Where I Wanna Be (7 page)

“
You and your family are invited whenever you want to come over,” Nicola looked over to Meredith. “That also includes you, Meredith.”

Meredith was in the middle of a bite of tiramisu and quickly wiped her mouth. “Nicola, I wanted to say thank you for inviting us over. It was a lovely meal.”

“
You’re welcome, Meredith,” Nicola replied, “I don’t expect you to change your opinion about my family instantaneously, but I wanted to show you there’s more to us than meets the eye.”

Meredith grinned. “I would love to return the favor one day and host your family for dinner.”

“
That would be divine,” Nicola smiled. “Me and my boys would really appreciate it.”

“
I would love to stay longer but it’s time we head back home,” Charles interrupted the ladies, “you two settle on a date and we can go from there.”

Meredith stood up along with Nicola, who gave her a big hug, much to her surprise. “Thank you for putting on your happy face for us tonight. I know it was difficult.” Nicola whispered to her.

“
You’re welcome,” Meredith whispered back.

Simone and Eli were sitting out on the porch, holding hands when they saw her family getting ready to leave. “It seems like our families like each other,” Simone smiled.

“
With my ma’s cooking, it’s hard to hate her.” Eli rubbed her hand with his thumb. “Say, I was wondering, real quick before you leave, I wanted to ask you something.”

“
Okay,” Simone replied, “what is it?”

“
I was wondering if you wanted to go to prom with me?” Eli asked.

Simone smiled brightly and hugged her boyfriend. “I would love to, Eliodoro.”

“
Great.” Eli smiled. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow at school, okay, Moni?”

“
Okay, Eliodoro.” She kissed his cheek then left with her family.

The D’Amatos all stood together on the front porch as they watched the Harris’ leave. Nicola wrapped her arms around Eli and hugged her son tight. “I hope she’s worth the trouble, Eli.”

Eli breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “She always is.”

****

“
Soo…” Joey began as he sat on the bed watching the action before him. “Tonight’s prom, huh?”

A few weeks had passed since the family dinner. Simone and Eli were set to go to the junior prom and Eli was nervous. He had heard prom stories from a couple of his friends about how they deflowered their respective girlfriends during that night, transitioning them to womanhood. Eli, however, wasn’t sure. He did want to make love to Simone at some point in their relationship, but they had barely started holding hands and kissing.

Still, it didn’t stop his brothers from grooming and prepping him for the night’s big event, should there be one. “Yeah,” Eli commented as Nick fixed his tuxedo tie.

“
Are you going to pop her cherry?” Tony asked.

Kieran brushed Eli’s hair. “Can somebody please…?”

Joey reached over and popped Tony in the back of his head. “Hey!” Tony rubbed his head. “You all were thinking the same thing!”

“
So what’s the game plan for tonight?” Nick asked. “Are you two going to…?”

“
I don’t know,” Eli shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“
Do you want to?” Joey asked.

“
Yes, but I don’t know if I want it to be tonight.” Eli admitted. While a lot of his friends and classmates went on and on about potential sex on prom night, Eli was perfectly fine ending the night with a kiss. He couldn’t bear to tell the real reason why he didn’t want to have sex with Simone.

“
If you sleep with Moni tonight,” Kieran glanced at his brother through the mirror, “how many girls would this be for you?”

Eli looked down at the floor and chewed his lips. His brothers caught onto his silence. “Eli?” Nick asked. “K asked you a question.”

“
Mmm hmmph.” Eli mumbled through a closed mouth.

The brothers looked one another and back at Eli. “Are you trying to tell us you’re a virgin?” Joey asked.

“
Shhh!” Eli put an index finger to his mouth. “I don’t want anyone to know!”

“
Dude, who are we going to tell?” Kieran’s mouth formed a smarmy smile. “Except the neighborhood.”

“
Oh, and Father Joseph,” Nick added.

“
And that cute girl at the checkout line,” Joey winked.

“
The hell?” Eli’s cheeks were on fire and he felt suffocated in his tuxedo. “Stop it!”

“
Man, there’s nothing wrong with being a virgin,” Nick smiled. “We were all virgins at one point.”

“
Oh yeah?” Eli asked. “When did you lose yours?”

“
Sixteen,” Kieran revealed first. “With Rebecca.”

“
Oh yeah, your first girlfriend?” Nick remembered as Kieran nodded.

“
At her parents’ house when no one was home.” Kieran smiled. “Those were the days.”

“
I was fifteen,” Joey revealed, “with some trick at school. She was sleeping with everybody so I asked her ‘when was it going to be my turn?’ And that’s all she wrote.”

“
You, Nicky?” Kieran asked.

“
I was a late bloomer,” Nick put the finishing touches on Eli’s tux and stepped aside so his brother could admire himself in the mirror. “Almost twenty.”

“
Damn, bro.” Joey wondered. “What took you so long?”

“
I was more into books than girls,” Nick shrugged, “I was friends with this one girl my sophomore year. I told her I was a virgin and she thought it was sweet. And then she was like, ‘Well, I can help you solve that problem…’” He mimicked a female voice.

“
Wait a minute,” Kieran stifled a laugh, “did she actually say that?”

“
Verbatim. Shit was straight out of porn.” Nick smiled.

“
Bow-chikka-bow-wow.” Joey commented.

“
So, what do you think?” Nick asked to Eli. “You like the look?”

“
I look pimp,” Eli nodded. His hair was slicked back and he had a couple dashes of cologne on his neck. His older brothers chipped in and bought him a custom-made black tuxedo with tie. Nick and Joey bought Eli a pair of silver cufflinks while Kieran lent his watch to Eli.

“
Nice,” Kieran got off the bed and walked up to Eli. He reached into his jeans pocket, pulled out a couple of condoms and handed it to his younger brother. “For tonight. Ma’s too young to be a
nonna
. She can’t be raising you and your kid.”

“
Ah, come on, man!” Eli was embarrassed.

“
I’m serious,” Kieran’s voice was stern. “Wrap it up. I don’t care if you’re her first or her fifteenth. There’s never a reason to not use a condom.”

“
Eli!” Nicola called out. “Simone is here with the driver.”

Eli and his brothers rushed downstairs and found Simone wearing a blush pink gown that brushed her ankles. Her long mane was up in a French roll and she had a corsage full of white roses on her wrist. Her parents chipped in for a limousine because Meredith couldn’t bear the thought of her daughter taking the bus to prom.

Eli stood at the base of the stairs, just in awe at how beautiful his girlfriend was. She looked like a goddess before him and he almost had to pinch himself to believe it was real-life. He felt like the luckiest guy in the world.

He walked up to Simone and kissed her cheeks, emitting ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from his brothers. Eli ignored them, though. At that moment, it was just him and Simone alone in the universe.

“
You look absolutely amazing, Moni,” he said quietly to her, “Just the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.”

Simone smiled sweetly at her boyfriend. “You look really hot yourself, handsome.”

“
Awe, look at this!” Nicola kept snapping pictures with her disposable camera. “You look so wonderful together! All right, it’s time for you all to go and have a great time! Have fun!”

Eli grabbed Simone’s hand and led her out to the limo, where they got inside and sped off. Nicola and her sons gathered at the front porch again to watch the couple leave. “Did anyone give him the condoms?” Nicola asked.

“
We got it covered, ma.” Nick answered.

“
Good, good.” Nicola nodded. “I’m too young to be a
nonna
.”

****

After an evening of dancing and mingling with their friends, Eli and Simone stepped outside to the hotel balcony to look up at the stars. The evening was going perfectly—the DJ was incredible, Simone and Eli danced to just about every song that came on and they professed their love to each other.

Simone wondered how much Eli would still love her after her next confession. She knew the crowd he ran with—all of them had bedded her friends and some bragged about it online. She also knew his friends preferred girls who wouldn’t give them any trouble—aka non-virgins. “I have something to confess,” Simone sat down on a nearby bench and stared at her feet. “I hope this doesn’t change how you feel about me.”

“
Nothing you can say will change how I feel about you, Moni,” Eli sat beside her. “You know you can tell me anything.”

Simone softly bit her lip and let out a quiet breath. “I’m a virgin.”

Eli was waiting for the other shoe to drop. When it didn’t come, he leaned in towards his girlfriend. “Is that it?”

“
It’s a big deal, Eli! All of the other girls are having sex!” Simone complained. “I feel like I’m the only virgin left on earth.”

“
I wouldn’t say you’re the only one,” Eli looked up at the stars and admired them.

Simone turned to him and waited with baited breath for him to admit what she hoped was a revelation of his own. “You’re a virgin, too?”

“
Shh, with that, woman!” Eli looked around, hoping no one heard what his girlfriend said.

Simone interlocked her arms with Eli. “There’s nothing wrong with being a virgin, Eliodoro.”

“
Yeah, you say that because you’re a girl.” Eli shook his head. “It’s different when you’re a guy.”

“
How is it different?” Simone asked.

Eli looked at her, stunned. “You can’t be serious?”

“
I am,” she turned her body to face him, “how is it different when a boy is a virgin?”

“
Aw, man,” Eli looked around to make sure no one was hearing the conversation. “It just is, all right? It just is.”

“
Being a virgin doesn’t make you any less of a man, Eliodoro.” She smiled.