The UnSlut Project

We hoped putting a spell on her would make her stop being a slut.

December 15, 1999

I will not see Tyler again for almost three weeks! He is leaving for England tomorrow morning at like, 6am, and he won't be back until January 2nd.

Anyways, today, Stacy, Gina, and I went over Maggie's house. We're really interested in witchcraft and the Wicca religion, and we've decided to be a coven. [I should mention that our knowledge of the "Wicca religion" was limited to what we'd learned from watching The Craft and doing a few cursory Internet searches.]

We all sat up in Maggie's room, casting a circle and calling the quarters: North, South, East, and West. We were going to do a binding spell on Jenna, which is when you wrap white ribbon around a picture of her and chant, "I bind you, Jenna, from doing harm. Harm against other people and harm against yourself." The "harm against yourself" part was what we hoped would work, because we care about Jenna. We hoped putting a spell on her would make her stop being a slut. [What an interesting inversion of the usual witch = slut trope. How progressive of us.]

But we were interrupted by the doorbell. Maggie ran to get it, and came back and said, "James, Tyler, and Louis are here. What should I do?" "Just tell them to go away," Stacy said. But I objected. "Guys, this is the last time I'll see Tyler in three weeks. And if the world ends at the turn of the millenium, this will be the last time I ever see him. Let's go outside and talk to them and finish our spell later."

Everyone agreed, so we all went outside. It began to rain, but not that hard, so we just put our hoods up. Well, the guys did. I just let my hair get wet, because I don't think wearing a hood is very flattering to my face. Pretty soon, people began thinking along the same wavelength: that Tyler and I should hook up. It was pretty embarrassing, because they would be like, "Okay, we'll just go over here..." and when I tried to follow them, they were like, "No, Emily, you should stay here with Tyler." So we were left alone in front of Maggie's house.

Tyler and I looked at each other, and then we wrapped our arms around each other. As we leaned in to kiss, I kept my eyes open until the moment our lips met. [How awkward.] I watched his eyes close and his mouth open, and I will always remember that image. This kiss was, if possible, even more beautiful than our first. It was unpredictable and exciting, but also calm and relaxing. I wanted it to last forever.

But then I heard James say, loudly, "They've been making out for like, a really long time!" And I felt a bit silly then, knowing that Tyler had heard it, too. If we continued to kiss after that, it would seem like it would only be to impress James by kissing for longer. So I gently ended the kiss and just hugged him. It felt so utterly romantic, standing there, holding him in the rain.

I love him to death, I absolutely love him. I hope to God that the world doesn't end in the next two weeks like it's supposed to, so I can see him again! And I hope all the computers don't get messed up that run the airplanes and stuff, or he'll have to stay in England for longer!