Shut Out by Kody Keplinger (best free e book reader .TXT) đ
- Author: Kody Keplinger
Book online «Shut Out by Kody Keplinger (best free e book reader .TXT) đ». Author Kody Keplinger
Kelsey rolled her eyes. âJesus, Chloe. Youâre such a whore.â
âFuck you,â Chloe snapped. âI know for a fact that you screwed Terry on your first date. Donât act so high and mighty.â
âGuys,â I said, a little panicked. âFighting among ourselves wonât solve anything. Weâre here to create peace, remember?â
Kelsey shot Chloe one more evil glare before leaning back in her seat and folding her arms over her chest, her bottom lip poked out like a pouting five-year-old.
âLook,â I said. âYou all agreed you wanted to end this stupid war, right? And this is the way to do it. We make them want us, then refuse to give them what they want. Once they realize weâre not giving in, theyâll be like putty in our hands. And thatâs when we spring this on them. They have to call off the rivalry before weâll touch them. I bet theyâll cave within two weeks.â
Somehow, I could feel Ellenâs eyes on me. I smiled, trying not to look uncomfortable.
âIs that, you know, ethical?â Susan asked. âI want the rivalry to end and all, but sex as a weapon feels a little sketchy. I think there have been whole Dr. Phil episodes about it.â
âOh, come on,â Chloe said. âEvery girl has a prerogative to say no. Thereâs no reason not to exercise that right⊠even in large groups. Besides, Dr. Philâs a quack.â
âSusan, you pay a freshman girl to do your English papers,â Kelsey said. âAre you really the one to question ethics?â
âHey, Iâm busy. I have basketball practice. No time to read The Great Gatsby or whatever. Plus, I pay her. That makes it ethical.â
âThis is ethical,â I said, hoping to get them back on track. âWeâre not really using sex as a weaponâweâre just choosing not
to partake until the rivalry ends. Weâre not manipulating them or anything. Weâre⊠boycotting.â
âWell, it is a good plan,â Susan said. âI mean, it will probably work.â
âI donât know.â Mary Grishamâs voice was barely loud enough for me to hear over the flutter of whispers at the table. She was a tiny junior with huge blue eyes and dark chocolateâcolored hair. I looked at her, smiling, urging her to continue. She shifted nervously in her seat and said a little louder, âI, um⊠I canât really do anything,â she said. âFinn and I arenât sleeping together, so I donâtââ
âSeriously?â Chloe said, gawking. âYou and Finn have been together for, like, nine months, right? And you havenât even gotten it on once?â
Mary shook her head.
âIs he, like, gay?â Chloe asked.
âJust because they havenât slept together yet doesnât make either of them gay.â It came out sounding harsher than I meant it. I glanced at Mary again, then addressed the rest of the table. âIâm sure some of the rest of you are in the same boat, right?â
More silence.
I had to stop counting after ten seconds. I just didnât get it. These were the same girls who called Chloe a whore for having too much sex. I could see their eyes on Mary. See the mocking or disapproving expressions. Like her virginity was a bad thing.
âWell, thank you for being honest,â I told Mary as her cheeks turned redder and redder. âItâs cool that youâre waiting. I know a lot of girls lie about it, so I respect your honesty.â
âYouâre welcome,â Mary mumbled.
âOh, honey.â Chloe sighed. âThatâs cute, but you donât know what youâre missing.â
I elbowed Chloe in the ribs and said loudly to Mary, âBut you can still participate. Just donât do other stuff. Donât, um⊠Donât go down on him or touch hisâŠâ I felt like my face was on fire. I took a deep breath and forced myself to keep going. âNo hand jobs. Or anything he might enjoy too much. If kissing is all you do, donât make out with him. Youâll find a way. You donât have to be having sex to make it work. Trust me.â
âBut wonât they get mad?â one of the girls asked.
âYeah, they will. And then wonât they cheat on us?â
âI donât want that.â
âI do. Then maybe Iâll finally be off the hook for kissing that kid from Oak Hill.â
âStop, stop, stop,â Chloe said over the growing wave of panicked voices. âLook, maybe Iâm not an expert, since Iâm not in a relationship or whatever, but is this really something youâre worried about? If so, that is seriously fucked up.â
âGirls like you are the reason we have to worry,â Kelsey muttered.
Chloe turned an icy glare on her. âDespite what you think of me, Iâve never slept with another girlâs boyfriend. And I would never sleep with Terryâwhiny ass-kissers arenât my type.â She looked at the rest of the girls again. âSeriously, if the bastards cheat on you, then they donât deserve you anyway. If thatâs a legit fear, then you probably shouldnât be with them to begin with.â
âLissa,â Susan said, âwhat about you? Arenât you afraid Randy will cheat if you do this?â
âNo,â I said. Though I think I sounded a little more certain than I felt. âIâm not. He loves me. Something like this wonât change that. Besides, this will help the boys in the long run, too. Theyâre victims here. But unless we do something, something to force them out of the war, theyâll never end it. This is our best option, and a good boyfriend wonât hold the no-sex thing against you.â
âSeriously,â Chloe said. âI mean, I like sex probably about as much as any boy does, and even I know a little bit of abstinence isnât something to end a relationship over. Thatâd be pretty fucked up.â
âEasy for you to say,â Kelsey snapped. âHave you ever even been in a relationship, Chloe? A real one. One that continues even after you put your clothes back on.â
âYou know what? Screw you, Kelsey. I donât have to be in a relationship to know that a guy is a dick if he dumps you because you wonât put out. And no matter what you think of me, I wonât be the one the boys run to when they want to get some. Because⊠because Iâm going to do it. What Lissa said. Iâm going to play along. No sex.â
I gaped at Chloe, amazed. âSeriously?â
âYep. Iâm in.â
âMe, too.â
I turned to my right and saw Ellen watching me with her hazel eyes. Something in them seemed skeptical, and I wondered
if Iâd misunderstood her. Then she shook her head and the flicker of disbelief was gone.
âIâm sick of this fighting. Itâs definitely crossed a line.â She gave me a meaningful look before adding, âI think a sex strike is a great idea, and I can try to get some of the other soccer playersâ girlfriends in on it. I bet theyâll help. Weâre all fed up.â
âR-really?â I beamed at her, half in shock. âEllen, thank you so much.â
After that, a lot of people seemed to hop on the bandwagon.
âIâll do it,â Susan said. âDamn, Lissa, youâve got some brains. I never would have thought of this.â
âIâm in. Itâll make this season more entertaining at least.â
âI guess Iâll do it. Maybe end-of-rivalry sex will be even better than make-up sex.â
I ducked my head to hide the blush creeping up my face. How could these girls be so open about their sex lives? I barely even talked about mine with Chloe. Hell, I couldnât even say the words for the things I was doing with Randy without cringing.
âWe need to make a pact or something,â Chloe said. âLike, an oath. We need to swear to abstain from all sexual activities.â
âWhat do we swear on?â Susan asked. âThe Bible?â
âThatâs kind of inappropriate,â I managed to joke. âConsidering what weâre swearing about and all.â
âHere.â Ellen placed her backpack on the table and unzipped it. After a few seconds of digging, she pulled out a new issue of Cosmo and tossed it onto the table. âItâs the sex-tips issue. Includes a nice list of all the things we canât do. We can swear on it.â
Chloe picked up the magazine. âSweet,â she said, flipping through the pages. She paused and visibly cringed. âUgh. No, donât try that. Trust me, not as great as it sounds.â
I grabbed the magazine from Chloe, half wondering and half afraid to see what she was talking about. I held it up for everyone to see. âOkay,â I said. âSo weâll all take a vow. Iâll lay out the rules, and if you agree, you put your hand on the magazine and say, âI do.â Got it?â
Most of the girls nodded.
I placed the magazine on the table, putting my hand over the modelâs face on the cover. âI hereby swear to abstain from all forms of sexual activity. This includes but is not limited to anything involving body parts below the belt. Thatâs either partyâs belt. Oh, and second base is outlawed, too. Nothing, um, under the shirt.â I forced myself to continue, despite the way this speech made my face heat up. âIâll stand my ground, even in the toughest of times, and will resist temptation until the rivalry is put to an end.â
I slid the magazine to Ellen, still feeling a little anxious when our eyes met. But I couldnât let my composure falter right now. Not with all these girls watching.
I cleared my throat for, like, the millionth time that afternoon. âDo you agree?â I asked.
âI do,â Ellen said solemnly.
She passed it on to Susan. âI do.â
Susan passed it to the girl to her right. âI do.â
âI do.â
âI do.â
When it came to Mary, I saw her hesitate for a minute. She looked at me, took a breath, and placed her hand on the magazine. âI do.â
Then she passed it to Kelsey.
âJust pass it on if youâre too chicken,â Chloe taunted. âYou call me a whore, but youâre more hesitant about giving up sex than I am.â
âShut up,â Kelsey hissed. âGive me that.â She yanked the magazine toward her and put her hand in the dead center of the cover. Her eyes locked with Chloeâs as she said, âI. Do.â
Chloe grinned.
To my amazement, after so much disagreement, all eleven girls at the tableâplus meâwound up making the oath. Chloe was the last, and she grinned at me as she swore to be celibate. I knew it would be a challenge for her more than anyone.
But looking at the others, I knew Chloe couldnât have been the only girl who liked sex. So many others had been hesitant to agree right away. Surely some of the girls had the same reason as Chloe, even if the others were reluctant out of fear of losing their boyfriends. I wondered what the ratio wasâhow many of the girls just didnât want to give up sex versus the ones who
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