Purity Read Online Free PDF Page A

the edge again. Jonas almost misses, but I manage to get a leg down to support myself in time. A lone jogger gives us a curious look as he passes on the other side of the grassy field.
    “Ruby, I think professional photographers do this sort of thing over a mat or something,” Jonas mumbles.
    “Yeah, buy me a big giant mat and we’ll do that. Anyway, Shelby, so no sex for you? Taking the Princess Ball vow of prudishness?”
    “Not yet—I’m looking for a loophole to get out of it. And it’s not just sex—apparently being ‘pure’ means no drinking or drugs, either.”
    “I assume you already had no plans to end up on one of those drug-rehab shows, but no drinking, either? Ever?” Ruby asks as Jonas catches me again.
    “No, just no drinking till I’m twenty-one. I can deal with that, if I have to,” I answer as I climb back up onto the fountain.
    “Didn’t you have a beer at that Flying Biscuit Christmas party we went to last year?” Ruby asks.
    “I did,” I admit.
    “So… doesn’t that mean in the drinking category, you have no purity to begin with?” Ruby says, peering down atthe camera and adjusting something. She lifts her head; I fall, Jonas catches me.
    “I guess,” I answer.
    “So you’re saying she can vow that and it won’t count,” Jonas says, nodding. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize that. It’s so obvious—it negates the vow.”
    I pause, thinking about it. They’re right. It’s a totally valid loophole. I grin and step back up on the fountain.
    “All right, that gets me out of the drinking part. Any genius ideas on the sex ban?” I ask.
    “Think you could just quietly switch up the wording, so you’re only vowing the drug and alcohol part?” Jonas suggests.
    “Apparently we have to read off a card. I’m pretty sure Dad would notice if I skipped something.”
    “What if you just got conveniently sick on ball day?” Ruby says.
    “No way,” I answer. “I don’t fake sick.” It’s not even an option—watching someone die of a real sickness will make feigning a headache seem like a pretty crappy thing to do. I fall again, and it’s silent while I climb back up. I prepare to fall again, start to lean—
    “I’ve got it!” Ruby shouts, so loud I lose my balance—Jonas had snapped his head toward Ruby but looks back just in time to keep me from smashing into the ground. He glowers at Ruby as he helps me stand.
    “Sorry, sorry—but I’ve got it, really. You can treat it just like the drinking ban. You can have sex
before
the ball.”
    “
What?
That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Jonas says as I get back up on the fountain.
    “It is not!” Ruby says. “If it works for drinking, it works for sex. And Shelby? You’ve got to relax on the fall this time,” Ruby instructs.
    “Sorry,” I say. “That seems pretty extreme, Ruby. I mean, I think it’s a valid loophole, but…”
    “But what?” Ruby asks, snapping another picture. “I thought the Promises were the most important thing. No matter what.”
    “Fair point,” I say.
    “Fair point! There’s nothing fair about that point,” Jonas says. “This is totally different from the drinking thing.”
    Ruby scoffs as we set up again. “It’s not
that
different from any of the things you do to keep the Promises,” she says to me. “You didn’t really want to jump off that trestle, but you had to. You don’t really want to have sex, but maybe you have to do that, too. Move a little more to your right, and don’t look so much like you’re jumping
at
him.”
    “Don’t move too far to the right—I won’t be able to see you because of the sun. But no. No way can you just have random sex like that,” Jonas says.
    “I never said it had to be random,” Ruby says, snapping a few photos as I fall. She pauses as she adjusts the lens. “I mean, you could make a list—hell, Jonas, you love making lists. You should help. Narrow it down, figure out a candidate who isn’t going to give