Page 12 of Be My First

Declan chokes. “What? You took a whole semester on penises?”

Her eyes sparkle. “Yes. It was fascinating. Do you want to know about this, or what?”

“Oh, I want to hear all about this,” Eli says. “Declan, stop asking questions.”

Maggie tucks her hair behind her ear and says, “During this time in history, large penises were considered barbaric.”

“Barbaric. I feel attacked,” Keene says.

I roll my eyes.

“Yes. Barbaric and vulgar – tacky,” Maggie continues.

“Tacky? You can’t really control...” Declan starts.

Maggie cuts him off. “If you look at all of the statues or paintings from this time period, they are all small. It’s basically what was in style. Art often celebrates the beauty standards of the day.”

“Huh, I never would have guessed,” I say, looking back at the statue.

“There’s a museum in Naples that has a whole section of ancient erotic art,” Maggie says.

“Does it, Maggie?” Declan says, a smirk growing on his face. “Are we going?”

She shoots him a flirty smile. “Oh, I’m going. It’s called the Secret Museum. You coming with me?”

His eyebrow twitches. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Won’t that be weird for us all to go together?” Keene asks.

“Yeah. I’m not going with you,” I say, giving him a little shove. This was weird enough.

Bode looks around uncomfortably.

“We’ll have to go at different times,” Keene says. “Imagine if the press got a picture of us all at a museum of porn or whatever.”

“Porn?” Maggie says, looking genuinely offended. “It’s art, Keene.”

“If you say so,” he responds.

“That’s very American of you, Keene. Such a prude.” Maggie quips. She motions toward the statue. “It’s just a naked body. What’s the big deal?”

He shrugs.

Declan puts his arm around Maggie as we walk toward the exit and says, “So tell me more about this penis class you took in college.”

Sterling Family Group Text

Elizabeth: How is everyone enjoying Italy? We can’t wait to join.

Keene: It’s great. We’ve just been walking around looking at penises.

James: What? (scratching head emoji)

Eli: Art. This is Keene’s reaction to art.

Elizabeth: Oh, that makes more sense.

Juno: Keene’s not making this awkward at all.

---