‘Ugh, yeah.’ The memory of my first ‘proper’ French kiss still had the power to make me shudder. ‘Been there, done that.’
‘It just takes practice, you know, until you get the hang of it.’ It might not be want I wanted to hear but Gemma was making sense even if it went against every romantic notion I’d ever harboured.
‘I think I see what you mean,’ I conceded. ‘So you’ve all had … I’m the only …’ I squirmed, too embarrassed to say the words. I’d already gathered Gemma, Flick and Chloe had done … it … but then Piper nodded, too. I spun in my chair to face her, unable to mask my surprise. ‘Even you?’
‘Yes, Lena, even me,’ she said, lifting her chin and meeting my stare, her eyes brimming with defiance.
‘Jeez.’ I was in the minority again.
‘Oh, come on. Is it really such a surprise?’ she asked.
‘Yes!‘ I wanted to yell. If I’d had to put money on anyone else still being a virgin, it would have been Piper, the oh-so-shy girl who always had her nose stuck in a book. ‘No, I guess not,’ I lied, seeing Piper in a whole new light. ‘I guess that makes me the odd one out, then,’ I said, forcing out a feeble laugh.
Nobody spoke. It was as if they could sense the battle raging inside my head. Up until that moment, I’d never considered myself to be naïve, nor did I think I was a prude, but now I had to wonder. Operation: Popping the Cherry went against everything I’d been brought up to believe, but my closest friends made it sound as if I’d been fed a load of old-fashioned nonsense.
We couldn’t all be right, so which of us was wrong?
A girl laughed at the next table but one from us, disturbing my thoughts. I couldn’t help peeking at her out of the corner of my eye, watching her from beneath my lowered eyelashes. She was sitting with a guy from Upper Sixth, holding hands, and their heads bent together. I didn’t know either of them, except in passing, but any fool could see how happy they were. The guy was hanging onto her every word, and, when he leaned in to plant a tender kiss on her cheek, a pang of jealousy zipped through my veins.
A sense of longing hit me so hard, my heart physically ached inside my chest. I dragged my gaze away before they made me cry, and my focus immediately zoomed in on the list of names until the letters danced before my eyes. If I wanted what that couple had, what Gemma and Ben had, what every other goddamn person on the planet except me seemed to have, then maybe Operation: Popping the Cherry was the key.
‘So, I just have to go on a few dates and see if any of these guys get my mojo going enough to want to … you know …?’
‘Exactly.’ Gemma grinned at me, looking mightily pleased with herself. ‘You see, ladies, I told you she’d get it,’ she said, exchanging high fives with the others. ‘So what d’you say, Lena? Are you up for it?’
Am I?
Deep down, I knew they had only my best interests at heart but they were staring at me so hard, my skin prickled. The vibe coming off them was so strong, I was left in no doubt whatsoever that they wanted me to do this. No, they really wanted me to do this. A bead of sweat broke out on my forehead and trickled down the side of my face. Nobody could make the decision for me, but even my gut instincts had abandoned me, leaving me to figure it out on my own. I could say no, but then what? I risked upsetting my friends and becoming even more of an outcast. They’d called it an intervention, but the longer I took to think about it, the more it weighed on me like an ultimatum: my friends or my virginity?
‘OK, I’m in,’ I blurted, before I could talk myself out of it again.
‘Yay!’ Gemma did her clapping thing. ‘Now, on to the deadline.’
‘What? Nobody said anything about a deadline.’
‘Go on, you tell her, Piper, seeing as it was your ingenious idea.’
‘Well,’ she said, her eyes glinting with pride. ‘What better date than your birthday, what with it being Valentine’s Day?’
‘Isn’t it just perfect?’ Gemma was having way too much fun with this.
‘Yeah, great,’ I said flatly.
‘Plus, it gives you loads of time to meet someone you like,’ she added. That much was true at least. ‘And there’s no time like the present, eh?’ she said, waving at somebody who must have just come into the canteen.
‘Huh?’ I turned in my seat and followed her gaze all the way to the guy from her Drama class—Sean something-or-other—who returned her wave and changed course.
With a sinking feeling, I checked the list of candidates. Sure enough, Sean Cole was in at number three. And he was now headed our way. There wasn’t time to fold the shortlist neatly, so I screwed it up in my fist and rammed the damning evidence into my bag. From my hunched position, I watched as a pair of brown suede Vans came to a stop directly behind me.
‘Hey, Gemma,’ said a deep voice with a soft Scottish lilt. ‘Did you want me?’
Caught red-handed, I froze, still collapsed in my chair like a moron. You could always rely on me to make a good first impression—not!
‘Hey, Sean.’ Gemma’s voice sounded muffled from my position beneath the table. ‘I thought it was about time I introduced you to my best friend.’
Say what?
I shot up so fast that I caught the back of my head on the edge of table, hitting it hard enough to make a loud bang. If Sean had any sense he’d back away slowly from the crazy girl before I did anything else stupid. Instead, he hovered, waiting to be formally introduced. Maybe he felt sorry for me, or thought he was being punked. Once my eyes stopped watering, I glared at Gemma, giving her my best evil eye. To her credit, she didn’t bat an eyelid; the drama lessons were clearly working for her.
She didn’t even react when I ‘accidentally’ kicked her under the table as I twisted in my seat to meet cherry-popping candidate number one. Sean was standing so close to my chair, I had to tip my head right back to see him. The weird perspective made him look like a giant. He could probably see straight up my nose, too. Jeez, would my misery never end?
‘Hi, you must be Valentina,’ he said, turning his brown-eyed gaze on me and offering me his hand.
‘Yep, that’s me,’ I said, placing my hand in his. ‘But everybody calls me Lena.’
‘Pleased to meet you, Lena,’ he said, bending from the waist in a bow. Cute and charming, but I felt nothing, no tingles or flutters, not even when Sean lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss onto the backs of my fingers.
‘You too, Sean.’ I could see why he was taking drama. Sean practically oozed charisma, definite actor calibre. In fact, he probably had a whole entourage of swooning groupies already, and judging from the sigh I’d heard behind me, Flick was more than willing to become a fully fledged member. My friends weren’t the only ones capable of playing matchmaker. ‘So tell me, Sean, have you been introduced to Felicity yet?’
‘No, I don’t believe I have.’ Sean followed the direction of my free hand.
The moment his and Flick’s eyes met, I was all but forgotten. Excellent.
‘Sorry to dash off,’ I said, ignoring Gemma’s scowl as I stood and lifted my bag onto my shoulder. ‘I have to get a book from the library before my next class, but it was lovely to meet you, Sean.’
‘You too, Lena,’ he said.
‘Oh, I need to go to the library, too,’ Gemma said, leaping to her feet. Her smile didn’t fool me for a second. ‘We might as well walk together.’