purity ring / lashton

02 / holy idea

all eyes trained on the man at the head of the room, whose sleeves were scrunched up to his elbows and had a little bit of careless scruff on his cheeks.

the audience was full of teenagers, including luke himself, due to this being a sunday school class that's more suitable for luke's age group. it ranged from thirteen-year-olds to seventeen-year-olds. once you turned eighteen, pastor joe sadly ushered you to the grown ups service. luke liked pastor joe and the things he taught because he made it fun and entertaining. it kept his mind in the bubble of his christianity while making sure his eyes weren't drooping in the process.

"today we're going to talk about sex."

some snickers and whistles were heard around the room, while luke's cheeks threatened to turn bright red. he sat in a row with a boy called nick who he'd met through church, since michael didn't believe in any religion. nick laughed breathily next to him and luke glanced at the boy, and then back at pastor joe, who was saying that, "if you're uncomfortable with the subject, please go back to the sunday school room with the little kids and i'll come get you when we're done," and luke clutched his fingers together in his lap.

"how many of you have had a boyfriend or girlfriend before?" pastor joe asked, and a lot of the teenagers around luke raised their hands, while he sat rigid. "don't be shy, most of you have. now let me ask, how many of you aren't afraid to admit that you've had sex?"

not a single hand rose.

"there it is. you'll catch onto the idea that the kids in your community will tweet and snapchat things that they'd never say in church, and that's okay. under god's roof, you're allowed to express yourself in a way that would make you feel happy to be in his presence. a lot of you may not have had sex before, and that's why i'm gonna' introduce something today that could make things with your boyfriend or girlfriend better."

pastor joe clapped his hands together and clicked a button on a remote that controlled the slideshow on the projector he had. a large picture of a shiny ring with a twinkling diamond embezzled into it popped up onto the board.

luke's eyes widened, amazed. "who's heard of abstinence?" everyone's hands raised. "how about abstinence rings?" only some raised.

nick scoffed beside luke. "this is a big load. how am i supposed to sit here and be told to get a purity ring if i've already fucked, like, six different bitches?" he asked, and luke tried to laugh, but felt awkward. he hadn't even held hands with anyone, let alone had sex with them. he kind of liked the idea of abstinence rings. "wanna' duck out?"

"i'm okay. don't really feel like going with the little kids," luke lied, and he pressed his hands to his thighs as nick nodded. "i'll catch you later?"

"sure, man," nick smiled and left.

pastor joe was rambling on about how abstinence is key, and luke couldn't agree more. he thought this ring could be the best way to show his loyalty to god, and he wanted so badly to do it. he immediately wondered what his impending purity ring would look like, and he couldn't wait to ask his mum. he knew jack would make fun of him, and his dad would probably frown until he had lines on his forehead because that's always what he does, and his mum would probably just quietly say, "let's talk about it later, honey," and that would be it.

but he wanted to do this.

as soon as they were dismissed, luke jumped from his seat and made his way to the lobby where his parents were mingling with other church goers and eating the complimentary snacks. luke smiled and conversed with mrs. hood, the mother of one of the bad boys at school.

calum hood was a senior who luke cowered away from. he had tattoos and piercings and vandalized school property for fun. luke heard rumors that he snuck to the back of the school and smoked marijuana with the janitor almost every friday. one time, calum ran away from home and had the entire city looking for him, only for him to come back a week later and say, "i was just taking a break." that's why a lot of people thought poorly of the boy.