Sex & Drugs & Dungeons & Dragons

F7. Home Rules

After that first gig Nicky began to get a sense of what it felt like to be a rock star. Chris' friends from the Catholic boys school started to make excuses to show up after school, to offer Nicky rides home, to carry her books, to help her study, and even to help her do her family chores. They began to follow her around like puppy dogs, and Nicky loved the attention.

Unfortunately, her mother began to notice, and began to get suspicious. One day Nicky came home from school to discover someone had searched her underwear drawer and had stolen the birth control pills she'd hidden there. Her Mom confronted Nicky, barging into the bathroom while Nicky was getting ready for bed. "Is there something you need to tell me?" she asked.

Nicky turned off the water and looked over her shoulder. Her mom was standing in the open doorway, the birth control pills in the palm of her hand.

"They're not mine," Nicky claimed, trying not to panic.

"Then whose are they?"

"A friend," Nicky lied. She studied her Mom's face and could tell she wanted to believe her, so Nicky expanded on the lie. "She didn't want her parents to find out, so I agreed to keep them for her."

Nicky's mom crumpled with relief. "Oh thank God," she sighed. Then she regained her composure, pushed past Nicky, and flushed the pills down the toilet.

"Mom!" Nicky complained. "Now what am I going to tell my friend?"

"Tell her what my mother told me," Nicky's mother replied. "Tell her that's no way to find a husband."

Nicky tried hard not to roll her eyes. "I don't think my friend is looking for a husband."

"Not now, maybe. But she'll want one someday. And men don't marry sluts. Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?"

Nicky stared at her mom and realized that the continental divide that separated them was even bigger than she had imagined. "All right, mom. I'll tell her." And that crisis was averted.