Quarantine

Sex Ed: Part 1

"Milk?"

"Check."

"Eggs?"

"Check."

"Canned Peas?"

"Check."

There was a moment of silence. "Babe...I said canned peas, not candies."

"Oh, really?" Sundai giggled, shrugging. "I guess I didn't hear you correctly." Her smile widens as she continues dumping more candy into the shopping basket, instead of taking them out.

Ezra sighs tiredly, rolling his eyes, but he doesn't hide the smile that was creeping up on his face. "You're impossible. If you're going to continue grabbing them, at least get the good ones." He looks at the thin mints in disgust.

I trudge away from the couple as they continue arguing, my feet dragging through random aisles. Today was a Saturday, so no work at the bakery or the school. My schedule was completely cleared and I had no plans whatsoever, but everyone else did. Jackson had meetings and interviews for the majority of the day, Eve had gone away for the weekend on vacation with her family while Tyler was still in London, Sumi had wife duties now, and the rest of everyone else I knew was busy, including Sundai and Ezra. They had planned on going out shopping together for the day, but felt so sad for me that they decided to invite me along. 

I tried hard to get out of the situation, perfectly fine with the idea of staying in for the day, snuggled in bed and putting on a few movies to pass time, but they insisted. Throughout my time with them from 9 am to it now being 12 pm, I had to endure their lovey dovey looks and playful touching. Not only did it make me uncomfortable, feeling like I was interrupting their time as the third wheel, it made me also miss Jackson.

This morning, my eyes had slowly drifted open to see Jackson lying beside me in my bed, his eyes closed, hair disheveled, slow and steady breathing, and his arm laying across my hip. He looked so peaceful and unbothered compared to what he looked like last night when he came back from the studio. He had bags under his eyes and was on the verge of falling asleep where he stood, and I knew for a fact that he hadn't eaten. By the time I could utter a word to him about eating something, he had already fallin asleep the minute his head hit the pillow. I wanted to badly force him to stay home and get some rest, but I knew someone would come for me, whether it be Tony or one of the members, so I simply settled for making him breakfast, before he slipped through my apartment's front door.

My mind started to clear when I noticed where I had stopped. I blushed and coughed awkwardly as I stood in front of the condom section. No one paid any attention to me and was going on with their shopping, but in my head, it felt like all judging eyes were on me. I wasn't going to buy anything, but I still glanced over at the large section, taking in the variety of condoms on the shelves. My eyes stopped and widened on one that said Magnum XL. 

It can get that big???

Never once did I notice how heavy my breathing was getting, until a woman around my age, tapped me on my shoulder and asked if I was okay. I squeaked, shaken up by her sudden appearance, but I nodded, avoiding eye contact with her.

She giggled. "You're a virgin, aren't you?" I threw an annoyed side glance at her and she threw her hands up in surrender. "Hey, not trying to offend you in anyway. I work in a sex shop, so I can easily tell when someone's unexperienced." She smiled warmly. "Sorry, I can be a little too forward sometimes."

I nodded slowly, taking in her appearance. She had piercing blue eyes, dark green dyed strands in her black hair, piercings on her nose, ears, lip, and eyebrow, tattoos covering up one arm, and she was wearing all black. At first glance, it would be easy and unintentional to think that she was the stereotypical emo girl that listened to screamo music, went to raves, smoked and did drugs, but her smile dismissed that. Despite her appearance, I could see how she would fit in as a worker at a sex shop. Her smile was warm and friendly, and with no judgement. She seemed like the type of person to make you feel comfortable and at ease if it was your first time entering a sex shop.