The girls were soaked with sweat, they stood on the end-line bent-over, grasping for air—secretly they begged for it to be over. They hated the start of volleyball and the end and everything in-between. Most of all they hated that the coaches who sat in cushy chairs, sipping ice-cold water while barking like mad dogs as they ran for what seemed like hours. The intense heat in the gym combined with the smell of sweat was enough to make anyone barf; seeing three over-weight coaches in spandex put it over the top.

Marica tugged at her overly tight spandex and gave halfhearted encouragement to the freshman as they ran their last suicide. She and her twin sister Sarah had started since their freshman year which really wasn’t that significant given they had lost 54 straight matches—a record that was sure to last for awhile. The streak ended midway through their sophomore season with the start of a new streak—Winners of 39 straight matches and two consecutive state championship. They were the envy of other schools now. The twin long blonde hair and even longer legs made them the envy of every guy and girl in their school.

Sarah stepped from the shower and grabbed the towel off the shoulder of Marica. “I heard that new girl from Freemont had sex with every guy on the football team—even the coaches got in on the action.” “Sounds like fun to me,” Marica mumbled as she turned the blow dryer on. “Just think about Max Milligun being inside you and then go and throw-up,” Sarah said with a smirk. “I heard he’s huge in the area that counts the most,” Marica said with a serious look on her face. Sarah grabbed the digital camera off the bench and took a quick picture of Marica’s exposed breasts through the mirror. “You better delete that,” Marica threatened “It would be just like one of those cartoons where the bed folds up and falls through the floor because of all the weight,” Sarah said laughing.

Marica grabbed a florescent green bra from her locker and began to place it around her waist. “I heard that Mr. and Mrs. Breen are getting a divorce.” “I heard that too Sara said as she sent a text on her I-Phone. “Can you imagine finding out that your husband was having an affair for like three-years and to top it off it was with another guy?” Marica shook her head in disbelief and shouted “gaaross!”  “I bet Terry would like to just die instead of having to live through all that stuff.”

Mandy hated the thought of starting the new school year; the daily fashion shows, the latest “coolest” tattoos, the new “best” couples and those summer sex rumors that swirled around the hallways. Even the clean, almost new look of the school bugged her; it was all so fake. Maybe it was the truths she really feared. How would she answer the questions that were sure to come from Lora and Stacy?

Mandy had resisted going “all the way” for her first three-years of high school and had successfully brushed off the daily barbs from Lora and Stacy who regularly bragged about their sex adventures. She was close once during her eighth grade year, but Steve, a senior didn’t have a condom and when he tried it had hurt so bad that they had to stop. She had asked Lora and Stacy if she was still a virgin and was wholeheartedly convinced that you are indeed a virgin until the guy “finished” in you. I wondered how many times Lora and Stacy had done it before they were no longer virgins.  

Mandy had been dating Ben for eight months, but secretly had had a crush on him since before they were in school. He lived across the street and they had been friends since they were five. Mandy had long-ago convinced herself that Ben was the one she would “do it with” first. Ben was a bit of a loner so she wasn’t worried about him blabbing to his friends; he really didn’t have any friends to speak of. Mandy was more concerned about how she could convince Ben that she wanted to “do it” and “do it” with him.

Mandy had an indoor hot-tub and it was the one place she would let Ben place his hands wherever he wanted on her body even though her parents watched T.V. from a few feet away. Ben often thought that either Mr. or Mrs. Taylor were stupid or really didn’t care if he violated their daughter in front of them; they had to know. Ben was apprehensive at first; it had been Mandy that had placed his hand inside her swimsuit the first time. Ben was slow at catching on to Mandy’s hints; she had even bought jeans that had a Velcro opening, demonstrating to Ben how easily they opened. Ben was more amazed that a pair of jeans could cost $125. 

Ben leaned across the tub, brushed softly and swiftly against Mandy’s breasts and turned the knob that caused the water surface to blister with air. It had become their sign. “My mom and dad are going to the cabin this weekend” Mandy whispered into Ben’s ear. “What should we do?” Ben asked as he moved his hand inside Mandy’s swimsuit.  Mandy laid her head back against the edge of the hot tub, took a long, deep breath and said “anything you want.”