How to Be a Virgin

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CHAPTER 6

      [ Noah ]

Michael was the most beautiful person I had ever seen.

I had the privilege of watching him practice with his fellow teammates and it was safe to say that I was truly in awe. He was so talented and beautiful and funny and ... ugh. Where was this guy my entire life and why was I just meeting him now?

As soon as practice was over, I sprinted down the plethora of bleacher steps and ran onto the field to applaud him for being such an amazing soccer player. I didn't know much about soccer, or sports for that matter, but I could tell that he really enjoyed it. "That was amazing, Mikey! The way you moved your feet with the ball and then it went over there, but then you brought it back and like no one was expecting it and—"

"Mikey?" He questioned, completely disregarding my other comments. His face glistened with sweat and his platinum hair looked more like a dirty blonde since he had doused it in water to cool himself down.

I pressed my lips together. "Do you not like that name? Sorry."

"No, it's just that no one really calls me that ... except for Derek." As soon as he said his name, his eyes fell to the turf field like he had suddenly became interested with it.

"Okay, I won't call you that."

He brought his clear blue eyes back to mine. "No, I like it. Sounds way better than Michael."

"Michael sounds cute," I insisted, but despite my persistence, his face still twisted into a disgusted look.

"It sounds stupid," he countered.

With a defeated sigh, I reluctantly agreed. "Fine, Mikey it is."

He broke into a toothy grin, showing his approval, but the grin quickly disintegrated when his eyes caught sight of something in the distance. "Hey..." he began, still looking into an unknown direction, "...do you want me to drive you home? Kinda need the company anyway."

My heart rate spiked up at the thought of Michael driving me home like boyfriends usually do, but I still tried to keep my cool. "But I thought you had plans after practice," I reminded him.

"Well, I just canceled them." He looped his arm through mine and began to pull me into the direction of the field's exit. He didn't really wait for an answer, but chances were he already knew I would agree to anything he suggested.

In just minutes, we were walking through the parking lot where Michael made it his priority to keep me extra close, like he was afraid something was going to happen to me. The sun was just starting to go down and an eerie darkness was rapidly taking its place, so I wouldn't blame him for wanting to be extra cautious in a vacant parking lot at night.

Once we were settled in the car and on the main route to my house, Mike finally decided to break the silence that had been cloaked over us ever since we left the soccer field. "Do you mind if I, like, crash at your place?"

As expected, my heart jumped at his question. We had only known each other for a few days, but we had already kissed (multiple times) and he was already asking to spend the night. "Um, well, my parents don't really know you so I don't know if they'll be cool with that." It was such a dumb thing to say. I had the opportunity to have Michael in my bedroom, but I was refusing it just because I was scared of my parent's wrath.

"Just say I'm a friend from school," he said with a shrug.

"They know my friends. I only have one."

Michael sighed and started to tap the steering wheel with an irregular, anxious rhythm. "I'm on edge and I don't think I can be at home by myself right now."