Purity Read Online Free PDF Page B

all, but you can’t take Ruby too seriously. Not yet, anyway,” he says, slowing as we take a sharp turn. It’s one of those roads where it feels like they built around the trees instead of hacking through them. I like that.
    “We have to think of something else fast, then,” I say. “I can’t break Promise One or Three, and right now it looks like the only way around that is Ruby’s plan.”
    “I know,” Jonas sighs. “Just give your dad another night or so. See if he stays serious about it.”
    *   *   *   *
    We’re back at my house by midafternoon, when the sun is so hot that everyone locks themselves indoors. I hop out ofLucinda with my book bag, rehearsing telling my dad about how the Princess Ball just isn’t my thing. It shouldn’t be hard, I tell myself as I turn the front doorknob and Jonas pulls out of the driveway.
    Dad is sitting at the dining room table—he’s usually at work till at least seven. There are boxes all around him crammed full of Princess Ball stuff; each looks a little like a thief had ransacked them. Typically, this is Dad’s element—when he was on the board for a landscaping thing, there was three times this much paperwork and he soaked it up like it was a life force. But right now he looks overwhelmed, surrounded by the giant stacks of paper with a sad look on his face. I feel a twinge of pity, despite the fact that he’s the reason I’m stuck with this whole purity problem.
    “Hey, Dad,” I say, letting my book bag slide off my shoulder.
    “Oh, hey, Shelby. You’re home from school a little early.”
    “It’s finals week. You’re home from work early.”
    “I’ll be taking a few days off work. Ball planning is pretty intense, apparently,” he mumbles, pushing a pile of papers across the dining room table. They run into another pile, which pitches forward and slides onto the floor. Dad sighs.
    “I’ll definitely need help planning it. I’m supposed to pick out events within the next week. Like, for example, one year the Princess Ball included a ballet number. But do most girls know how to dance? You took ballet when you were little, didn’t you?”
    “Yes.” I nod slowly, recalling my days in a frilly pinktutu. I try not to cringe. “But I don’t think I remember enough for any sort of… recital thing,” I quickly add.
    “Okay, so that one’s out….” He pulls a piece of paper from the nearest stack, then sets it aside. It’s like some sort of relief has washed over him. He picks up another sheet. “What about a letter ceremony? You write a letter about yourself and the vows you’re taking, then put it at a cross—oh, wait, this is a carryover from when it was a religious ball. I guess we’d have to put them at something other than a cross—not everyone would want to write a letter to Jesus….”
    “Um… sure…” Letter to Jesus? Wow. I’ve got a few things I’d like to say to him, sure, but something tells me they aren’t Princess Ball–appropriate.
    Dad nods and puts the paper in a new stack. He’s about to slide another one toward me, but I cut him off.
    “I’m not sure I’m really up to planning all this now. I’ve got to study for a final tomorrow.”
    “Oh!” he says, then looks sheepish, like he should have known that I’d be busy. “It’s just… you know, only five weeks out. I was thinking it’d be a breeze….”
    I sigh. “Okay, I’ll help—but I’ve got to study. Maybe later?” I say, which is code for “Maybe after I’ve punched myself in the face fifty times.”
    I’m already speed-dialing Jonas by the time I reach the top of the stairs.
    “Well,” I say when he answers, “I don’t even need to give it more than tonight. He’s a go for Princess Ball badness.”
    Jonas groans. “And you seriously think exploiting Ruby’s loophole is a good idea?”
    “I have to, Jonas. We’ve only got five weeks and I don’t have any other ideas.”
    “I still don’t think your mom intended for you to