The Second Virginity of Suzy Green (5 page)

“Sounds like a
good idea. Anyway, back to the party, Lori. What about drink? Who’s going to
buy it?”

Oh no. Looks
like I’ve done it again. Her expression is nothing if not stunned. If she tells
me they don’t drink and all belong to the ‘No Getting Wasted Club’ then that
seriously is it for me.

“Good point,”
Lori replies. Phew. Substitute stunned for pensive. An easy mistake to make
when you think of the stress this evening has put me under.

“Got your fake
id with you?”

“Sorry. Fake
id?” She frowns. “You’re kidding right?”

Duh. I give my
head a metaphorical slap. How could I forget that the only kids in school who
use a fake id are the naughty ones? The goodies might drink, given the
opportunity, but they sure as hell won’t risk prosecution and a ruined career
by carrying one.

“What do you think?”
I grin and she visibly relaxes.

Yes! I inwardly
pat myself on the back for my successful attempt at rescuing potentially
damaging situation.

“We’ve got some
beer at home. Plus Rob should be there, he’s home this weekend, and he’ll go
and get us what we want.”

Rob’s her
brother. Who I’ve only heard about and not seen. Can’t wait to meet him
especially if he’s remotely like Lori described. Though most people are usually
a tad biased when it comes to their family. Unless you hate the sights of one
another, like Maddie and her younger brother—who argue non-stop about
everything.

“Cool. Want to
share a pack of beer?”

“Okay, guys”
Jamie shouts over the noise, before Lori has time to reply. “Let’s get back on
track.”

Everyone
shuffles to the places they were previously. Which means I’m propping up the
wall again with Guy standing next to me.

“Well done all
you new pledgers,” Jamie continues. “Don’t forget to pick up your handbook on
the way out. For the rest of you, I hope you’ve had a fulfilling week.” He
smiles, then suddenly the smile vanishes and his face becomes serious (I wonder
if he’s a proponent of the method school of acting) “Some of you may have
experienced feelings toward someone that you believe could develop into
something further if you’re not careful. Now, if that’s you then think about
coming to the front and sharing it with us. So we can help you resist.” He
pauses and scans the room. “Does anyone have anything to share? If so, come
forward.”

I have this
hugest urge to giggle, feeling suddenly like I’m on some evangelical TV program.
Not sure I’ll be able to contain myself if someone does go up to ‘share’.

I look around me to see if anyone if going
to take the plunge. It looks as if there aren’t any takers. Except.

Oh no.

Guy.

“Don’t do it,
Guy. Don’t.” I grab his arm and hold onto it. No way is he going up there to
make a complete dick of himself. And me. Because we surely don’t know each
other well enough for him to start confessing our feelings for one another on
stage—however many hot glances have passed between us.

I stand my
ground, refusing to release him even though he’s tugging with all his might.
What I’m doing is for the best. We can talk this thing through together after
the meeting, without opening it up for the whole world to listen.

“Suzy. Let go. Now.”
His voice, though not raised is cold and actually quite scary. But I won’t back
down.

“You’ll thank me
for this later. Trust me. I know all about acting without thinking. I made it
an art form.”

“I don’t know
what you’re talking about. Let go.” He yanks his arm with such force that he
slides out of my grasp.

Oh no. Someone
tell me this isn’t happening.

I stand open
mouthed as he marches off.

“Suzy. You
freak. Leave Guy alone,” Lori’s voice comes in loud and clear from my left-hand
side. That’s all I need, an audience. “He’s not likely to ask you out if you
start acting like that.”

“You don’t
understand,” I say, while keeping an eye on Guy, as he strides toward the
stage, stopping just where Jamie is standing. Except for some reason he then
takes a sharp left and pushes open a door. My stomach shoots to the floor and
back. “Oh no. He’s going to—to the bathroom.”

Crap. Crap and
triple crap.

He had no
intention of blurting out his feelings for me. I rest my head in my hand. I’ve
totally ruined it now. Like Lori said, he’ll never ask me out now. Hey-

“What makes you
say that about Guy asking me out? I don’t want to go out with him. He’s a
friend, that’s all.”

“Really? I’ve
seen the way you stare at him when you think no-one’s looking. And I’ll tell
you now, there’s a line waiting for a chance with him.”

“So why isn’t he
going with any of them?” Maybe there’s something about Guy that I need to know.

“Ever since
Carla dumped him at the end of last year he hasn’t bothered. I don’t know what
he saw in her. She was a bitch.”

“Carla? Have I
met her?”

“No. She left
school last year.”

“Well, I sure
don’t have a chance now. Oh no. He’s coming back. What shall I say?”

“Try sorry, for
doing what you did. For whatever your reasons were.” She frowns.

I’m not going to
tell her the truth. No way. She’ll really think I’m up myself for believing he
has feelings for me.

“Guy, I’m so
sorry,” I blurt out when he gets within hearing range. “You must think I’m so
stupid. I thought you were going up on stage and I didn’t want you to go—”

“What’s it to do
with you?” he growls, not giving me chance to finish, his eyes flashing in
temper.

“I mean, I
didn’t want you to go without me.” I bite my bottom lip and put on my best
sheepish expression. “I thought I might come on stage with you because I didn’t
want to go on my own. I was too embarrassed.” Let’s hope he doesn’t remember
all the garbage pouring out my mouth before—when I said I was doing it for his
own good.

His face softens.
It looks like he hasn’t. I inwardly let out the hugest sigh of relief imaginable.

“I don’t have
anything to talk about, but if you like I’ll come up with you at the next
meeting. If you need someone up there for support.”

“Thanks.”

Well, that’s me
well and truly screwed. First of all he doesn’t have feelings for me that are
remotely sexual. And second he thinks I have feelings for someone else that are
tempting me down the wrong path.

“Okay, is
everyone ready to go?” Lori says.

I glance across
to the stage and see Jamie putting away the chairs. I didn’t hear him end the
meeting. Mind you, that’s hardly surprising when I’ve just done something that
qualifies as one of the top ten most embarrassing moments of my entire life.

“Sorry, I can’t”
I say, pointedly looking at my watch. “I’ve just remembered I told Mom I
wouldn’t be late.”

As much as I
wanted to go earlier, I can’t now because they’re bound to go on about what
happened, and being the butt of everyone’s jokes is not my idea of fun. Well,
it’s not tonight. Home is a much safer bet.

“That’s a
shame,” Lori says, in what seems a genuine tone. “Remember to pick up a copy of
the handbook on your way out. They’re on the table by the door.”

“Will do. See you Monday.”

***

“How was I to
know he was going to the bathroom? I mean, really Maddie, would you have picked
a time like that to go? I don’t think so.”

Thank goodness
Maddie was home when I Skyped. I still can’t believe what a dick I made of
myself yesterday.

“But why did you
think he was going to talk about you? You hardly know him.”

“Oh, I don’t
know. It just seemed too much of a coincidence for it not to be me. I arrive at
school, he’s very friendly and encouraging, and a couple of weeks later he
wants to go up on stage for some mass therapy thing. I challenge anyone not to
come to the same conclusion if they were in my position.”

Maddie’s whole
body shakes she’s laughing so hard. She’s clearly not convinced.

“Suzy. You’re
crazy. No-one but you would jump to that conclusion. Talk about left field.”
She laughs again. She’s probably right. Thinking about it rationally, I could
have jumped the gun a tad. “So what happened after he offered to help you next
time?”

“I just said
thanks and left. We were all meant to be going back to Lori’s for a party but I
couldn’t face it. So that’s probably upset her.”

And now I’ve got
to wait the whole weekend before finding out whether I’ve blown my friendship
with her and the rest of the gang. What a nightmare. So, all in all a great
couple of days awaits. Not.

“Don’t worry.
It’ll be fine. At least he seemed to accept your explanation and—” she stops,
mid-flow. I can sense her mind ticking over. Now what? “Correct me if I’m
wrong, but before you can go on stage you have to take the pledge. Yes?”

“Um. Yes,” I
whisper, suddenly realizing exactly where this is heading.

“Which means—”

“Yes.”

“You did it. You
actually did it. You told me you were going to watch and then make up your
mind. So what happened?”

“Well—” A knock
at my door interrupts me. “Hang on Maddie. Yes?” I call out.

“Suzy, are you
nearly ready?” Mom answers.

Oh crap. I
forgot I said I’d go into town with her this morning to look for some new bed
linen. Not that there’s anything wrong with her old stuff.

“Won’t be a
minute Mom. I’m just telling Maddie about last night’s meeting.”

“No. No,” moans
Maddie. “This is way too weird. Whoever you are bring back my friend Suzy at
once.”

“Shut up,” I say
giggling. “You know it’s me.”

“It isn’t. This
is Fake Suzy, who not only takes the pledge and becomes virgin reincarnated,
but also tells her Mom about it. Well, not that she’s not a virgin but that
she’s joined the club. My friend Suzy wouldn’t tell her Mom anything like that.
Trust me on this I’ve known her for a very long time.”

Maybe I’ve been
taken over by aliens and don’t realize. And that’s what’s making me strive to
change. Or, maybe it’s Rosie. She’s looking down on me and some how
infiltrating my subconscious to make me change and be more like she was.

Don’t be so
stupid.

“She wanted to
know where I was going, so I told her.”

“But it’s just
sooooooo embarrassing. I can’t believe you didn’t just say you were going to
someone’s house. It’s not like you haven’t said that in the past.”

“Yes, the past.
Things are different now and you know it. I tell her where I’m going and stuff.
I mean, what would happen if she tried to contact me at someone’s house and I
wasn’t there? We’d be back to square one, wouldn’t we?”

“That’s why we
have cell phones, dummy.” She gives a loud sigh. “Anyway, what did she say? Was
she pleased? I imagine most parents would be if their kids joined that sort of
club. Though I wouldn’t want to talk about sex to my parents at all, even if it
was to tell them I’m not going to do it. Which might a bit hard under the
circumstances.”

Maddie’s first
time was about two weeks after mine. And only because she didn’t want to be the
last in our group of friends to lose her virginity. She hardly cared for the
boy at all. I love Maddie dearly, but this was one area we didn’t agree on. No
way could I have done it with anyone just for the sake of it.

“She sort of
looked shocked and pleased, and then gave my Dad one of her looks. Whether that
meant she was relieved because she didn’t think I’d qualify, your guess is as
good as mine. Anyway, then she asked me who I was going with and when I told
her Lori she gave another look in Dad’s direction—which was more smug than
anything—and said have a good time. Not that I expected her to ask anything
about the VC. You surely remember when she gave me the sex talk?”

The sex talk, if
you can call it that, happened when I was nearly thirteen. Mom came into my
bedroom and threw a pamphlet on my bed and said ‘read this’. She went bright
red. I looked at it and said, ‘it’s okay Mom I know all about it, we had sex
education at school, remember?’ She muttered something under her breath and
walked out. And the subject was never mentioned again. It kept Maddie and I
amused for weeks.

“God, yes. So
funny. At least she said something. I’m still waiting for mine.”

“I hate to tell
you this, but I don’t think you’ll be getting it.”

I lean over and
pick up my pants from the floor, where I’d left them after coming in last
night, and pull them on. If I’m meant to be leaving soon I better get myself
ready. I have multi-tasking down to a fine art, so talking and dressing at the
same time isn’t a problem.

“No shit,
Sherlock. Right. Back to what we were talking about,” Maddie demands. “The
pledge. Tell me about it. What did you have to say? And how did it feel?”