Shut Out, Kody Keplinger [book recommendations for young adults txt] 📗

denying ourselves, too?”

Kelsey rolled her eyes. “Jesus, Chloe. You’re such a whore.”


“Fuck you,” Chloe snapped. “I know for a fact that you screwed Terry on your first date. Don’t act so high and mighty.”

“Guys,” I said, a little panicked. “Fighting among ourselves won’t solve anything. We’re here to create peace, remember?”

Kelsey shot Chloe one more evil glare before leaning back in her seat and folding her arms over her chest, her bottom lip poked out like a pouting five-year-old.

“Look,” I said. “You all agreed you wanted to end this stupid war, right? And this is the way to do it. We make them want us, then refuse to give them what they want. Once they realize we’re not giving in, they’ll be like putty in our hands. And that’s when we spring this on them. They have to call off the rivalry before we’ll touch them. I bet they’ll cave within two weeks.”

Somehow, I could feel Ellen’s eyes on me. I smiled, trying not to look uncomfortable.

“Is that, you know, ethical?” Susan asked. “I want the rivalry to end and all, but sex as a weapon feels a little sketchy. I think there have been whole Dr. Phil episodes about it.”

“Oh, come on,” Chloe said. “Every girl has a prerogative to say no. There’s no reason not to exercise that right… even in large groups. Besides, Dr. Phil’s a quack.”

“Susan, you pay a freshman girl to do your English papers,” Kelsey said. “Are you really the one to question ethics?”

“Hey, I’m busy. I have basketball practice. No time to read The Great Gatsby or whatever. Plus, I pay her. That makes it ethical.”

“This is ethical,” I said, hoping to get them back on track. “We’re not really using sex as a weapon—we’re just choosing not

to partake until the rivalry ends. We’re not manipulating them or anything. We’re… boycotting.”

“Well, it is a good plan,” Susan said. “I mean, it will probably work.”

“I don’t know.” Mary Grisham’s voice was barely loud enough for me to hear over the flutter of whispers at the table. She was a tiny junior with huge blue eyes and dark chocolate–colored hair. I looked at her, smiling, urging her to continue. She shifted nervously in her seat and said a little louder, “I, um… I can’t really do anything,” she said. “Finn and I aren’t sleeping together, so I don’t—”

“Seriously?” Chloe said, gawking. “You and Finn have been together for, like, nine months, right? And you haven’t even gotten it on once?”

Mary shook her head.

“Is he, like, gay?” Chloe asked.

“Just because they haven’t slept together yet doesn’t make either of them gay.” It came out sounding harsher than I meant it. I glanced at Mary again, then addressed the rest of the table. “I’m sure some of the rest of you are in the same boat, right?”

More silence.

I had to stop counting after ten seconds. I just didn’t get it. These were the same girls who called Chloe a whore for having too much sex. I could see their eyes on Mary. See the mocking or disapproving expressions. Like her virginity was a bad thing.

“Well, thank you for being honest,” I told Mary as her cheeks turned redder and redder. “It’s cool that you’re waiting. I know a lot of girls lie about it, so I respect your honesty.”


“You’re welcome,” Mary mumbled.

“Oh, honey.” Chloe sighed. “That’s cute, but you don’t know what you’re missing.”

I elbowed Chloe in the ribs and said loudly to Mary, “But you can still participate. Just don’t do other stuff. Don’t, um… Don’t go down on him or touch his…” I felt like my face was on fire. I took a deep breath and forced myself to keep going. “No hand jobs. Or anything he might enjoy too much. If kissing is all you do, don’t make out with him. You’ll find a way. You don’t have to be having sex to make it work. Trust me.”

“But won’t they get mad?” one of the girls asked.

“Yeah, they will. And then won’t they cheat on us?”

“I don’t want that.”

“I do. Then maybe I’ll finally be off the hook for kissing that kid from Oak Hill.”

“Stop, stop, stop,” Chloe said over the growing wave of panicked voices. “Look, maybe I’m not an expert, since I’m not in a relationship or whatever, but is this really something you’re worried about? If so, that is seriously fucked up.”

“Girls like you are the reason we have to worry,” Kelsey muttered.

Chloe turned an icy glare on her. “Despite what you think of me, I’ve never slept with another girl’s boyfriend. And I would never sleep with Terry—whiny ass-kissers aren’t my type.” She looked at the rest of the girls again. “Seriously, if the bastards cheat on you, then they don’t deserve you anyway. If that’s a legit fear, then you probably shouldn’t be with them to begin with.”


“Lissa,” Susan said, “what about you? Aren’t you afraid Randy will cheat if you do this?”

“No,” I said. Though I think I sounded a little more certain than I felt. “I’m not. He loves me. Something like this won’t change that. Besides, this will help the boys in the long run, too. They’re victims here. But unless we do something, something to force them out of the war, they’ll never end it. This is our best option, and a good boyfriend won’t hold the no-sex thing against you.”

“Seriously,” Chloe said. “I mean, I like sex probably about as much as any boy does, and even I know a little bit of abstinence isn’t something to end a relationship over. That’d be pretty fucked up.”

“Easy for you to say,” Kelsey snapped. “Have you ever even been in a relationship, Chloe? A real one. One that continues even after you put your clothes back on.”

“You know what? Screw you, Kelsey. I don’t have to be in a relationship to know that a guy is a dick if he dumps you because you won’t put out. And no matter what you think of me, I won’t be the one the boys run to when they want to get some. Because… because I’m going to do it. What Lissa said. I’m going to play along. No sex.”

I gaped at Chloe, amazed. “Seriously?”

“Yep. I’m in.”

“Me, too.”

I turned to my right and saw Ellen watching me with her hazel eyes. Something in them seemed skeptical, and I wondered

if I’d misunderstood her. Then she shook her head and the flicker of disbelief was gone.

“I’m sick of this fighting. It’s definitely crossed a line.” She gave me a meaningful look before adding, “I think a sex strike is a great idea, and I can try to get some of the other soccer players’ girlfriends in on it. I bet they’ll help. We’re all fed up.”

“R-really?” I beamed at her, half in shock. “Ellen, thank you so much.”

After that, a lot of people seemed to hop on the bandwagon.

“I’ll do it,” Susan said. “Damn, Lissa, you’ve got some brains. I never would have thought of this.”

“I’m in. It’ll make this season more entertaining at least.”

“I guess I’ll do it. Maybe end-of-rivalry sex will be even better than make-up sex.”

I ducked my head to hide the blush creeping up my face. How could these girls be so open about their sex lives? I barely even talked about mine with Chloe. Hell, I couldn’t even say the words for the things I was doing with Randy without cringing.

“We need to make a pact or something,” Chloe said. “Like, an oath. We need to swear to abstain from all sexual activities.”

“What do we swear on?” Susan asked. “The Bible?”

“That’s kind of inappropriate,” I managed to joke. “Considering what we’re swearing about and all.”

“Here.” Ellen placed her backpack on the table and unzipped it. After a few seconds of digging, she pulled out a new issue of Cosmo and tossed it onto the table. “It’s the sex-tips issue. Includes a nice list of all the things we can’t do. We can swear on it.”


Chloe picked up the magazine. “Sweet,” she said, flipping through the pages. She paused and visibly cringed. “Ugh. No, don’t try that. Trust me, not as great as it sounds.”

I grabbed the magazine from Chloe, half wondering and half afraid to see what she was talking about. I held it up for everyone to see. “Okay,” I said. “So we’ll all take a vow. I’ll lay out the rules, and if you agree, you put your hand on the magazine and say, ‘I do.’ Got it?”

Most of the girls nodded.

I placed the magazine on the table, putting my hand over the model’s face on the cover. “I hereby swear to abstain from all forms of sexual activity. This includes but is not limited to anything involving body parts below the belt. That’s either party’s belt. Oh, and second base is outlawed, too. Nothing, um, under the shirt.” I forced myself to continue, despite the way this speech made my face heat up. “I’ll stand my ground, even in the toughest of times, and will resist temptation until the rivalry is put to an end.”

I slid the magazine to Ellen, still feeling a little anxious when our eyes met. But I couldn’t let my composure falter right now. Not with all these girls watching.

I cleared my throat for, like, the millionth time that afternoon. “Do you agree?” I asked.

“I do,” Ellen said solemnly.

She passed it on to Susan. “I do.”

Susan passed it to the girl to her right. “I do.”

“I do.”

“I do.”


When it came to Mary, I saw her hesitate for a minute. She looked at me, took a breath, and placed her hand on the magazine. “I do.”

Then she passed it to Kelsey.

“Just pass it on if you’re too chicken,” Chloe taunted. “You call me a whore, but you’re more hesitant about giving up sex than I am.”

“Shut up,” Kelsey hissed. “Give me that.” She yanked the magazine toward her and put her hand in the dead center of the cover. Her eyes locked with Chloe’s as she said, “I. Do.”

Chloe grinned.

To my amazement, after so much disagreement, all eleven girls at the table—plus me—wound up making the oath. Chloe was the last, and she grinned at me as she swore to be celibate. I knew it would be a challenge for her more than anyone.

But looking at the others, I knew Chloe couldn’t have been the only girl who liked sex. So many others had been hesitant to agree right away. Surely some of the girls had the same reason as Chloe, even if the others were reluctant out of fear of losing their boyfriends. I wondered what the ratio was—how many of the girls just didn’t want to give up sex versus the ones who