Popping the Cherry

by Aurelia B. Rowl

  Too stunned to react, I let Gemma lead me away from the canteen and out through the side door, deeper into the gardens where Flick, Piper, Chloe and, bizarrely, Sean were all waiting for me. The rain had stopped, but grey clouds overhead threatened more yet to come.

  ‘Who would do such a thing?’ Piper said, the only one with her back to me, so not realising I was approaching. She was totally oblivious to the nervous head shakes from both Flick and Chloe.

  ‘Do what?’ I demanded.

  Piper yelped and spun around to face me. ‘Er … nothing.’

  ‘Has this got something to do with everybody staring and pointing at me?’

  ‘What do we tell her?’ Chloe whispered.

  ‘No, come on, I’ve heard enough whispering for one day. Just spit it out,’ I said, trying to make eye contact with any of them and failing. ‘Please?’

  A ricochet of pointed glances darted around the group.

  ‘Och, fine, I’ll do it then,’ said the last voice I expected to hear.

  Sean stepped towards me, producing a roll of paper from behind his back.

  ‘No, Sean, not that.’ Flick made an elegant lunge for the roll but I was too quick. I yanked it out of Sean’s hand and away from Flick’s reach, and unfurled the sheet of A3 before she could get a second go to rip it out of my hands.

  Oh no!

  I didn’t bother to put up a fight when Flick tried again. I’d already seen enough. My hideously ugly college ID photo and the words, ‘Operation: Popping the Cherry’ were burned into my eyes, blinding me to everything else.

  ‘How many?’ More goddamn silence. ‘Fuck this shit,’ I said, raking my hand through my hair before I realised what I was doing. Talk about adding insult to injury. Jake wouldn’t be holding out on me, no matter how bad things appeared. Instead of bellowing at them, my voice grew quieter, more sinister. ‘I said … How many?’

  ‘We don’t know,’ Gemma said. ‘But they’re all over college.’

  Stop the world. I want to get off!

  ‘Oh, man …’ It was either break down or come out fighting, so I crouched down and upended my bag right there at the foot of the old oak tree. Under the surprised stares of my friends, I picked through every single item. Only one item was missing, but I knew that already. ‘I’m going to kill her.’ I sprang to my full height as if rising out of blocks and lashed my empty bag to the ground.

  ‘Who?’

  ‘I’ll give you three guesses.’

  ‘Malice,’ they said in unison, except for Sean, who looked dumbstruck.

  ‘Flick, I think you need to explain to your boyfriend what’s going on before his head explodes. Me? I’ve got a girl I need to go see.’ I turned on my heel and was mid-stride when Piper and Chloe grabbed an arm each.

  ‘She’s already gone, Lena,’ Gemma said. ‘I saw her getting into her car with that creepy Hayden bloke when I was looking for you.’

  ‘Damn it.’ The fire raging inside me fizzled out and left me with nothing. ‘Now what do I do?’ I asked, sinking to the ground. The seat of my jeans grew damp, but I was past caring, so I put my head between my knees and tried to breathe.

  ‘Maybe it’ll all blow over,’ Chloe said, trying to be helpful. ‘It’s the last day of term. Everybody’s got better things to do than be sucked into one of Malice’s vicious practical jokes.’

  ‘Yeah, right.’ I nodded towards the bodies piling out of the canteen, nearly all of them staring in our direction. ‘I don’t buy that for a second and neither do any of—’

  ‘I can show you a good time, Lena.’ shouted one guy I didn’t know.

  ‘No, pick me, I love cherries,’ said another.

  ‘Hey, sweetheart, my car’s parked out front and the back seat is plenty big enough,’ said another complete stranger, blowing kisses at me.

  ‘I have to get out of here,’ I said with a grimace. ‘Now.’

  Nobody even tried to argue with me.

  ‘Let me give you a ride,’ Flick said, helping me up. ‘I’ve got a free now, anyway.’

  ‘Take care,’ Gemma said, flinging her arms around me. ‘I’ll be round straight after college, OK? We’ll figure something out. I’ll even buy the lattes.’

  ‘No need, I won’t be there,’ I said, returning her hug. Once more I found myself wishing it was the other Saunders sibling comforting me. ‘I’ve got my driving test this afternoon, so just go to Ben’s like you planned. I’ll see you at the beach tomorrow, hopefully in my own set of wheels.’

  ‘Really?’ Gemma pulled back and did her disappearing-eyebrows trick. ‘You’re sure?’

  ‘Yeah, go on, I’ll be fine. I’ll text you with any news. OK?’

  ‘OK. Love you,’ she said, giving me one last squeeze before letting go.

  Piper shoved my refilled bag at me, so I nodded to Flick and we set off, both opting to go around the outside of the building, where there would hopefully be fewer people. The innuendos and catcalls from the guys, and the pointed stares and whispers from the girls, followed us wherever we went and all the way to Flick’s car.

  The second my seatbelt clicked, Flick floored the accelerator, only just missing two of the more persistent jerks, to get me home in record time. ‘So what time is your driving test?’ she asked.

  ‘Four-fifteen,’ I said, reaching into the footwell for my bag.

  ‘You’ll be fine, but good luck anyway, Lena.’

  ‘Yeah. Luck. I could certainly use a bit of that.’ I stepped out of her car and shut the door, barely managing not to slam it for fear it would fall off. Flick offered me a sad smile, then waited until I had the front door open before she peeled away, heading back to college. The first drop of rain fell before I’d got the door shut, and then the sky opened.

  I dragged my phone out of my bag to go through the fifteen text messages and three missed calls I’d spotted when we were leaving college, but now there were sixty-four texts and seventeen missed calls. Sixty-five texts. Seventy-two texts. Eighty-three texts …

  ‘Enough!’

  I ripped the case off the back of my phone and yanked the battery out. My phone went dead mid-text-alert. I carried on through to the kitchen and dumped the three pieces of phone onto the counter, freeing my hands up to grip the rounded edge. Something bad was happening out there but the real world would have to wait: I had a driving test to get through first.

  After quickly making up a cheese sandwich and a mug of hot sweet tea, I carried my haul through to the sitting room and plonked myself in front of the telly. I flicked through the movie channels, looking for something light, ideally where the nice girl kicked the arse of an evil cow, then lived happily ever after.

  Or a comedy.

  Right on cue, Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller filled the screen, looking spectacularly ridiculous.

  Zoolander it is, then.

  Except that I couldn’t sit still.

  I couldn’t focus on the movie for more than a few minutes at a time. Too much nervous energy ran through me, making me fidgety and anxious. If I didn’t do something about it, my concentration levels would be shot to pieces and I’d never get through the test. The remote control was still in my hand, so I hit the standby button and stood, tossing the remote onto the spot I’d just vacated.

  To hell with not showing my face in public! I needed to swim. I’d just have to take my chances I didn’t run into anyone from college.

  Chapter Seventeen

  RESPITE

  My act of rebellion went only so far, given that I wasn’t completely thick-skinned or crazy—notyet, anyway—and there was no way I’d risk the bus, so I used the house phone to call for a taxi. The cab pulled up out front less than ten minutes later and I happily sprinted out of the house with my swim gear tucked under my arm. Good job I was planning on getting wet anyway, otherwise the drowned-rat look would have been something else to wind me up.

  Small talk with the driver grew more stilted as the rain battered the cab; soon the only sound was the constant swish of the windscre
en wipers, battling against the persistent downpour. Nerves bubbled inside my gut when I thought I saw Zac’s Land Rover turn into the side road a couple of cars ahead of us. My taxi dropped me off outside the main doors but the weather was too foul to linger and find out for sure. When I tried to put both legs through the same hole, I gave up and let my costume fall to the non-slip tiles.

  Get a grip, Lena.

  I placed my hands on the cool wall of the cubicle and leaned my forehead against it. Sounds faded into the background as I focused on the erratic beat of my heart. Gradually it returned to normal, no longer trying to leap from my chest and dive into the deep end all by itself. Only when the whooshing sound of blood rushing through my ears became too quiet to hear, did I ease myself upright and open my eyes again. Finally making it onto the poolside, I paused and scanned the faces of the lifeguards and the dozen or so people swimming. The majority of swimmers were female, mostly older ladies, and I didn’t know either of the lifeguards by name, but I had a feeling one of them had been the one to pull the screen around me.

  False alarm.

  With nothing else to distract me, I made my way to the deep end, curled my toes over the edge of the pool, then dived into the clear blue water. Nobody could hear my squeal deep underwater. Talk about goosebumps on goosebumps. I kicked hard and punched through the surface of the water, pushing myself at a punishing pace. Halfway through the seventeenth length, I turned my head to suck in my next breath and noticed somebody swimming alongside me, matching me stroke for stroke.

  A male somebody.

  It was just too freaky to be pure coincidence. My breath caught in my throat and I pulled out of my next stroke. Out of my depth, in more ways than one, I trod water and watched as the swimmer realised I was no longer there. He came to a stop and turned, looking for me, and then his tanned face broke into a smile when he found me.

  ‘I was wondering how long it would take you to notice,’ he said, grinning as he swam back towards me.

  ‘Zac!’ A mixture of shock and relief made my legs falter in their cycling motion, and I stopped waving at the floor of the pool. ‘How long were you—’ My mouth dipped below the waterline, turning my words into a gargle as chlorine attacked my taste buds.

  ‘You’re not drowning on me again, are you, Lena?’ Zac’s hands found my upper arms and hoisted me up.

  He remembers my name.

  I shook my head, too busy coughing up a lungful of water to be able to speak. My co-ordination returned almost immediately. Not wanting to risk a repeat, I twisted out of Zac’s hands and set off for the rail that ran the perimeter of the pool. With one hand gripping the rail, I dipped my head, face down, into the water and wiped my hand over, trying to wipe the silly grin off my face.

  Yeah, OK, I’d remembered his name too, but he had saved my life, and that made him kind of difficult to forget. The nasty little voice inside me told me it was probably the only reason he remembered mine too.

  ‘That was some pace you were working at,’ he said. ‘You were in the zone. Which team do you swim for?’

  ‘No team.’ I hadn’t totally humiliated myself, then. ‘I was just blowing off steam.’

  ‘Really?’ Zac’s eyebrows arched up at the same time as the corners of his lips turned down in an upside-down smile, then he nodded, twice, but not up and down, it was more diagonal. I’d have probably looked like a guppy fish if I’d tried it, but Zac pulled it off. ‘You should try out. I reckon you’d do well.’

  ‘Thanks, but it’s not really my thing.’

  At a loss for what to say next, I stared at the water rebounding off the wall of the pool, the level rising and falling with the wash created by those still swimming. I darted a glance at Zac and saw him doing the same.

  ‘Actually, I’m glad I bumped into you again,’ he said, just as the impasse reached awkward state. ‘I was beginning to think you’d stopped coming swimming.’

  ‘N-no, I’ve been every week. Sometimes with my friend.’

  Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Zac turn to look at me.

  ‘It didn’t feel right to ask last time, after … well, you know … but I was wondering if you’d like to come out with me sometime.’

  ‘Oh …’ My pulse tripped and I forgot to breathe in again.

  Zac misunderstood my hesitation. ‘But I’m guessing you already have a boyfriend?’

  Instantly, the image of Jake popped in my head. Just as fast, I shook it away. Jake was a lost cause.

  ‘No boyfriend,’ I blurted.

  Real smooth, Lena.

  Zac’s eyes widened. ‘So is that a yes?’

  Is it?

  I’d spent weeks convincing myself Jake and I couldn’t be together, and I’d spent—admittedly fewer—weeks hoping to bump into Zac again. Why, then, now that he’d asked, was it so hard to say yes to a date with the super-hot lifeguard?

  My mouth and voice weren’t playing fair, so I got around the problem by nodding.

  ‘Great.’ A lazy grin spread over Zac’s face. ‘I … er … don’t suppose you’re free tomorrow?’

  Damn.

  ‘No, I’m not,’ I said, shocked out my silence. Water dripped into my eyes where my brows had dipped into a deep frown. ‘I’m supposed to be meeting up with friends at the beach.’

  ‘Oh, right.’ Zac’s smile faded and I desperately wanted to put it back.

  An idea came to me and I could have kicked myself for not thinking of it before I’d opened my mouth.

  ‘Actually, why don’t you come too?’

  ‘To the beach?’ he said, perking up already.

  ‘Yeah. It’s the end-of-college beach party, so there’ll be loads of people there. I can introduce you to my friends.’ The more I thought about it, the better it sounded: if it ended up a disaster, or he turned out to be really weird, I’d have backup in numbers.

  ‘OK, sure, the beach sounds good.’ He hit me with a smile that screamed of mischief, giving me fair warning. ‘I was going to suggest somewhere away from water, but I’ll just have to bring a lifejacket and pack a first-aid kit instead.’

  ‘Hey, that’s not fair.’ I slapped my hand on the water, showering him with the splash I’d created, and allowed myself a smug grin.

  ‘I guess I asked for that,’ he said, wiping his hand over his face. ‘So I leave my lifeguard gear at home and what, pick you up at your house?’

  ‘Er … yeah, OK.’ Butterflies practised dive manoeuvres in my gut. This was really happening. ‘Would nine o’clock be too early?’

  ‘No, that’s fine. Getting there before the crowds is always good.’

  ‘And you actually remember where I live?’

  ‘Would it make me sound like a total loser if I told you I came close to putting a note through your front door when I didn’t see you back here?’

  ‘Maybe.’ Ha! Zac wasn’t the only one who could tease. He feigned horror and made me laugh.

  ‘In that case, you’d better remind me.’

  ‘No, I think you’ll find it, but …’

  ‘But?’

  ‘Well, why didn’t you just text me when you had my number?’

  ‘I would have, but it didn’t feel … I don’t know … ethical to use the number you’d put on the form. And I didn’t want to just presume you’d want to see me again,’ he said, showing me a crack in his confidence. ‘I’m not doing much to erase my “loser” status here, am I?’

  ‘Actually, Zac, you’ve gone up even more in my estimation.’

  ‘Excellent.’ His smile reached all the way to his eyes. ‘And on that note my shift is about to start, so I’d better get my arse out of the pool. I’ll see you at nine, yeah?’

  ‘Yeah.’ I watched him haul his rather fine arse out of the pool.

  ‘Cool,’ he said, but then his brow creased in thought. ‘If there’s a problem, I’m here until ten tonight. Just leave a message if I can’t come to the phone.’

  ‘OK, good idea,’ I said. ‘We can do the number-swap thing tomorrow.�
��

  ‘Great. Now don’t start drowning while my back’s turned, not now I finally have a date with you.’

  Yes!

  Zac was just what I needed to lift my mood out of the pits of despair. I did another half-hour of lengths, then climbed out. He waved to me as I left and I practically skipped out of the building. Even the rain had called a temporary ceasefire, so I waited outside for my taxi to return and take me home again, leaving me with half an hour to get ready.

  Right on time, my regular driving instructor showed up in his white, dual-control Mini festooned with L-plates. He climbed out of the driver’s seat and walked around the front to the passenger side so I could jump in behind the wheel, then off we went to do a practice test before heading to the test centre the other side of town for the real thing. After reading every single registration plate in sight of the gate, it was time.

  A different examiner came through to the waiting room for me, which was definitely a good start: I might have been too tempted to crash the car into a massive tree if I’d had the same guy as last time, just to spite the old git. By the end of the test, I’d done everything asked of me. Before the examiner even opened his mouth, I knew I’d nailed it.

  ‘Congratulations, Miss Bell, I’m pleased to say you’ve passed.’ The examiner handed me the test certificate, all signed. ‘That was an exemplary display of driving, well done.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  And thank you, Jake.

  There was a brief exchange of words between the examiner and my instructor, and then my instructor replaced the examiner in the passenger seat, smiling proudly. I’d done it. I drove straight home and didn’t even bother going inside. My car key lived on my key ring these days, so I walked over to my car and ripped off the magnetic L-plates, tossing them into the footwell with a flourish. Seeing that I couldn’t text Jake to tell him the good news—my phone still being in bits in the kitchen—I elected to drive over and see if he was home so I could tell him in person. His van was parked on the driveway as I’d hoped, and Gemma’s car was nowhere to be seen.

  Even better.

  I walked up the front door, remembering I was supposed to be avoiding him only when I took my finger off the doorbell.