“Cassie?” I say, laughing, “It’s Biochemistry.”

“Whatever,” She says. “Now ask me about my boy!”

I roll my eyes and ask in monotone, “So… Cass, what about your boy?”

“He’s wonderful! Totally sweet! He texted me and told me he misses me! Unlike Library Boy, my boy has got manners.”

“He’s obviously a keeper,” I say offhandedly.

“Obviously,” Cassie quips. “And… get this…” – There’s a dramatic pause – “He plays the drums! Like, in a band!”

“Wow,” I say. “That’s really something. Usually you go for the jocks, Cassie.”

“I know, but there’s something about him. You guys should meet sometime! You’d absolutely adore him, Iris!”

She’s smiling and me and I take a look into her face. She seems excited about this boy. Which is somewhat surprising, because usually Cassie is the classic ‘Hit it then quit it’ case.

But this boy… he’s different. I can just tell.