				IDLE TALK (Chapter 53)

Sophia was sitting in her bedroom at the beginning of August. With her were Jessie and Kate.

"Last month, I asked Ellen to put me on the pill," Kate revealed. "She arranged it. I've been on it a little longer than a month, now."

Sophia looked at her, surprised. "Have you and Dave done it, yet?"

"No, but I am ready, ready, ready," Kate giggled. "You know that Dave and I have done everything but. Well, it's getting more and more frustrating to stop without finishing, you know? I'm sooo ready."

"As long as you're sure," Sophia smiled at her.

"Sure as the sun coming up in the morning. They say you have to wait two months after starting the pill before you're safe, right? Two months is Labor Day weekend. Dad and Ellen are going away. I have a big surprise for my boyfriend," she giggled. "He doesn't even know I'm on the pill."

"He's gonna be a happy boy. Send him back to the Prep with a smile on his face," quipped Jessie.

"Oh, he won't be the only one smiling," admitted Kate.

"So, what's up with Crash?" Sophia asked Jessie.

Jessie looked at the floor. "We've decided to break up."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah. We've talked about it. Look, I'm going to Umass, and he's going to Northwestern. We'll be a thousand miles apart. I don't want to spend college cooped up in my room. So, we're going to see other people, and see what happens. If Jason is the one, then it will keep. Meantime, we do a little exploring, and figure out if each other really is "it". You're lucky, Soph, you're bringing yours with you. That was not possible for us, for lots of reasons."

 "True", Sophia smiled. "I know who I want. Of course, your idea sounds a touch intriguing, but I know that Warren is the guy for me."

"Of course you do," quipped Jessie. "But what do you mean by intriguing?"

"Well, before Warren and I knew we were going to be able to go to the same school, we discussed this, what would we do if we were separated. And we decided that we'd do exactly the same thing that you and Jason are doing. In our case, however, I think we knew it would just be a series of flings, and then we'd come back to each other. Warren is the guy for me, in the long run, and I know that completely. However, four years of variety has a certain.......appeal." She giggled.

"Well, ask Warren! Shit, if you want to open up your relationship, I don't think he'd have a problem with that," Jessie said. "Shit, he didn't have a problem with Jason."

"Yeah, that's because he got you in return!"

"I'm telling you, Sophia, if you opened up your relationship, Warren would not be staying home at night. All it would take was for one girl to experience that tongue, and it would be all over the University of Wisconsin and he'd be fending them off with a stick."

Sophia giggled. "Yeah, that's what worries me. No, really, I don't really need anyone else, and I wouldn't want to do that with him there at the same school."

"I don't see why you'd want it anyway. All you'll find out is that most guys can't hold a candle to that boyfriend of yours."

"Yeah, and I know that, too."

"Good."

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 Warren was talking to Jason about the breakup, also.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Jason said. "We just don't want to box ourselves in. We're young, we've got plenty of time to decide if this is permanent or not."

"Hmmmm. I'd be afraid of one thing."

"What's that?"

"That I would realize I want it to be permanent and she would not."

"Yeah, but that's the chance we've decided to take." Jason looked at Warren. "You're afraid of that anyway, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"What, are you kidding? Sophie adores you, absolutely adores you."

"Sometimes I wonder."

"Well, this is new."

"Not really." Warren sighed. "We're connected in so many ways, I'm wondering if those connections are what keep us together. She depends on me. She relies on me. There's the ice skating. I wonder if that's all we have, dependence and a career together. Not from my end, mind you, I love her more than life itself. But I wonder if she truly loves me. I wonder if she knows the answer to that question."

"Jesus, Warren, you've been together for three years!"

"Yeah, as have you and Jessie. And you're ending it."

"First of all, we're not looking at it as an end, just a postponement. A hiatus. And, second of all, though I love Jessie, I have never seen our relationship like I've seen yours. You guys were made for each other."

"I hope you're right. I've been thinking about this anyway, but moreso since you told me you and Jessie were calling it quits. Sophie and I did not have a good start to our relationship. She asked me out too soon after Scott, and she took me to bed too soon after that, and I went along with it. I still wonder if gratitude and dependence aren't all she has for me.

"You're nuts."

"Could be. I hope so. Because I don't know what I'd do without her."

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