by K. Z. Snow
I didn’t need a counselor to tell me that was what growing up was all about.
In July, with help from two staff members of the Northern Light, we held a party in the school’s open-air pavilion to celebrate “closure,” which was a euphemistic way of saying we wanted to celebrate the pederast’s sentence as well as honor Tim and Ben Raphael’s All-Star Virgin Order.
Several girls made a huge, decorated banner that read BRAVO! The word was more than an acronym that day.
Before getting down to the business of guzzling lemonade and eating, of sharing our memories of Tim and gossiping (sorry to say, but it was bound to happen) about Ms. Anderson and her exploits, the forty or so attendees traipsed down to the docks. About half that many got in boats while the rest stayed on shore. Those of us in boats rowed or paddled into the bay, where Carlton, Brody, Rider, and I threw a wreath into the water at approximately the spot where our fishing hole used to be.
Everybody released white balloons. The sight of them sailing into the clear blue sky seemed to celebrate Tim’s life and free us from our grief.
When we got back to the pavilion, Della mounted its small stage and whispered something to the guy who was serving as a DJ. She turned and addressed the gathered students and staff.
“Just to sort of purify the air around here, I want everybody to dance with someone they truly love and trust. Best friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, it doesn’t matter. And if a bunch of people want to dance together, that’s cool too. Let’s get some positivity flowing.”
For the first time, Rider and I danced as a couple—while holding each other very close. We didn’t even think twice about it because we no longer gave a shit about anybody’s approval. I guess we’d come to realize that love is its own reason for being.
Some kids made snarky remarks. Some watched in disbelief and snickered. Most grinned or cheered. And so we crossed another threshold and lost the worst kind of virginity—the kind that keeps a person’s doubts and insecurities intact, the kind that seals in fear and seals out joy.
“This is the real world in microcosm,” Rider said in my ear. “Think you’re ready for it?”
“I’m not sure.”
Rider nuzzled the side of my face.
“But you know what?” I added, remembering the vow I’d made in March. “I’m going to do everything I can to make myself ready.”
I felt him smile. “Me too. With you by my side.”
I matched his smile. “That goes without saying.”
We’d turned our base material into gold.
About the Author
If there’s one thing K.Z. SNOW loves more than indulging her wayward imagination, it’s the natural world and, especially, animals. She’s been a companion to most domesticated creatures and a good number of the feral ones commonly known as men. After too many turbulent years, her life in the upper Midwest is now sublimely uneventful.
She received a 2012 Rainbow Award in the YA/Coming of Age category and the 2014 EPIC eBook Award for Contemporary Fiction.
You can visit K.Z. at her blog, http://kzsnow.blogspot.com, or website, http://www.kzsnow.com/, or chat with her on Twitter, https://twitter.com/k_z_snow, and Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/KZSnow. Feel free to e-mail K.Z. at [email protected].
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Copyright
Published by
HARMONY INK PRESS
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Ben Raphael’s All-Star Virgins
© 2014 K.Z. Snow.
Cover Art
© 2014 Maria Fanning.
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
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Digital ISBN: 978-1-63216-257-1
First Edition September 2014
Printed in the United States of America