Andrew Cook never wanted to save himself for
marriage
. He wasn't that idealistic. Plus, most
educated
people these days didn't get married until their late twenties or even early thirties. He couldn't wait that long. But he did like the idea of saving himself. For something. He didn't know what exactly, but one day he convinced himself that it was
love
. He imagined conversations where guys would ask him if he had gotten laid yet. In his imagination Andrew would be smiling as he proudly said no, the other guys would be so shocked that there was this
virgin
who was not ashamed of it.
It seemed unfair that girls could be virgins without it bringing shame. it did make sense from a logical perspective. A girl could get laid at practically anytime so long as she wanted to, so having gotten laid couldn't be used as a trophy for them. It was the guys who had to fight and scrap and suave their way into getting laid. Thus guys patted each other on the back for winning in this way.
Cook didn't want to fight that fight. It seemed like a waste of time. One of his fears was somebody accusing him for actually just being too chicken. Too afraid to try. And thus making up a lie about how he was waiting for love. He hadn't even had a girlfriend and he was already 20 years old now. Where did he expect to find love?
One afternoon he had been drinking
beer
with his friend Joey s who had hooked up with 37 girls already by this time. Maybe it was because Joey had screwed so many girls that Andrew didn't feel a drop of shame for being a virgin. The two of them could discuss their sex or lack-of-sex lives openly.
If anything, the womanizer made the virgin feel empowered. And in charge. Around Joey, Andrew felt like the archetype of bookish, kind boys who could get laid if they wanted, but instead was waiting.
Joey was always trying to convince Andrew that his desires were misguided.
"You need to just find someone, and get it over with. I'm telling you." Carmack took a swig of beer, his giant hands making the beer can look comically small in his grip. "You're thinking that the first time is going to be special, but it's not . The two of you are not going to know what you're doing and it's going to be so bad. My first time. Fuck, my first several times were so damn awful. So please listen to me, Drew. You need to get laid with some random girl so that when you do meet the girl you love you're going to do a good job!"
"You should get into marketing," Andrew laughed.
"I should right? You bastard. Let's go to take a walk."