Do you know where I found the sexiest story I have ever read? The Bible, Song of Solomon. Go ahead and read it. I bet you'll get hot under the collar.

Reading Together

Fate is a funny thing.

Sometimes it can work in your favor, sometimes against you.

Sometimes fate pushes two people together and makes them the best of friends, even if they are radically different. Sometimes fate can put you together for embarrassing and boring projects just because you spend so much time together.

Mr. Pakku had done just that. Though he was as hard and unforgiving as ice, he had a soft spot for the sensitive side of literature and loved giving out assignments to his sophomore's of romantic poetry and stories.

To make it even more uncomfortable, Pakku liked to pair up one boy and one girl, and he had a reputation for playing matchmaker. Several happy couples in senior year met through Mr. Pakku's class, remembering being paired off by him.

Mr. Pakku's 11:00 class (the one Toph was in) had an odd number of students, and no boy in their right mind volunteered to be Toph's partner.

Toph thought she had dodged a bullet, but then Mr. Pakku said "What a coincidence! It just so happens that your friend Aang is my 2:00 class and he has the same assignment."

Once again, Aang was stuck with Toph as his partner.

"Fate has a cruel sense of humor." Aang said when he heard.

"This sucks." Toph said, in a slightly less articulate tone.

Everyone was given a different story or poem to read. One group was assigned the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. Another, the proposal scene from Pride and Prejudice. One unfortunate group was given To The Virgins, Make Much of Time.

Toph and Aang felt that they got the worst out of them all! Because of Aang's high GPA and Toph's need for extra credit, they were given a special story to read…one that no one expected to be assigned.

"The Bible!!" Toph yelled with crossed eyes.

"It's the most important book on this side of the planet." Aang tried to be optimistic, but even he thought that they were getting gypped.

"What the hell is Song of Solomon?" Toph was shouting at the sheet of paper Pakku had given them. It crinkled in her firm grip.

"Maybe it won't be so bad…" Aang sighed.

"I thought religion and school were supposed to stay away from each other."

"Well, he didn't tell anyone else in class what we were doing. Maybe he's trying to keep it a secret. Or maybe he's going to surprise the class or something."

"Just get the book." Toph waved her hand, fed up already. She slammed the sheet of paper down on Aang's desk.

"Easy with that! It has the chapters that we have to read." Aang left to find a copy of the text.

"Pff." Toph crossed her arms and jumped on Aang's couch. A few minutes passed and Aang came back with a gold paged book bound between blue leather.

"Found one." He inhaled and blew dust off the cover.

"Jesus." Toph said, not realizing the irony. "When was the last time you opened that thing?"

"When was the last time you opened yours?"

"I don't read! You know that!" Toph blurted.

"Oh yeah." Aang opened the book and looked through the shinning leafs. He turned to one half…then another…then back to the first section. He looked like he was having trouble navigating through it, but (like most men) would not stop to ask for directions.

"Can I try?" Toph asked.

"No, no. I got it." Aang said. Ten minutes later, he finally said "Found it! Oh good. It's only, like, four pages long."

"Let's just get this over with." Toph crawled off his couch and sat down at his coffee table, opposite to him.

"Okay…" Aang grabbed the assignment paper. "…it says we have to read chapter 1 and then three chapters of our choice. You wanna start reading, or should I?"

"You take over." Toph leaned her cheek on her palm. Her fingers were curled up.

"Okay…" Aang cleared his throat. "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine."

"What?"

"What?" They both gasped.

"Are you sure that's the Bible?" Toph leaned towards him.

"That's what it says!" The top of Aang's cheeks turned pink.

"Let me see that!" Toph grabbed the book out of Aang's hands and read it silently. "….whoa."

"I know! It sounded more like Shakespeare!" Aang said. They paused. "What do we do?!" He asked nervous.

"Just…keep reading…I guess." Toph hesitated to give him back the book.

"Um…okay." Aang looked down at the book and continued.

They read for only a few more minutes, but it felt like hours. The poetry in the book was more lyrical, like an actually song.

Both of them felt hot and saw red, but they didn't want to stop. Toph read a few verse, but ended up loosing focus and had to give the book back to Aang. Aang ended up reading the whole story, rereading a few special verses because they were so…alluring.

"…uh…" Aang could not speak when he had finished. He felt his heart beating. He swore he heard Toph's too.

He glanced over to his right. Toph had gently crawled next to him, practically resting her chin on his shoulder. She was just as flustered as he was.

They didn't move for a while. They were nervous and ashamed and excited at the same time.

"Uh…" Toph's tongue was heavy too.

Aang's house was usually cold, especially in the autumn, but now everything felt very, very hot. The dull paint and wood on his walls and ceiling was brighter than it had ever been.

And through it all, Aang and Toph couldn't stop staring at each other.

Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Creeeek.

Gyatso walked up the porch and inside. Reflexive fear kicked in and the two teens bounded away from each other before the old man could see them.

He walked in the door, limping gently, slightly crippled from age.

"…oh! Aang! I didn't know you were home." Gyatso said when he saw him.

"Yep. Jjust hahanging ouut!" Aang stuttered.

"Uh huh. Just hanging out." Toph parroted.

"Oh. Alright. If you say so." Gyatso sounded like he was taunting them. He waked past the two and noticed the old book on the table. "What's that?" He asked, even though he knew the Bible was his own.

"WHAT!?" Aang jumped. "It's nothing. Just something for a school project." In his mind, he said his own little pray.

"Okay, okay. Calm down Aang." Gyatso smiled. He looked at Toph, who was staring up at the ceiling, trying to act casual. "What about you? Did Aang do all of your homework for you already?" He giggled.

"………" Toph rolled onto her side, hiding her rosy face.

Gyatso looked at Aang, whose head was lower, and then back at Toph again, whose face was covered. He smiled, imagining what they could have been doing before he intruded.