Morality term paper time... Choose a quote from St. Augustine and write about how it applied to my life...

Emily sat on the back patio with her laptop and notes. She flipped through her copy of 'Confessions' and her eyes stopped on some highlighted lines in Book II.

She read them aloud. "Bodily desire, like a morass and adolescent sex welling up within me exuded mists which clouded over and obscured my heart, so that I could not distinguish the clear light of true love from the murk of lust."

Based on the last two days, there's certainly a lot I could write about that... But I would probably give Father Leo a coronary and he would definitely call Mom!

Yet Emily couldn't disregard the words on the page. They seemed to speak directly to her and reminded her of the song "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow."

Listening to Carole King's brilliant lyrics seems like an excellent idea...

The cursor blinked on the blank white screen in time with the piano chords and raspy voice.

Hopefully they'll work their magic to guide my thoughts and fingers...

One thing she became certain of as she listened to the song, was that lust had been making and breaking promises for hundreds of years.

She typed. "From 400 AD when St. Augustine confessed, to the 1960s when Carole King originally wrote for The Shirelles to today, countless authors, poets and musicians have warned us about the dangers of letting lust lead us to ruin."

She stopped typing and stared at the screen again.

Is that what I'm doing here? There isn't any real potential to actually date either of these boys. Is there?

She put her head between her hands and squeezed. This assignment was not easy. She didn't want to think about this, but she couldn't stop the tsunami of self doubt.

Their lives are here and mine is in Brooklyn... Trying to make a long distance relationship work just isn't realistic... if I want to get into Yale I need to participate in extra-curricular activities on weekends... I can't come to Dad's every weekend to date some boy... which one remains to be seen... no matter how tempting the idea is... Am I making out with these guys just to make out with them?

But she already knew what the answer was.

Emily grabbed two fistfuls of hair and pulled gently, trying to pull her mind from these thoughts. They threatened to completely submerge her, and she knew that would only lead her to thrash and scream for her life. But she continued to go under.

It's precisely like picking a random boy to kiss at that dance earlier this year... But that mistake I regretted immediately.... I'm not exactly regretting anything right now because it's hard to feel bad about something that makes me feel so unbelievably good in the moment... But I do have some serious qualms about things... Stuff with Kelly could get exceptionally complicated because he is John's best friend. And things with Evan... well I'll probably just be his rebound...

Emily felt herself starting to drown. Breathing was becoming harder and her fingers felt cold. She let go of her hair and shook her hands.

It's premature to assume that either one has any real interest in dating me anyway...

Emily needed to stop her brain because it was affecting her body. Her leg bounced under the table.

She closed her laptop, picked up her phone and called Jenny.

"Hey," Jenny answered in an odd hushed voice.

"Thank God you picked up Jen," began Emily, "I've been dying to tell you what's going on and I really need your advice!"

There were voices in the background and Jenny said, "Sorry I um... I can't talk right now. We're um... in the car on the way to my Aunt's house for a late lunch."

It isn't the easy listening music Jenny's dad prefers to listen to in the mini-van... It's much louder too...

"Oh, okay. Say hi to Aunt Mary and Uncle Bob from me. Call me later if you can."

"I think we're staying pretty late. Sorry. We'll talk tomorrow," Jenny responded hurriedly before she hung up.

Something is wrong with Jenny but didn't have the brain capacity to worry over another thing at the moment... If I can't talk over my dilemma with my best friend, I'll do the next best thing to stop myself from thinking anymore... Blast some music and dance!

Her choice was Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse's "Valerie." It had absolutely nothing to do with her current dilemma, other than the fact it was something that she could move her body to, and it would cheer her up.

Nobody's home and there's a six foot privacy fence protecting me from witnesses...

So Emily swayed her hips seductively and clapped her hands with the beat. She tossed her hair around wildly. She even jumped up and down off the patio furniture pretending she was in a movie musical. She shimmied and shook with complete abandon.

When the song ended she felt a lot better.

Then her phone chimed.

Do you miss my ginger hair?

Emily looked toward the house next door to see Evan's head and shoulders leaning out of a second story window.

He waved.

Another chime and she looked back at her phone.

This is my bedroom window and it offered me an exceptional view of that performance.

Emily was too relieved to be embarrassed. She smiled as she typed.

You're the only ginger I know. So why don't you come on over Evan Murphy?