The Pigman's Legacy (The Sequel to The Pigman) by Paul Zindel Page B

discussions I attended. I don't know why, but a lot of stuff from that conference came barging through my head, like the two best seminars, called, “Sex: Ready or Not!” and “Rape—It Can Happen to You.” Then there was another panel where they gave you a list of a lot of things that kids should think about in order to find out what kind of person they are. Some of the questions you were supposed to ask yourself were, “If someone gave you five hundred dollars, what would you do with it?” and “What characteristics would you want most in a best friend?” There were a lot of weird classes in the conference, too. One was called “In Defense of Virgins,” which basically made the point that after boys go through a very passionate period in high school, they seem to be less obsessive about carnal wishes later on. I had to laugh at one session I went to called “Why Sex Education Belongs in the Home.” If that ever went on in my home, my mother would shoot me with a bazooka. The conference also had other workshops for mothers and fathers. They were very provocative and called things like “What to Do If Your Teenager Is Having Sex” and “You Can't Stop Your Child from Having Sex.” Another thing I got out of the conference was this theory about the ABC's of responsible sex. It said if you could just remember that “A” stands for abstinence, “B” is for baby, and “C” is for contraception, then everything would work out all right in life. And I remembered another thing in a pamphlet. They said that when a boy takes a girl home, all he really expects is a couple of kisses. And for a lot of boys this is all they can really handle comfortably. This pamphlet says that a boy is really relieved when a girl doesn't give in to his complaint about not getting more on a date. But I think this pamphlet was printed several years ago. They also had a wonderful poster they gave out that showed a doctor, a construction worker, and a bricklayer. Three tough-looking men, all of whom had gigantic bellies. Underneath the picture it said, “Would you be more careful if it was you who got pregnant?” But I guess the fact that really impressed me was that over fifty percent of kids my age do go all the way. Well at least that leaves about another fifty percent who are probably in the same boat I am. Maybe it's not a better boat, and maybe it's not a worse boat; maybe it's just the right boat for some kids. Sometimes, though, the more I read in the psychology books and magazines about sex, the less appealing it is. And the more I learn about it in all the sex manuals they hand out, the more scary it is. Sometimes I wish schools could just teach sex ignorance courses so I could spend more time being myself and less time worrying about what everybody else is doing. Anyway all I'm really trying to tell you is what was on my mind. I just felt like expressing to John that I thought we should be closer, so I put my arm around his waist and moved closer to him as we went by Eileen Farrell's house. I could tell I made John lose his train of thought for a moment. He was talking about what a kind lady Dolly Racinski was. And I knew he was taken off guard by my action. I was terrified that I might have gone too far and John would just brush me away like a leper, not because he hated me, but because his feelings weren't growing like mine. After a terrible silence, he put his arm around me and resumed talking about Dolly. My fingers on his waist got so nervous I thought he would yell at me for causing vibrations to his belly-button. Although he didn't say anything about our new proximity, his hand rubbed my right shoulder softly as though telling me It's okay . Somehow I heard my mother's voice in my head at just that moment screaming one of her favorite things, like “You watch out for boys. They're all dirty and only want one thing.” (This is the end of my secret paragraph.)
    By the time we got back to the old house, Dolly had