Free Two Thousand Miles by Jennifer Davis Page B

nobody seemed to notice.
    Afterwards, I realized I didn’t have anything to go riding in unless I wore my bathing suit again, and that just seemed gross, so I asked Bit if she had something I could borrow. She gave me a pair of black Soffee shorts and a black tank top.
    “It’s better to wear dark colors, so the boys can’t see through them once you get wet,” she said. “Do you have tennis shoes?”
    “No.” I never wore tennis shoes in the summer.
    “You’ll need some, what size are you?
    “Eight.”
    Bit dug in the bottom of her closet, searching for shoes that matched and finally came up with an old pair of pink and white Nike’s.
    “You do have socks , don’t you?” she asked like what idiot doesn’t have socks? I shook my head no. I had no reason to pack socks; I didn’t wear them with my sandals. Bit pulled her dresser drawer open and tossed me a pair of white ankle socks. “Thanks,” I said and went to change.
    Dana caught me in the hallway. “Can we talk for a minute?” she asked, her expression drab. “Sure,” I said, cautiously, hoping I hadn’t done anything wrong.
    Dana walked to her bedroom and held the door open for me. Her room was bigger than the others and had nicer furniture. It all matched, and she had a pretty, beige, embroidered duvet and feather pillows on her bed. For an instant, it made me miss all the nice things I had at home.
    “Are you and Mason sleeping together?” Dana asked, which made me choke on my own breath.
    “Um, no…what Garrett said last night—we were just kissing,” I added quickly, feeling my skin flush in embarrassment.
    “The reason I asked is , I wanted to make sure you were protecting yourself.”
    I swallowed hard.
    “Do you have condoms?” she asked.
    “ Me ?” I screeched.
    “Yes, you,” Dana snickered. “You can’t assume that the boy will always have them, and you don’t want to get so hot and bothered that you do it without protection, and risk pregnancy. Pulling out doesn’t always work. That’s how I got pregnant with Garrett.” I couldn’t believe she’d just said that to me. My face couldn’t have been any redder.
    “I keep these around for my kids, so they never run out,” Dana said, taking a box of condoms from her nightstand. She took a few out and handed them to me. “Just in case,” she whispered. “Thanks,” I said faintly, a forced smile on my lips.
    I hid the condoms between the mattress and box spring in Garrett’s room. I knew Dana had a point. I was the only person who could protect me, and it was better to be prepared than not, but I did not want to hear her talk about pulling out ever again.
    I was fifteen when my dad and I had our official birds and bees talk, and I swear it was less embarrassing than the conversation I’d just had with Dana, although it was incredibly shorter. My dad wanted to go into immense detail and show off his knowledge of reproduction terminology.
    “Dad, I’ve heard exactly the same thing at school,” I protested.
    “Maybe, but you’ve never heard it from me,” he volleyed back.
    “I don’t need to hear it from you. I’ve already heard it. I know how I can get pregnant—something I don’t plan on doing until I’m, like, thirty.”
    “ Best laid plans…”
    He continued with his speech, and I almost fell asleep twice, but I had paid attention during the part about birth control. Especially the part where he said I should be on some as backup of course because I always, always, always needed to use a condom. He’d just never come out and said that I needed to provide them. He took me to a female gynecologist and after discussing it with her; I decided to use an IUD (intrauterine device) because it was the easiest option for me. I could barely remember to take my vitamins and wasn’t going to trust myself to take a birth control pill every day.
    When Mason pulled up, I went outside to see him , and was slapped in the face by the nasty image of Dixie climbing out of