Opal Andrews

The chamber of pleasures

CHAPTER ONE

ENTRY ONE

Well, deare olde diary, here I am home early again from a date. This time it was with Larry, the Reverend Mister Collier's son, and I certainly had every reason to believe that his sweet kind gentle Lawrence would be different from other boys.

He isn't. We went to a movie, and he tried to hold my hand. I resisted, several times, and then when it seemed I had taught him that I am no easy girl who holds hands with just anybody at all, I let him. It was rather nice, although hands get a little hot and perspirey (I don't know if that's a word, but I refuse to say "sweaty"!) after a while. Anyhow, after a while my hand was not only hot and perspirey, my arm was tired and getting cramped, so I detached my fmgers from his and moved my hand to my lap.

He reached over there to hold it! With his fingertips touching me! I could feel them, right through my dress!

After that, understandably enough, I reached over with my other hand, firmly detached his from mine, and transferred it back to the arm of the seat.

He tried twice more during the movie, but I wouldn't have any of that.

Then, when the movie was over and we were getting into his father's car, he tried to kiss me.

"This is our first date, Larry," I told him. "I think you're moving just a little too fast, don't you? What would your father think, for Heaven's sake?"

He stared at me as if I were some kind of nut. I hate having to record the word he used, right here in my own diary, but I must if this diary of my Life is going to be honest. No, I won't! I can't! Weil, the word he used was the four-letter one, but what he meant when he said just two words was this: