Plagiarized by Marlo Williams, Leddy Harper

my family room, and I was off to my bed, alone. The less time I spent around those boring individuals the better. I flopped down on my bed and let my fingers dance around my pelvic bone, reminiscing about the things Ben had done to me. I couldn’t believe it… I was a woman. Officially, a woman.
    I used to think I would feel ashamed once I had sex. That I would feel dirty or used. But that was the exact opposite of how I felt. I was tingly and happy, giggly and love-struck. I was exactly the way I should have been.
    Ben had been so attentive to me after he found me crying in the bathroom. As we were in the tub, he made sure to wash every inch of me with his soap. He had apologized for not having something girly, but I wasn’t complaining. I wanted to go to sleep smelling of him. I wanted to lie in bed and smell him all around me as I thought back to his touches and words that he had bestowed upon me earlier.
    Before climbing in bed, I called him, just to hear his voice one more time.
    “I miss you already,” he said in way of greeting.
    Without looking in my mirror, I knew my cheeks were a deep red. “I miss you already, too. I just climbed in to bed and wanted to hear your voice once more before closing my eyes and dreaming of you.”
    “Now that I’ve had you in my bed, I don’t think I ever want to be in it alone again. Please tell me you’re planning on telling your family. I want nothing more than to have you live with me. To have you sleep next to me every night and wake up to you every morning.”
    “Mmmm… I like the sound of that. But no, I’m not ready to tell them yet. Believe me when I say that I wish I was.”
    “I guess I just don’t understand then, Sarah. If you want all of that, what is stopping you?”
    “You don’t understand my family.” And he didn’t. No one did. Marissa had even thought I was exaggerating when I first told her about the rules I had to follow. “They would disown me, tell me how I have no morals, and that I will be damned to hell.”
    He scoffed. “That’s rather hard to believe, Sarah. How can you possibly sneak out all the time to see me if they are that strict? Huh? Not to mention, what parent—
     
     
    My phone rang, pulling me from my story. It took me a minute to realize it was my cell phone. I had been totally transported into my story and had been Sarah, not Sage. It took me a minute to come back to reality.
    “Hello,” I answered and knew it was Missy. Her name had been splashed across my screen.
    “Hi!” she sounded eager. “I wanted to know if you still felt up to meeting me this weekend.”
    “Yes,” I said dully.
    “Where?” she asked excitedly.
    “How about Dungeon’s? It’s down on North Harbor Drive. It’s a dive bar, but fun on the weekends.” It was over forty minutes away and I was waiting for her to balk at the distance. I met Keegen there because I had driven a ways so no one would recognize me in this town where everyone knew everyone.
    “Sure! That sounds great! See you tomorrow.”
    “Bye,” I said and breathed out as I ended the call. I just wanted to dive back into my book.
     
     
    —tells their child that they will go to hell?” he asked, sounding condescending.
    It made my gut wrench. I hated feeling that way, especially after just giving him my virtue. I didn’t want him to be mad at me. I also didn’t want my family to be mad at me. I turned silent, holding in my tears as I waited for him to speak again.
    “Sarah, baby, you know I love you. God, I love you more than I ever thought possible to love anyone. But I’m having a really hard time here. I thought after I gave you my ring that you would tell them. I thought for sure that after what we did tonight you would tell them.”
    “I will tell them. I just have to do it in my own time.”
    “Well, I just hope time doesn’t run out.”
    My breath was caught in my throat as my tears let loose. With tears racing down my face and falling to my chest, I asked,