Chapter 4 The Purity Ring

• [ K A R A ]
• Okay, what do I say now? Uh... Make small talk! It's not that hard! Come on, say something, or he'll think that you're some kind of anti-social weirdo. Talk about the weather!
• "So, the weather's nice here..." I stumbled with my words.
• He raised an eyebrow and said, "The weather?" in a mocking tone.
• Okay, that was annoying. I was just trying to be friendly.
• "Hey, what's with that ring you keep playing with?" Ryder said, motioning to the small ring on my finger. I had this bad habit of playing with my ring whenever I got nervous. I guess he must've noticed it.
• "Oh, it's my purity ring," I answered.
• "Your what?"
• "Purity ring, you know?" I repeated myself. "People wear them as a sign of abstinence until marriage,"
• "No, I know what it means, but why are you wearing it?" he paused for a second to think. "Oh wait, are you saying you're actually doing that?" he waited for me to answer.
• I nodded slowly.
• "Are you serious? Wait— you're a virgin?" I sensed the condescending tone in his words.
• I chose not to respond to that remark. But I saw Ryder's eyes lit up as he found this topic super interesting.
• "Don't tell me, are you one of those crazy Christian freaks?" he teased.
• "No," I said, feeling slightly offended. "I didn't do it because of religion. I chose to do it because I want to. I just happen to think that it's a wise decision," I tried to stay calm and not to sound like I was angry.
• "Well I'll be damned!" he chuckled in disbelief. "Look honey, you have to have sex before you get married to a guy, ok? Otherwise, how would you know if you're compatible with each other? What happens if you got married and then you realize the sex is bad?" he spoke to me as if I was a child.
• "Well, first of all, I believe there's more to marriage than just sex, heck, there's more to a relationship than just sex. Second, if I never have sex in the first place, how would I know if the sex is bad? And third... don't call me honey," I was fuming, my inner NYC diva had made its entrance.
• Ryder couldn't help but smile. I hated that he found my decision to stay chaste to be so amusing.
• "Okay, so if it's not because of religion, why'd you choose to do it?"
• I wondered if I should tell him. I knew he was going to make fun of me either way. I knew his type, he'd probably label me as a prude.
• "Because... I like to believe... that love really exists, you know?" I finally answered.
• "What do you mean?" he pressed on.
• "I don't know, I'd like to believe, that there's a guy out there who's willing to wait for me, and love me no matter what, no matter how good or bad the sex is between us, no matter how rich or broke, how pretty or ugly I may get..." I trailed off.
• Ryder couldn't help but stare at me. His jaw fell to the floor, and then he broke into laughter. I rolled my eyes at him, clearly offended.
• "Good luck finding that unicorn, honey," he said through his laugh.
• "My name is not honey. Stop calling me that," I hissed. “It’s Kara. With a K,”
• "Ah sorry, a force of habit," he responded. I looked at him quizzically, waiting for him to explain. "It's just that I hang out with so many girls, I can't possibly remember all their names, you know? So I just call everyone honey," he explained. And he seemed to be proud of it.
• "Holy shit, Kara with a K, you're a virgin," he repeated to himself in that teasing tone.
• I wished I could smack that annoying smile off his face. Why was the fact that I'm a virgin so amusing to him?
• I'm a virgin, sure, big whoop. Surely a lot of other people in the world were too. But probably not him though. Yeah, definitely not him.
• "So, Ry, I suppose you go out on a lot of dates, huh?" I said, making sure I sounded like I don't really care.
• "Eh, not really, I don't do dates, it's too much work. Dates are just appetizers, I like to go straight for the main course, you know what I mean," he replied with a wink.
• "Ew, gross. That's enough information," I cut him off. "Man-whore" I muttered under my breath, almost in a whisper, I thought he wouldn't hear me.
• "You calling me a whore? Yeah okay, prude," he spat.
• "Oh, better that than a man-whore," I snapped back.
• "Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night. But as for me, I sleep really good at night, especially after one or two rounds of—"
• "La la la la!" I cut him off as I put my hand over my ears and sing-song loudly, drowning his voice.
• He laughed at me with a wild grin. Sure, make fun of me, the good ole' prude, whatever. I rolled my eyes at him and scooted towards the edge of my seat, throwing my gaze to the window, not wanting to talk anymore.
• Ryder took the hint. He knew that I was mad at him now.
• "Hey, don't be mad," he nudged my shoulder but I quickly brushed him off.
• Sighing to himself, he then looked out his window and spotted this homey-looking diner. He must be thirsty or something, because the car pulled up to the drive-thru window and Ryder ordered two large milkshakes. Once he was given the two large cups, he gave one of them to me and sipped the other cup.
• "Mhhmm, damn this is so good, maybe even as good as sex," he said teasingly.
• Why are we still talking about that?
• "What's this?" I motioned to the large cup that he gave me.
• "Why it's only the best milkshake in the whole world! Consider it a treat, to welcome my new little sister to Hawaii," he said proudly.
• Eyeing him suspiciously, I shoved the cup back and said, "I don't want it,"
• "The milkshake or the sex?" he teased me again.
• I rolled my eyes and turned my face away, ignoring the milkshake being offered in front of my face.
• "Oh come on, I promise, it's worth your while," he moved the cup around in front of my face, and the straw poking at my lips. "Come on, just take a sip, try it, try it, try it,"
• "Agh! Ryder! You're so annoying!" I grabbed the cup angrily.
• "Ha-ha. Look at us, barely a day and already fighting. We'd make a great sibling, don't you think?" he grinned.
• Psh. Bribing me with a milkshake? What am I, a five year old?
• And as angry and as annoyed as I was, I took a slurp of that darn milkshake. But dang it! He was right. It was the best milkshake in the whole entire world.
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• - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -