Roderick and Molly smiled to one another. Mary waved shyly to Roderick, who smiled and waved back. What a nice girl, he thought. She dresses so nicely, in her blouse, kilt, woolen knee socks and penny loafers. Like a schoolgirl. Not like some of the other girls in school, who dress like sluts.
Catherine and Mr. Fuzzums skipped ahead. Margaret strolled behind at some distance, solving matrix algebra problems in her head. Mary, Roderick and Molly walked together three abreast on the sidewalk.
It was a lovely September day, a bit cooler than the previous morning.
Mary brought a copy of the National Virginity Society's monthly newsletter, and read aloud from the advice column, Ask Rebekah:
Dear Rebekah,"That seems a little cold", said Molly.
Last year I took the pledge. I live in a trailer park with my Mom and my four little sisters. Mom went to the pork store on Sunday and left me alone with her boyfriend. He made me drink something that made me feel dizzy and the next thing I knew he was on top of me and made me have sex with him. Then he said if I told anyone he would kill my sisters. Am I still a virgin?
Worried in Arkansas
Dear Worried,
No. Your membership is cancelled.
Mary tossed her head. "I'm just glad that somebody in this world has standards", she said.
Roderick had to admit that she had a point about standards, and admired her stand on principle. He also agreed with Molly, that it was cold. Perhaps there was another way? Could the Society create a "Virgin Emeritus" or "Virgin Alumnae" category for "Worried in Arkansas" and other deflowerees? He would have brought this up, but they had arrived at Beauneville Latin, and Mary was taking her leave.
"Goodbye, Roderick", she said, shyly, waving. "Are you coming to the Red Trolley tonight?"
"Sure!", said Roderick. "See you there". He waved back, and watched as Mary walked away. What a nice girl, he thought.
The day flew by, as it often does on Fridays, and at five o'clock the Smiths and Blooms met at the Red Trolley Diner. They all sat at the big table with the semi-circular bench in the back of the trolley dining room. Mr. Smith and Mr. Bloom sat on the two ends, with Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Bloom seated next to their husbands; Catherine sat next to Mrs. Bloom (with Mr. Fuzzums on her lap); then sat Margaret, Mary, Roderick and Molly, who sat next to Mrs. Smith.
The bench is a little small for nine people and a small bear, but everyone likes to squish together. Squeezed between Mary and Molly, Roderick could feel the warmth from their bodies. He noticed that Mary seemed a little uncomfortable, and inquired.
Mary looked a little petulant. "Miss Agassiz spanked me today".
Roderick wasn't quite sure about the proper etiquette when one's dinner partner discloses a spanking. He nodded sympathetically. "Were you bad?"
Mary's petulance changed to something closer to contriteness. "Yes", she said, sipping from her glass of ice water, "very bad".
Admirable, thought Roderick. The girl certainly can take a spanking. Suddenly, he felt that he wanted to get to know Mary a little better.
Meanwhile, Bella the waitress had arrived and demanded orders from everyone. If you ever eat at the Red Trolley, here's a piece of advice: don't mess with Bella. The impression she conveys is that she'd sooner flatten you than take any lip from you, and when Bella announces that it's time for you to order you'd best order right then and there, and be snappy about it, or you will not be served that day or any other day.
Mr. and Mrs. Bloom ordered the blue plate special; Catherine, an order of macaroni and cheese to share with Mr. Fuzzums; Margaret ordered a hot dog and thought about how to compute the mass of the hot dog from its length and circumference. Mr. and Mrs. Smith ordered the blue plate and Molly ordered a triple cheeseburger (eliciting the usual comments about her ferocious appetite). Roderick ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and, after a slight hesitation, Mary ordered the same. "I'll just have what he's having", she said shyly, nodding towards Roderick.
After dinner, Molly and Roderick left the group to ride the bus to Stapleton for the Friday night "bowling party". Not surprisingly, Molly didn't want to bowl, so they lurked in the shadows around back near the dumpsters and chatted intimately.
Meanwhile, Mary went home with her family, helped clean up the living room, then went next door to check on Mrs. Peacock. She read several chapters from Elsie's Girlhood, stopping now and then to sigh about how much she is inspired by the Elsie stories. When Mrs. Peacock fell asleep, Mary marked her place in the book, turned out the light and headed for the Mill Pond, where she had a date with one of the boys from Latin class.
Molly was feeling "smoochy" on the way home, and Roderick was inclined to reciprocate; she invited Roderick to sleep over, an invitation he gladly accepted. They slept together that night in customary fashion, with the exception that Roderick's boxers spent the night on the floor beside the bed.
As they cuddled quietly in bed, they could hear Mary walk up the stairs and past Molly's bedroom on the way to her room. Molly whispered: "You seem interested in Mary".
"She's a nice girl", whispered Roderick.
There was a long silence, broken only by a slight breeze in the trees outside and the sound of a wind chime somewhere in the distance.
"She's a whore, you know", whispered Molly.
"I know", whispered Roderick.
