"Looks." 

"More specific." Mr. Geoff said.

"Clothes."

"Jewelry."

"Hair color."

"Hair color?" A few kids questioned.

"I dunno. I've just noticed a lot more girls in the school are going blond." The student replied.

"What else with looks?" Mr. Geoff redirected the class.

"Weight."

"Very good." He commented. "What else do you feel pressured about?"

"Dating."

"Who to date or just that you should?" Another student asked.

"Both." Someone else spoke up.

"I think sex is a big one." Some one commented.

"Sex is a very big one. How many of you had ever felt pressured to have sex by your partner?"

A few people raised their hands.

"How about by your friends?" He asked next.

Even more people raised their hands.

"Alright, how many of you think it's ok to have sex before marriage?" He asked them all.

A little over one third of the class rose their hands.

Brintessa, Aaron and Angel did not raise theirs.

"Okay, how many are undecided?"

A little under one third rose their hands including Angel and Aaron.

"How many think you should wait till you're married?"

The rest of the class rose their hands.

"That's stupid. Why wait for marriage?" Someone asked.

"If you hurry and have sex with someone you don't know you risk getting and STD." Someone replied.

"You could end up with an unwanted pregnancy." Another said.

"Anyone else have a reason for wanting to wait?" Mr. Geoff asked.

No one stepped up.

"Oh come now, You must have a reason for wanting to wait. Brintessa, you said you wanted to wait. Why?" Mr. Geoff asked.

She really hated getting called on for stuff like this.

"She's waiting case she's not even allowed to date." Someone commented.

"I'm waiting because the Bible says when you have sex with someone you're flesh because one with that person. Sex is a special thing that you should experience with one special person. If you have sex and become one with anyone and everyone it loses that thing that makes it special. I want my first time to be with someone that I want to spend the rest of my life with. I want sex to be special. Not to mention I really don't want to risk getting HIV or AIDS. I don't wanna risk getting pregnant and being a single parent either." She replied.

"Oh yeah, just like your dad waited to have sex?" Ashley, the girl from before, asked.

Some of the kids laughed.

"I can't speak for my dad, I can only speak for myself." She replied.

"Whatever, your dad is a hypocrite and you know it." She replied.

"That's enough." Mr. Geoff stepped in.

"Poor thing. Her mom killed herself to get away from her and her dad felt sorry for her and kept her." She carried on.

Brintessa stood.

"Ashley, you can see me after class for that." Mr. Geoff said sounding ver y angry.

Aaron placed a hand on Tessa's shin.

She looked down at him and he gave her a warm smile. She took a deep breath and sat down.

A short while later the bell rang.

"Tessa!" Mr. Geoff called.

"Yeah?" She questioned walking over to him.

"I'm proud of you." He said softly.

She just nodded and left.

"Tessa, wait!" Aaron called following her.

"Sorry." She said stopping.

"Think you could help us out again?" Aaron asked as Angel caught up.

"Well, Angel you have lunch right now. Take the second hall right. You can't miss it."

"Thanks. Later Air." She said and walked away.

"You have Mr. Hobbs in the computer lab next. Then lunch..." She trailed off looking around.

"Eric!" She called out spotting him.

"Yeah, Tess?" He said walking over with two friends.

"This is Aaron. He's new and his next class is the same as yours. Could you show him how to get there?" She asked.

"Of course." He smiled.

"He has lunch afterwards also. Maybe you can take him to the cafertria with you. Aaron Rachel and I have lunch then too so if you want you can meet up with us and we'll eat together." She said.

"That'd be great. Thanks." He nodded.

"I'll see you there then. Thanks Eric."

"No problem." He said and walked away with Aaron.

Her next class had a pop quiz. Thankfully she felt like she did well on it.

After the bell rang she met up with Rachel at her locker and then headed to meet up with Aaron for lunch.

"Hey, did you like Mr. Hobbs?" She asked Aaron as he approached them.

"For a teacher... that guy is pretty cool." Aaron explained.

"He runs the sound board in youth group. He's awesome." She replied. "By the way, Aaron this is my best friend Rachel. Rschel, this is Aaron. He's new."

"Nice to meet you." She smiled shaking his hand.

"Like wise." Aaron nodded.

"So, did Eric actually show you how to get here or did he just tell you?" Tessa asked as they all worked on getting their food.

"No, he showed me. He even introduced me to some of his friends. Pretty nice guy." He explained.

"Yeah, Eric is pretty cool. I'm sure you're gonna have no problem fitting in." Rachel told him.

"Fitting in, not fitting in... none of that matters to me. It's standing out I'm afraid of." He told them as they paid for their lunches.

"Standing out?" Tessa asked confussed.

"Yeah, once people find out who my sisters and I are... we tend to stand out. It gets really annoying." He said.

"Sisters? You have more then just Angel?" Tessa asked.

"Yeah, I have a brother whose nine years older then me. Then I have a sister, then another sister, and then Angel and I." He said sitting at a table with them.

"So, why do you guys stand out once people figure out who you are?" Rachel asked.

"Rachel..." Tess complained finding the question forward.

"What, he doesn't have to answer." She replied.

"Well, let's just say my brother is really, really, REALLY popular." Aaron said.

Both girls nodded.

"So, why does that Ashley girl seem to hate you so much?" Aaron asked Tessa.

She shook her head, "I don't know. She used to go to church. Then one day she just stopped coming and got really mean."

"She never really was our friend but before she at least was nice. Now she just hates us. Mostly Tessa." Rachel added.

"Well, what she said about your mom and dad was really mean. I don't know how much truth what she said held but either way... it was really wrong of her to say."

"Oh God, what'd she say this time?" Rachel asked.

"She just said that my mom killed herself to get away from me and that dad felt bad for me and kept me." She rolled her eyes.

"That's not true at all. Your mom was killed in a trafic accident." Rachel complained.

"Yeah, I know. I mean, I was only a few weeks old but the crash wasn't even her fault."

"Your parents had you young I take it?" Aaron asked.

"My parents were both sixteen." She nodded.

"Wow, that's really cool of your dad to step up and care for you like that."

"He had a lot of help but, he can have his cool moments." Brintessa smiled.

"The're few and far between but..."

"Hey!" Brintessa cut her off.

"I'm kidding." Rachel laughed.

"I know, you're kinda right though. He's a little crazy strict."

"A little? Tess you're almost sixteen and the man STILL won't let you date." She rolled her eyes.

"Why doesn't he let you date?" Aaron asked finding it odd.

"I think he's afraid that I'm gonna get pregnant like my mom did." She replied.

"Over protective." Aaron said.

"Very."