Aurelia Rowl - Popping The Cherry

Stupid examiner.

This was all his fault. If he had passed me, I’d be cruising home and everything would be fine. I had a perfectly good car stuck on the driveway at home—nothing flash, it was my seventeenth birthday present from my parents a couple of months back—and it’s just sat there, waiting for me, taunting me. But, then, if Damian had taken me home, as any decent ex-boyfriend would, it wouldn’t have mattered, so it was his fault too.

Well I hope karma turned around and bit them both on the backside.

Hard.

A set of car headlamps drew nearer so I dragged myself away from my one-girl pity party and lifted my head in time to see a purple Corsa drive past me on the opposite side of the road.

At last .

I pushed away from the wall of the bus shelter and watched the car turn off the main road into the next side street on the left, swing in a wide arc, then drive back towards me. It pulled into the bus stop, coming to a stop right in front of me. The window nearest to me rolled down and the cute brunette leaned across the vacant seat to speak to me.

‘Hey, foxy lady, do you take I-owe-yous?’ she said, smiling brightly.

Typical Gemma, always trying to be funny.

‘Hey, Gem.’ I reached for the handle to open the door, then flopped into the seat. ‘Thanks for coming to get me.’

‘What are best friends for?’ she said, flapping her hand at me. ‘But, umm … speaking of which, what am I doing here?’ Her grin faltered. ‘Weren’t you supposed to be at Damian’s tonight?’

Straight to the point. Something else I could rely on Gemma for.

‘I was.’ I busied myself with the seatbelt to avoid her searching gaze. ‘Until he dumped me.’

‘What? No!’ Gemma yanked up the handbrake and slipped the car into neutral. ‘Why?’

‘Because …’ I sighed and pretended to study my nails. ‘Because I wouldn’t sleep with him.’ There, I’d said it. Out loud. And it sounded pitiful.

‘You’re kidding me.’

I shook my head.

‘What a dick!’

‘Yeah, that about covers it. He called me a …’ A flush worked its way up to my cheeks until I was grateful for the open window. ‘He called me frigid and told me he was going to go and find a “real girl” instead, so he could “get some pu—”’

‘No, don’t say that word, I hate it,’ Gemma spluttered. ‘Nobody in their right mind still uses it,’ she said, her voice getting louder with each syllable. ‘It’s vulgar and horrid. God, you’re better off without him anyway, Lena.’

‘I know,’ I said, but my tone lacked conviction and tears welled in my eyes.

‘Look, just forget him. He’s a moron to let you go, and he’s so not worth your tears. You deserve much better.’

‘Thanks, Gem. What the hell did I ever see in him?’

‘He was kinda cute. You weren’t to know he was a prize twat. At least you found out now, not later?’

‘I guess …’ I sucked in a deep breath and blinked back the tears. ‘Plenty more fish in the sea and all that, right?’

‘Right.’ Gemma’s eyes took on a glazed look and her head tilted in such a way that spelled danger.

‘Gemma,’ I said, adopting my stern tone. ‘What’s going through that scary brain of yours?’

‘Hmm?’ she said, the picture of innocence.

‘Don’t give me that. I’ve known you too long; the butter-wouldn’t-melt routine doesn’t work on me any more.’

‘I have no idea what you mean.’

‘You … that look … you were scheming again.’

Gemma dragged herself back from her stupor. ‘No, no, not scheming, just thinking.’

‘Same thing. Now spill!’ I said. She ignored me and slipped the car into gear, released the handbrake and pulled back onto the empty road. ‘OK, so what exactly were you thinking about?’

‘I’m not sure yet, Lena,’ she said, flicking a glance at me. ‘I need to sleep on it.’

‘Now you’re really scaring me.’

A smile broke over Gemma’s face and she laughed. ‘Just leave it with it me, OK? Right now, I’m more interested in getting you home in time for curfew.’

Damn it, she was right. I had only minutes left to get home, which meant I couldn’t keep pestering her about whatever plot was forming in that mind-boggling brain of hers. When she pulled up outside my house, I didn’t even have time to do more than shout goodbye and wave as I made a run for the front door.

I was still trying to figure out what she was thinking when the college bus dropped me off the next morning. Not paying attention to what was going on around me, I took a while to notice the girl blocking my locker. The shoes were the first thing I noticed. Nobody in their right mind wore three-inch peep-toe shoes to college. Correction: only one person would wear a pair of high-heeled peep-toe shoes to college.

A groan worked its way up my throat but I swallowed it back down. I really didn’t want to be proved right, but as I swept my gaze up and over a pair of skinny legs covered with thick nude-coloured tights, finally spotting a mini denim skirt that might as well have been a belt, teamed with a top she must have bought from the same shop I worked Saturdays in, the plunging neckline too memorable to forget in a hurry. I was in no doubt about who was waiting for me.

Alice Taylor .

Great!

I didn’t need to see the peroxide-blonde mane and trowelled-on makeup to confirm it: my eyes were already burning from seeing far too much of her. What the hell had I done to upset her this time?

‘Excuse me, Alice, I’d like to get to my locker.’ I figured it was worth a try.

Alice didn’t budge an inch. ‘You know, your parents totally screwed up when they chose your name: they should have called you Virginia instead.’ Her fake tinkly laugh rang out and her crones dutifully joined in, hovering around her like flies, their guffaws drawing even more attention to us.

‘Just do one, Malice,’ I said, in no mood for her bullshit. I looked her in the eye for the first time and had to stop myself laughing. She’d gone even more overboard than usual with the liquid eyeliner and resembled a panda. A panda who had been pulled through a hedge backwards judging from the bird’s nest that was her hair. The sad thing was, she’d actually be really pretty if she toned it down and wiped the permanent sneer off her face. ‘Why not run along with your little posse and find someone who cares for your little jokes?’

‘Aw, come on, don’t be like that,’ she said, her voice grating on my very last nerve. ‘Virginia has a far better ring to it, don’t you think? More suitable, like? You know. For someone like you.’

‘You’re hilarious. Really. I’m laughing so hard my insides hurt. Can’t you tell? Now will you shift so I can get to my locker? Please,’ I added for good measure.

‘Damian said you were a stuck-up bitch. No wonder he dumped you and came looking for me.’

Ouch!

‘Wow, really? He came looking for you? I could have sworn he said he was looking for a real girl. Mind you, he did seem more concerned about getting laid. Your reputation clearly precedes you.’ I wasn’t usually so bitchy but she’d caught me by surprise and pushed too many of my trigger buttons in the space of thirty seconds. Damian in particular was still a particularly touchy subject, after all.

‘And just what is that supposed to mean?’ Alice squared up to me as if she wanted a fight.

‘Let me put it this way …’ I said, matching her stance. Hell could freeze over before I let a troll like her intimidate me. ‘I’d rather be known as someone who doesn’t put out for anyone, than get a reputation as someone who puts out for everyone.’

‘You little bitch.’ She made a lunge to grab my hair but her expression and body language were far too easy to read, and her balance was hampered by her ridiculous shoes. I sidestepped and dodged her easily.