Not So Pure and Simple

Del Rainey is attending church with his mom. Pastor Newsome, a passionate speaker, is animatedly praying. Del zones out and peeks over at the gorgeous Kiera Westing, his crush since kindergarten. Kiera is single for the first time since fourth grade, so Del wants to make a move on her at last. Her boyfriend of the past two years, Colossus, recently cheated on her. Del watches Kiera with her parents. When Del spots her going up to the front of the church with other teens, he assumes they are volunteering for community service and follows. The churchgoers all clap.

Since he wasn’t paying attention, Del doesn’t know why they’re at the church’s altar, but he’s happy to be standing next to Kiera. The youth minister asks Del first, “why do you want to remain sexually pure until you’re joined in holy matrimony?” (10). Del replies with “Huh?” because he didn’t realize he was joining the Purity Pledge class.

Though nervous and surprised, Del replies he wants to remain pure because he loves God. Since his family isn’t actively religious and is testing church out, he’s learned that answering any question with “Because I love God” or “Because God loves me” works in every situation (12).