Page 12 of Sunday Morning

“Oh my gosh, are you totally being serious?”

“Yes.” I proceeded to tell her everything, and when I finished, the line was silent. “Heather?”

“Isaac thinks you and Matt have had sex?”

I twirled the phone cord like a jump rope, every nerve in my body rapidly firing. “I don’t know if he believed me, but yeah, he might.”

“What did Matt say when you told him?”

I cringed. “I haven’t told him yet.”

“Sarah! What if Isaac says something to Matt? You’ll look like a liar to both of them. You have to tell Matt.”

“I can’t tell Matt; he’ll be mad that I was lying to his brother.”

“Whydidyou lie to Isaac?”

I sighed, falling onto my back again. “Because Isaac is older and more experienced. And I’m eighteen, but I have the least experience of everyone. And it’s embarrassing.”

“Your dad’s the preacher at the only church in Devil’s Head. You know that even if you weren’t a virgin, everyone would assume you were.”

“What’s it like?” I wrapped the cord around my finger.

“What’s what like?”

“You know.”

Heather laughed. “I’ve told you this so many times. Itwas fine. Weird. But good. I feel like Travis came quickly, but what do I know?”

“Was it wet?” I asked with an unavoidable grin.

“The condom?”

“Was it wet before the condom?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t want to touch it.”

I giggled.

“Why are you asking me about this again?”

“Because I need real-life details in case Isaac brings it up again this summer.”

“This summer?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Yeah. I agreed to manage the Corys’ farm stand, and Isaac is working on the ranch, so I’m sure I’ll see him a lot.”

That should not have made me feel so giddy, but it did because Isaac had a guitar in his room, and he’d been in a band. The only thing I felt truly passionate about was music. I wanted to play a guitar and sing songs—I wanted to singmysongs. I had pages of lyrics in a notebook. And when I really let myself dream big, I imagined crowds of adoring fans singing those lyrics back to me.

“Sarah,” Heather said my name slowly. “You’re going steady with Matt. Everyone knows you’ll get married. Why are you planning sex talks with his brother? And why would he ask you if Matt’s thingy was wet?” She laughed.

The line clicked.

“Sarah, I need to call Erin,” Eve said, having picked up one of the other receivers in the house.

“Give me a minute,” I said.

“Fine,” Eve replied.