7 || Lip Virgins

"What's wrong with you?" Nikole asked at the mall.

"Nothing," I absentmindedly flipped through the racks. "This is cute." I held up a pink sweatshirt with Victoria's Secret PINK brand printed on the back.

"Yeah it is. Now what's wrong?"

"Why would anything be wrong?"

"You're quiet. You're never quiet. You always have something to say."

"Wow, thanks a lot."

"Is it a boy?"

My body tenses and her face lights up.

"It is! You have to tell me!" She squeals.

"Keep it down!" I hissed.

"Sorry. Should I call the girls?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Ok ok. But will you tell me?"

"Promise not to tell anyone until I'm ready?"

She gives me a solemn look. "Pinky promise."

"Ok. Let's talk somewhere else." I pay for the sweatshirt and we exit the store.

We end up at the food court. It's loud here. Noisy. No chance of being overheard.

"Now spill," she places her palms flat against the table we're sitting at.

I take a deep breath. "I lost...I lost..."

"Your virginity?"

"No!" I screech.

"Oh." She looks away. I squint at her.

"Have you?"

"I came close," she mutters. Well well well, this is news to me. As far as we all knew, her and Ryan hadn't even hit second base.

"This isn't about me," she switches topic. "What did you lose?"

"I lost my first kiss!"

"OMG! Sometimes I forget you're a lip virgin!"

"Well I'm not anymore!"

"First things first, how was it?"

I rack my brain trying to find the right word. Magical? Amazing? Fantastical?

"It was something," I groan at my lame choice of words.

"Something otherworldly?" Nikole probes.

"You could say that." My cheeks heat up remembering his soft, kissable lips against mine.

"Ok, now you've described it, tell me who took your lip virginity?"

"I can't," I shake my head, my ponytail whipping side to side. "It's too horrible."

"Like really horrible? Or really really horrible?"

"The latter."

Nikole covers her mouth. "Was it Jason Dunce?"

I actually shudder. "God no." Jason Dunce has had a crush on me since fifth grade. It was cute at first but now it's just plain creepy. Ivy is convinced he's a serial killer. His eyes are always squinted, lips pursed, forehead wrinkled. Always watching.

"Thank the heavens! Ok if it wasn't him then it can't be that bad. Please tell me," she gives me her puppy dog look.

"No fair! You know I can't resist those eyes!" She whimpers and I give in.

"It was the new guy."

"WHAT?!" She stands up so fast her chair crashes to the floor. "YOU'RE JOKING?"

"I'm not," I cover my face.

"When? Where? How? WHY?" She grabs my shoulders.

"Umm let's see, Tuesday, by A32, he grabbed me and then you know, and I don't know why! To mess with me? It's definitely working!" I've been obsessing over it all week, analyzing every detail, including the time, the place, what we were wearing, (me a hot pink Vegas T-shirt and shorts, him a muscle tank and basketball shorts with his signature bandanna) and the actions taken prior to the kiss. What had we been talking about? Why had we been talking? Did he seem interested in me? Was it a prank? I even thought back to our first two encounters.

"I need to sit down," Nikole picked up her chair and sank into it.

"How do you think I feel? I have two classes with him. Two! I made up an excuse for the rest of last week to miss Chem. and English but this week I don't think the teachers will be so lenient."

"We have to tell the others."

"Don't you get it?" I stress. "I can't. I wasn't even supposed to tell you! I was supposed to figure this out by myself."

"Avoiding him isn't exactly figuring it out," she replies dryly.

"Really? Well too bad because it's what I'm doing."

"But-"

"You pinky promised," I stare her dead in the eye. She gulps.

"Ok I won't say a word. But let me ask you this, do you like him?"

I bang my head on the table in response.

💋💋💋

When Monday rolls back around it's a miracle I manage to get out of bed. It takes me longer than usual to decide on an outfit. In the end I go with an oversized faded pink hoodie and sweats. I toss my hair in a sloppy bun just as Ivy honks her horn.

"You look like shit," she greets me as I slide in.

It's true. I didn't get a wink of sleep last night. There are dark rings under my eyes to prove it.

"Senior year, don't care," I close my eyes and slump in my seat.

When we arrive at school I find myself twitching like a kid on crack, my eyes flitting about like a hummingbird.

As you've seen from past experiences and now, I don't handle stress very well.

"Are you ok?" Ivy looks at me quizzically.

"Fine."

Trevor cracks up when he sees me. "Damn Aubrey what happened to you?"

"I will sew your mouth closed like smiley," I threaten him. Nikole whispers in my ear.

"If you're trying to blend in you're failing. First off, you're the only person in this entire school who wears all pink."

Crap. She's right.

The bell rings for first period. I'm safe. For now.

When second period Chemistry rolls around I hover at the edge of the door. Britney shoves past me and I end up stumbling inside almost landing on my face.

Not a graceful entrance.

I breathe a sigh of relief when he's not in his seat. That relief is short lived however when he casually strolls through the door at the last second wearing a blue shirt with the British flag. I sit down quickly and pretend to be busily writing when in reality I'm just drawing scribbles.

"This week we'll have our first lab. Today we'll go over lab procedures and safety. When you receive your sheet of paper please flip to the back." Mr. Radish begins handing out printed papers.

I studiously study the paper like it has the cure to cancer. Wow. Don't run in the lab. How interesting.

A folded piece of paper lands on my desk. I freeze, my eyes glued to that single object. Slowly my fingers unfurl the paper and I skim over the lazily scrawled handwriting.

You look pretty bad today. Something on your mind?

I glare at the note. It's from him, I know it is. What do I do? Ok deep breathes, stay calm and cool. I scribble something down and toss it back.

Stfu

I pretend to listen as Mr. Radish talks but as soon as I get the note again my attention falls short.

Why don't you come make me ;)

I take a chance and peep behind me. He's already staring, lips set in a cocky smile. I flip him the bird.

Ugh. Arrogant, sexy, asshole.

💋💋💋

"I'll meet you guys outside ok? I just need to get a book from the library."

"Hurry. I'm starved," Ryan rubs his belly.

"You're always hungry," Nikole says. Ivy, Chanel, and Trevor are already in the car.

I hurry to the library to check out the stupid book we need for English.

"Excuse me," I stand impatiently in front of the librarians desk. She grunts and continues typing rapidly.

"Excuse me!"

"What?" She snaps glaring at me from beneath her wiry frames. Strands of gray hair stray from her fuzzy ponytail.

"Where can I find The Grapes of Wrath?"

"Section S," she points toward the back and returns to her computer. I contemplate pulling the plug but conclude that would only end with me suspended.

I immediately start sneezing as I near the dusty shelves. Do they ever clean this place? I start searching for Steinback, stopping occasionally to wipe dust from my hands.

"Princess," the voice comes suddenly. I shriek and whirl around.

"Why do you always do that?" I hold a hand to my pounding heart.

"Do what?" He smiles innocently.

"Sneak up on me asshole!"

"Because your reactions are bloody hilarious."

"I'm so glad you find amusement in scaring me." I turn back to continue searching for the book. Suddenly he places both hands on either side of me, caging me in.

"What're we looking for?" I can smell his cologne this close, feel the tickle of his breath against my cheek. 

"Ever head of personal space?"

"Nope."

I continue searching for the book in vain because I can't concentrate with him this close.

"Aha. Here it is." His long slender fingers reach above me and pull out the book. "Grapes of Wrath."

I snatch it from him and hurriedly check out my book before meeting my friends back out front.

Only Nikole notices I'm brooding the entire lunch and raises a brow at me. I give her a small smile in return.

QOTD: what's your favorite place to shop?

WALLY MART!

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