V is for Virgin (27 page)

“Thank you,” I said and then forced myself to my feet.

Stephanie and Robin pounced on me and pulled me into a fierce group hug. Then Olivia took over, asked everyone to leave my room including my mom and turned average old Valerie Jensen into Virgin Val, the off-limits knockout.

“V!” Cara squealed when I found the section of seats that had been reserved for our little group of friends.

Even though we were second row center, I was still surprised to see her down in the seats. “I thought you’d be backstage,” I said enduring the overexcited hug she gave me. I wanted to make things better, but I was still mad, and it made it worse that she was acting as if nothing happened.

“Of course not!” she said, still squealing. “I knew you would come! I just
knew
you wouldn’t leave me hanging like that. I’m so glad you’re here! The guys will be excited too. They haven’t seen you in forever.”

“Kyle had better behave himself,” Isaac warned. “Val’s had a really bad week and she doesn’t need any of his stunts tonight.”

Cara rolled her eyes. “You’re such a worry-wart Isaac. The guys know all about Val’s little sex scandal. I explained everything to them.

“Kyle’s going to leave me alone tonight, though, right? I honestly can’t handle him right now.”

“V.” Cara’s tone was almost condescending. “Relax. I told him you’re super upset over the Zach thing. He knows what kind of horrible stuff people are saying about you right now. Trust me. Everything’s going to be okay.”

“You promise?” I asked.

Cara rolled her eyes again, but she smiled. “I’ve got your back, V. I swear.” She hugged me again. “Thank you for coming tonight.”

I could only manage a grimace in response, but I did hug her back.

The concert wasn’t so bad. The songs from the album really were good, and Tralse definitely puts on a good show. My friends let Isaac and I sit in the middle of our little group in order to keep us as hidden as possible, but, honestly, Tralse’s rabid fans were too focused on the stage to notice that I was there. Eventually I managed to relax and enjoy being out with my friends. Even Isaac was able to forget it was Kyle and just have a good time.

It didn’t happen until the very end of the concert. The band had just ended the show, but I knew they weren’t finished. There was one song they hadn’t performed yet.

Even though, according to Kyle, every song on the “S is for Sex” album was about me, “Cryin’ Shame” was still
my
song. It was also still the crowd favorite. There was no way they’d play a show and not play that song.

Sure enough, after the lights went up the cheers from the fans turned into a chant. “Cryin’ Shame! Cryin’ Shame! Cryin’ Shame!”

The band had left the stage but after a minute the noise got so loud that Kyle moseyed back out to center stage. “What’s that?” he asked the crowd. The wicked grin on his face caused my blood pressure to spike. “You guys want to hear Val’s song?”

The crowd went so crazy the entire stadium shook. Kyle laughed and then gestured for everyone to quiet down. “You guys all see the tabloids yesterday?”

The audience erupted in a chorus of boos.

“This isn’t good,” I mumbled.

“You want to go?” Isaac asked.

“Definitely.” I scrambled for my purse but Isaac already had it in his hands.

“No!” Cara gasped when I started to push past her. “Val, don’t go,” she pleaded. “It’ll be okay.”

“Cara—” My argument was drowned out when Kyle began to speak again.

“I had something I wanted to say about that. It’s come to my attention that my fans have been championing me rather vigorously online. I heard you broke Twitter for a couple of hours on my behalf.”

At this, the crowd went nuts again and Kyle had to settle them down once more. “As flattered as I am that my fans care so much about my feelings, I’m going to ask that you please stop harassing my favorite virgin.”

The stadium erupted into a round of obnoxious boos as Kyle’s fans voiced their dislike of his request.

“Now, now,” Kyle said, patronizing his audience. “The picture was tampered with. I got the story straight from the source and Val is, in fact, still saving herself for me, so do you think you can stop with the name-calling and the hate mail? Please? For me?”

He stuck out his lips in a sexy pout and batted his eyelashes. I think a few girls actually fainted.

The answer from the audience was an enthusiastic yes. It made Kyle’s entire face light up. “Glad to hear it,” he said. “But you know? I think maybe we all owe her an apology. A little birdie told me she’s here tonight. What do you think? If I get her up here would you guys tell her you’re sorry?”

I didn’t notice the roar of the crowd. I was too busy gaping at my best friend. “You told him I was here? You promised me no Kyle tonight!”

I felt so betrayed that my eyes got all glossy as I fought the urge to cry. Cara rolled her eyes. “V, he’s just apologizing. It’ll help fix your reputation. It’ll get people off you’re back. I thought you’d want that.”

Before I could respond the house lights went out and a spotlight clicked on, blinding me. Of course they knew where I was sitting. They’d given me the tickets. This whole night had been planned ahead of time. I’d been set up by my best friend.

“There’s my girl!” I heard Kyle say.

I ignored him. I knew my face was up on the Jumbotron, and that I was being watched by the entire arena, but I could only stare at Cara.

“He felt awful about his fans trashing you,” Cara said. “He’s trying to make it right. He just wants to sing you a song.”

“Come on, Val!” Kyle shouted from the stage. “Don’t be shy. Come on up here and let everyone tell you how sorry they are.”

I glared up at Kyle and then turned back to Cara. “I guess there was one good thing about coming tonight after all.” My voice shook with both hurt and fury. “At least now I have absolutely no doubt that it wasn’t me who ruined our friendship.”

Cara’s mouth dropped open. “What is that supposed to mean?” she asked. I’d never seen her eyes so wide, or her face so pale.

I shook my head. She’d gone too far this time. “You guilted me into coming here tonight so that your friends could exploit me! You
lied
to me! You promised me Kyle wouldn’t do anything, and then you helped set me up!”

“Looks like she needs a little persuasion,” Kyle taunted from up on stage.

“V—” Cara whispered. She looked like she finally felt bad—like she finally understood how I felt. It was too late.

“No,” I said. “I’ll miss you, but I’m done trying to be your friend. It’s not worth it anymore.”

I turned to Isaac, who looked like he wasn’t sure whom he wanted to punch more—Cara or Kyle. “Take me home?” I asked.

Isaac breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped a protective arm around me.

“Val, you can’t,” Stephanie whispered.

I looked up and Stephanie, Robin and Olivia were all smiling apologetically at me. “Listen to them,” Olivia said, gesturing to the crowd.

That’s when I noticed the crowd egging me on. I’m not sure when it had started, but the entire stadium was calling out my name in perfect synchronization. “Vir-gin Val! Vir-gin Val! Vir-gin Val!”

“You have to go up there,” Robin said.

“But—”

“Just get through the song, and then let Isaac take you home,” Stephanie said.

Isaac’s arm tightened around me. “You don’t have to do this, Val.”

But I did. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t accept Kyle’s apology? I hated the attention, but I wasn’t a complete snob. I wasn’t going to be ungrateful that he was making an effort. Especially not when I owed him for saving me yesterday.

Isaac felt me give up and let out a frustrated breath.

“Meet me backstage after?” I asked him, and then made my way up to the stage and whatever stupid plan of Kyle’s awaited me there.

I was met in the aisle by two huge security guards who cleared a path to the stage, and then lifted me up into Kyle’s waiting hands. When Kyle pulled me to my feet his eyes traveled the length of my body. “Ah, Sassy,” he said longingly. “My old friend!”

Of course when Olivia had ransacked my closet earlier and found my Gucci mini, I was allowed to wear nothing else. I admit I was glad that Olivia had forced me to dress up tonight, but it bugged me that Kyle knew my skirt’s name. As if Cara’s betrayal hadn’t stung enough, apparently she shared all our secrets too.

Kyle lifted my arm and forced me to spin for the waiting audience. “Doesn’t she look hot tonight?” he asked. “And she wonders why I call her Legs.”

As the people laughed and cheered I grumbled, “Can we please just get this over with?” through gritted teeth.

“Time and a place, Val.” Kyle smirked and then shucked his arm over my shoulder like we were best buddies. He raised the mic to his mouth before I could protest. “Val, the Tralse fans want to tell you they’re sorry.” He looked at the crowd with a big smile. “We’re sorry Virgin Val on three. Ready? One… Two… Three!”

“WE’RE SORRY VIRGIN VAL!”

The entire stadium of voices sang in unison. I’d never heard anything quite like it.

Kyle smiled and held his microphone up to my face. “Um, thank you?” I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I looked at Kyle and said, “That was really sweet and all, but can I go now? I’m pretty sure your fans would rather watch you sing than talk to me.”

I turned to the people I knew were there but couldn’t actually see beyond the blinding lights in my face. It’s no wonder performers don’t get stage fright. They can’t see past the first row of people anyway. “Right?” I asked the crowd. “You guys want to hear the band do one more, don’t you?”

The people went crazy. Kyle leaned in very close to my ear so that I could hear him over the noise. “You’re a natural, Val. They love you.”

Before I could respond he addressed the audience again. “Oh, I don’t know, Val,” he said playfully. “We’ll get to the song in a minute, but I think there’s something else they’d like to see first.”

I was afraid to ask, but I had to play along. “And that would be?”

The glint in Kyle’s eyes made me nervous. Whatever his grand scheme was this time, he was finally getting to it. “They want to see us kiss and make up, of course.”

A cheer erupted so loud that the wall of noise it sent at me made me stumble backward. Kyle was more than happy to have to steady me. “Excuse me?” I asked, incredulous. He couldn’t possibly mean that literally.

“This feud between us is getting old, don’t you think?”

He had no idea.

“I don’t see the point in always fighting with you when there’s never going to be any hot makeup sex after.”

And there was the Kyle I knew and loathed.

He grinned when he noticed the irritation on my face. What a liar he was. He absolutely loved fighting with me. That
was
the point.

“I propose a truce,” he said to me. “Perhaps I haven’t always handled this thing between us like a gentleman.”

I felt my eyebrows attempt to hit the ceiling. Was he really admitting that? “
Perhaps
?” I deadpanned. The audience laughed.

In a very surprise move, Kyle took my hand and dropped to the floor in front of me. “I’m sorry, Valerie,” he said low and sincere into the microphone as he looked up at me. “Forgive me? I’m begging.”

I was completely stunned. He was serious. He may have been in his rock star mode, apologizing as part of his show, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t being serious. He meant it. I could see it in his eyes. I could feel it in the way he clung to my hand. He wanted my approval, my acceptance. My forgiveness. He was desperate for it.

I guess he didn’t realize that he’d already earned it. Still, I couldn’t just say yes. I took the microphone from him and to the audience said, “Wow! Kyle Hamilton on his knees begging my forgiveness. You think he means it?” I waited through the screaming I knew I’d get and then asked, “You think I should forgive him?”

The crowed cheered so hard I actually laughed.