I can’t believe I lost my virginity to Lawson Kent! A small laugh bubbles up my throat as I stop under a fifty-foot maple, bald and ready for spring with its thorny arms raised in worship to an amber sky.
Lawson Kent. I bite down over my lip as the memory of what just happened rushes back. My insides burn as if he lit a match in my vagina. I can still feel him there inside of me. I’m not sure what kind of condom he pulled out of his wallet, but I’m guessing it’s the less popular sandpaper variety.
In a fit of elation and dizzying disbelief, I pull out my phone. I can’t wait to get back to Cutler. I need to get this info out right freaking now. I’ll text Ava so she can have Harper in our room by the time I get back. Some serious girl talk is about to take place, and I want to discuss my new deflower power into the ground while it’s still fresh in my mind and in my burning vagina.
Just LOST MY VIRGINITY! Up against a wall!
My feet tap dance back and forth as I hit send and have a giggle fit all at once. I can practically see Ava’s shocked expression as she’s reading this. She’s prob—
A face at the corner of my screen catches my attention. Only it’s not Ava. It’sJet.
“No, no, no.” I shake my phone as if it were a Magic 8 Ball, but it’s my brother’s name that sits prominently at the top of the message window.
“Holy fuck!” I bark so loud a group of girls slow down as they pass me by. “No!” I whimper in horror. I couldn’t have sent that text to Jet. Stupid,stupidmove!
The screen lights up as he starts to write back. My mouth drops as those ellipses do the wave over and over. “Good God.” I can hardly breathe at the missive he’s about to pen. “I can’t do this.” An overwhelming urge to chuck my phone into the nearest waste receptacle hits me—then, just as quick as that lousy idea comes to mind, I think up another.
I’ll tell him I was hacked—that someone stole my phone. That Harper is pulling a prank!
My phone pings, and I’m deathly afraid to look. Slowly, I turn it around, holding it an entire arm’s length away as if Jet had the power to burst right through it. Jet is basically super human in my eyes, so this wouldn’t at all surprise me.
Very funny. I’m not laughing. There are a lot of creative ways to get out of work—giving me a heart attack doesn’t have to be one of them. Daisy says nice job. We’ll see you tomorrow.
My entire body exhales with relief. Not only didn’t Jet take me seriously, but I quite accidentally and thankfully got out of my daily non-grind at the shop. Honestly, it’s as if he pays me in a twisted effort to monitor me.
I decide to forgo any more electronic communication with my friends that might accidentally incriminate me—or be used against me in the court of Jet Madden, and instead, I hightail it up to Cutler.
Harper is already lounging on my bed when I walk in, and Ava is just coming out of the bathroom with her hair and face in perfect model form, which usually means she’s headed out with Grant in just a few minutes.
“Huge news, girls!” I bounce on my bed and feel the burn between my legs as if flames just erupted. Dear God, that condom must have been collecting some serious dust and rust because I’m pretty sure it was corrosive. If there is a line of condoms that comes dipped in battery acid, that was one of them. According to Rush’s carnal collection, condoms come in every flavor and variety. I’m betting Lawson made a withdrawal from the wrong box. Sriracha isn’t something I ever thought would end up in all the wrong places.
“I just had sex.” The words tumble from my lips, giddy and lighter than air because it’s all I can do to keep from bouncing to the ceiling.
“With who?” Harper swats me as if I just copped to holding up a bank.
“Oh my God!” Ava looks as if she’s about to be sick.
I bury my face in my hands for a moment. “Lawson Kent.”
“What?” they both shout in unison as if I had confessed to a mass murder.
“Relax, would you?” I swat them each in turn with my pillow.
Ava blinks back with an indignation I’ve yet to see on her before. “I wishyouwould have relaxed.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Her phone buzzes, and she glances at it before her eyes enlarge the size of doorknobs. “Why the heck is Owen texting me, asking if you’ve lost your virginity?”
“Oh, that’s nothing.” I’m quick to dismiss it. “Tell him I was kidding.”
“Dear God.” Her fingers thump over her phone, quick and spastic. “Explain yourself.”
“I may have texted Jet and told him I handed in my V card.”
“What?” the two of them crow in unison again.
“On accident! I thought it was you.” I thump my knee to Ava’s. “I was going to have you round up Harper because I mistakenly thought you would be happy for me.” I harden my gaze at the two of them. “You are happy for me, right?”
