The Second Virginity of Suzy Green (15 page)

“That would be
so amazing once they’re famous to say they played at your house.” I am suitably
impressed. If I’m still going with Guy maybe they’ll play at my eighteenth.
Hey, maybe Guy will let me use his house for the party.

“If they become
famous.” Lori laughs. “Guy’s told you about the recording contract, I take it?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“They’ve been on
the verge of signing one for two years. I think it’s wishful thinking on Guy’s
part. He was probably trying to impress you.” Well it worked. I’m so gullible.

“Surely they
can’t be that bad if they’re playing here. Look at the place it’s packed. They
must have a lot of fans.”

“They have,
locally. And really they’re not that bad. Anyway, looks like you won’t have to
wait much longer. They’re just about to start. Want to go down to the stage.”

“Sure.” We
scramble out from the table and head toward the stage, along with most other
people here by the looks of things.

We manage to
find a space slightly to the left of the stage which gives us a great view. You
know what, they’re not bad. Not sure whether they’re going to be as huge as Guy
thinks, but I’m no expert. The drummer’s amazing that’s for sure. I’ve always
fancied learning the drums, but Mom wouldn’t let me. I think the couple of
years Rosie learned the violin put her off musical instruments forever. I’m not
saying Rosie was bad, but in the end Mom made her practice in the garden shed.
We all breathed a huge sigh of relief when she decided to have tennis lessons instead.
Mom even bought a net for the yard.

“Come with me to
the bathroom,” Lori says while the band are taking a break.

I agree and
follow as she wends her way through the crowds. When we finally get there the
line is huge. I hope she’s not desperate.

“I’ll wait out
here for you.” I say.

There’s a red
leather sofa close by so I drop down onto it. My feet are hurting so much I’m
tempted to take off my shoes, except if I do I’ll never get them back on again.
I haven’t seen Guy in ages. I wonder what he’s doing? Probably chatting with
the band. I’ll find him once Lori comes back.

“Suzy, hi.” I
glance up and am faced with George.

George.

“Hey, George. I
didn’t know you were here. What do you reckon to the band? Who are you with?
Want to sit down?” Whoa, Suzy. Slow down. Play it cool. This is your
opportunity. Don’t screw it up.

He grins, a sort
of cheeky grin. If I wasn’t with Guy and I didn’t know Lori liked him I’d be
tempted myself. He’s a real cutie.

“Thanks.” He
flops down on the sofa and sticks his legs out, crossing them at the ankle. He
seems relaxed enough. Let’s go for it.

“I’m waiting for
Lori. She’s in there.” I nod toward the line by the bathroom.

“Yes, I know. I
saw you earlier.” Did he? That’s promising. At least he’s still noticing her.

He stares sort
of vacantly in the direction of the door.

“Great band,
huh?” I wait for an answer but none is forthcoming. His eyes remain fixed on
the bathroom. “George?”

“Sorry. What did
you say?” He turns his head and looks at me. Definitely cute. His eyes are such
an unusual green color.

“It’s okay. I
was just saying how good the band are.”

“Yes. Definitely.”

“I guess you
were thinking of Lori.” It’s so sweet because a little pink dot appears on each
of his cheeks. “You still like her, don’t you?”

“Yeah, sort of.
But she’s not interested. Because of that fucking club.” A shocked expression
crosses his face. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry
about it. I say much worse myself.”

“You do? You’re
not like Lori then. She hates me cursing.” Yes, that is something I need to
work on. Not that I curse much in front of Lori and the others. I mainly save
it for Maddie.

“Anyway, back to
whether Lori’s interested. Between you and me, she is.” Got to let him think
Lori doesn’t know what I’m doing, in case he thinks it’s a set up. Mind you,
she doesn’t know what I’m doing. So it’s not a lie.

“Are you sure?”
I nod my head. “But she was the one to finish it.”

“Yes, and I
think she regrets it.”

“But what about
the club? I’m not joining. No way.”

“Hey. It’s not
so bad” I can’t believe I’m saying this. “Why don’t you try it? And no-one is
twisting your arm to stick rigidly to the handbook.”

“Handbook?” He
frowns.

Shit. Why did I
mention that? Arrggh. I could kick myself.

“It’s just there
for support. Nothing to worry about.” I wave my hand dismissively.

“I don’t know.
That Jamie. He’s such a dick.”

“You can say
that again. Only say it to me and not Lori because she thinks he’s way cool.”

“Why do you go?
Sounds like you’re not that into it.”

“Yeah, well. I
agree with some of it. And Guy goes. And—”

“Suzy.” Phew.
Saved by the Lori. “Hi George.”

I move along the
sofa so there’s a space between George and me. “Sit down for a minute.” I pat
the seat and Lori looks from me to George and then gingerly sits down,
smoothing her skirt under her legs. You know, some girls are just born
feminine. Others of us—well—

“Hey, Lori,”
George says. “How’s it going?”

“Good, thanks.”

“Listen, you two.
I better get back to see Guy before he sends out a search party.” I jump up and
once I’ve walked past George I turn and wink over his head so only Lori can
see. She stifles a giggle by turning it into a cough. I guess that’s my good
deed done for the day.

***

I find Guy
sitting all alone at our table. When he sees me a huge smile crosses his face.
Awww. He’s so sweet. I shuffle my butt along the bench until I’m sitting next
to him and our thighs are touching.

Both his arms
are resting on the table and I put my hand on top of one of his. He moves his
head in closer. I think he’s going to kiss me. I tilt my head up slightly and
my eyes are beginning to close when suddenly he jerks his hand out from under
mine and he jumps away from me.

“No, Suzy. We
mustn’t. We’ll regret it.” He shakes himself as though he’s trying to get rid
of something disgusting.

“Guy, we haven’t
done anything. I hardly think a kiss is going to send us down the path of
ruin.” This is seriously driving me crazy.

“Maybe, not this
time. But each time we start something we’ll go further and further. The
handbook is right.”

Screw the
freakin’ handbook.

“Remember, guys.
The picnic next Saturday. Meet at Victoria Park gates at three. Before you
leave write down on the sheet what food you’ll be bringing. And I’ll bring
whatever we don’t seem to have enough of.”

“What picnic?” I
whisper in Rachel’s ear. “And does he mean Saturday as in tomorrow?”

“We’re having a
summer picnic. And no it’s not tomorrow it’s Saturday week.”

“Why didn’t
someone tell me?” my voice comes out louder than I intend and Guy nudges me in
the ribs with his elbow.

“Sssh, Suzy.
Jamie will hear you.”

I’m having a
huge crisis here. Jamie hearing me is like minus fifty on the care factor scale
at this precise moment. This is awful.

“We’ll take a
break, then after have our support session.” Jamie steps down from the stage
and as he saunters past our row he grins conspiratorially at Lori. What are
they planning, I wonder?

Anyway, back to
my problem. What the hell am I going to do? The picnic is on the day of
Truck-fest. Can it get any worse? Is it too much to ask for things to run
smoothly for a change? Haven’t I been playing my part? Stepping up to the mark.
Being the model daughter, model student and model anything else that crosses my
path. And look how I got Lori and George talking again. Even if they’re not
going back out yet, it’s still a step in the right direction. All I need to do
is persuade her to ask him out. It’s not like we’re living in the dark ages.
Girls do ask boys out. I reckon she should invite him to the silver wedding
party. Mind you, it’s a pretty big ask to expect someone to embrace the full
force of a family party. Well, in our family it is. It makes me go all
goose-bumpy to even think about it.

“Suzy, have you
got a moment?” Lori asks, leaning over Guy who’s sitting between us.

“Give me a
minute. I’ve just got to—to—” what have I got to do? Apart from grab some fresh
air. On my own to try and sort this mess out. I don’t want Lori following me. I
need to think things through. “To speak to Jamie about something.”

For God’s sake,
is that the best I can come up with?

“I’ll come with
you.”

Great. Now I’ve
got to get rid of her.

“It’s kind of
personal. Sorry.” Her face drops. Yay, Suzy. Let’s make it even worse. “Not
about me. It’s just Maddie wants me to ask Jamie something. It won’t take
long.”

Where’s the
freakin’ shovel, the hole I’m digging for myself is that big.

“Sure. Please be
quick. I need to speak to you during the break.”

Now I feel
guilty. She looks really anxious. I should stay but how will I explain that
suddenly there’s no need for me to talk to Jamie. It’s all too complicated. I
stride toward the back of the room and as I push open the swing door I run
smack into someone.

“Sorry,” we both
say together.

“George.”

“Suzy.”

We again speak
at the same time. My shock at bumping into him is reflected in his face. Though
why he should be shocked to see me I don’t know seeing as he knows I’m a
member.

“What are you
doing here?” I ask.

“That’s what
I’ve been asking myself all the way here,” George replies. The corners of his
mouth turn up in a half smile. “I must be insane. There’s no way I’ll fit in
with this lot,” He peers over my shoulder and I turn around to look with him.
At the risk of putting him off, in many respects I agree.

“Don’t go inside
yet. Wait until after the break and the meeting starts again, then sneak in the
back. That way no-one will see you.”

George breathes
a sigh of relief. Poor boy. He’s really got it bad if he’s here. I’m assuming
it’s for Lori and not because he’s had a change of heart about Jamie and the
club.

“Yeah, good
idea. Will you stay with me?”

“Well, I was going
outside to—,” I pause a moment, but his pleading eyes win me over. I’m such a
sucker. “Yeah, sure.”

***

“Come on,” I
whisper to George. “There are a couple of empty chairs in the back row. We’ll
sit there.”

“Okay. Lead the
way.” We tiptoe along the back of the room behind the last row of chairs until
we get to the two empty seats. Just as we sit down, there’s a piercing whistle
from the microphone, causing me to put my hands to my ears.

“Sorry, guys.”
Jamie’s voice echoes. He taps the mic a few times and goes to the side of the
stage where he twiddles with the knobs on the black box thing—I know, I should
definitely have some sort of technical career. “Time for anyone who felt
themselves tempted since our last meeting to come up on stage and share,” Jamie
says, once he’s back at the front of the stage.

“What the—”
whispers George.

“I know. Don’t
worry, I’ve only ever seen one person go up there. It’s no big deal. Just don’t
laugh because they take it seriously.”

“Of course I
won’t,” He looks quite offended. Just because he doesn’t feel he belongs here
doesn’t mean he’s going to act in the same way as kids from my old school. He
is a St Peter’s guy after all.

“Sorry. Didn’t
mean to be rude. Anyway, it looks like no-one is going up there. Which means
the meeting should end soon. I could murder a Starbucks. Want to come with us?”

“Sure. Is Lori
going?”

I grin at him.
“What do you think?”

“Well done,
Lori,” Jamie says, distracting me from talking to George. Lori. What does he
mean Lori?

Oh. My. God.

I am unable to
do anything but watch, with my mouth wide open, as Lori edges her way along the
row where she’s sitting and strides to the front. She’ll just die when she
finds out George is here. And more to the point who is she going to talk about?
Surely not George. Stupid question. Who else would it be?

She walks up the
steps onto the stage and Jamie hands her the microphone. Now I can see her
face, I have to say she looks shit scared.

“Thank you
Jamie,” she says holding the mic close to her mouth. “Um—I’m here to talk
about—um—well—recently I—um—”

“Come on, Lori,”
Jamie says, wrapping his hand around Lori’s and pulling the mic toward him.
“Don’t be embarrassed. You’ll feel so much better when you rid yourself of
these impure thoughts,” He has the most patronizing expression on his face
ever. I could seriously thump him at this precise moment. And I’m not a
violent person. Well, I didn’t used to be.