Authors: Megan Stine

Making Out (23 page)

BOOK: Making Out

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“So does this mean I don't have to go on your dates with you and Luke anymore?” Heather joked.

“Yeah,” Marianna said, nodding slowly. She hadn't thought of that, but why not? She should tell her dad the truth about dating Luke. No more sneaking around like a child. “YeahâI'll come out to my dad about it. That's a brilliant idea.”

Heather gave the strangest little laugh.

The waitress came to take their order, and Marianna felt giddy. “Blueberry pancakes,” she said, grinning ear to ear. “And bacon. No syrup.”

“Okay, Lisa Marie. Your turn,” Heather said when the waitress had gone. “What did those assholes do to you?”

Lisa Marie gave a deep sigh and swirled her coffee. Little by little, she told them what had happened in the suite when she was alone with the four guys. How John, Marco, and Ramone had gotten way out of line, groping her, taunting her, refusing to let her leave.

“The worst part was how they treated me like I deserved it,” Lisa Marie said.

“Outrageous!” Heather shook her head. “They're such assholes.”

“I know,” Lisa Marie said. “I know it's not my fault, but it still feels like it is.”

“Oh, no, you don't,” Marianna said. “There's no way what happened is your fault.”

Lisa Marie shrugged. “I know. But I just . . . I wish I hadn't made so many dates. That part was a mistake.”

Yeah, it probably was,
Marianna thought. But she wasn't going to say so. Lisa Marie was beating herself up too much already.

“So what happened with Bradley?” Heather asked.

“Jesus, what a joke,” Lisa Marie said. “He acted like he was going to protect me from those jerks, and then he was ten times worse! If you hadn't gotten there . . .”

Her voiced trailed off.

“You'd be at the police station, pressing charges right now?” Heather said.

Lisa Marie nodded.

That was a sobering thought. Marianna couldn't even imagine how scary it must have been.

“Thank God Todd called us,” she said. “And thank God I answered my phone. And thank God one of the two Amandas knew where you went . . .”

Really, they'd all been lucky.

“Todd was pretty great,” Lisa Marie admitted.

“He was fantastic,” Marianna agreed. “I thought he was just being a stalker, but no. He was watching out for you.”

“He must be an incredible guy,” Heather said. “I mean, even though you wouldn't take him back, he still seems to care about you.”

“Yeah . . . I know.” She took a big bite of her Belgian waffle slathered in strawberry topping. “You think I should get back with him, don't you?”

“Maybe,” Heather said. “He seems like first-class boyfriend material to me.”

Lisa Marie shook her head. “He's still boring,” she said. “I'm looking for someone more . . .”

“More like Li'l D?”

“Yeah. Something between boring and asshole would be good.”

“So do you think you have a chance with Drew?” Marianna asked. “I saw you two talking at the party. He looked pretty into you.”

“Did he?” Lisa Marie's face lit up. Then she shook her head firmly. “NoâI mean, I really like him, and maybe we'll hook up sometime. But I'm thinking I need some space right now. Without guys, you know?”

Marianna felt sad. “No, you can't do that. Don't let this whole thing make you scared or turn you into a victim.”

“No, that's not it at all,” Lisa Marie explained. “I just want to feel good about myselfâwithout worrying what other people think. You know?”

“That sounds like a plan,” Marianna nodded.

Funny, she thought. She and Lisa Marie had just gone through totally different things . . . but they were coming out of it with the same agenda.

“Bottom line, I know I got myself into that situation,” Lisa Marie said.

Marianna and Heather both opened their mouths to serve up the standard reassurances: It wasn't her fault, the guys were jerks and were totally responsible for their actions, blah blah blah. But Lisa Marie shut them up.

“And I
know
it wasn't my fault, yadda yadda yadda. You don't have to keep telling me that. But I don't want to be giving anybody mixed messages from now on, either.” Lisa Marie declared it like she'd made up her mind, and she was proud of it.

So who was going to argue with that?

They called the waitress over for coffee refills. After she left, Marianna thought it was time to face the music and apologize to Heather.

“So how was your night?” she said, turning to Heather. “And before you tell us how much it sucked, just let me say I am sooooo sorry we dumped you all night long.”

“Oh, me, too,” Lisa Marie said, instantly and sincerely apologetic. “We were horrible. I just got so wrapped up with all those guys, I totally lost track of time, and it must have seemed like we blew off being with you all night.”

Heather smiled like she had an amazing secret.

“What?” Marianna asked, catching the twinkle in Heather's eyes. “Did something happen with Tony? Was it juicy? Oh my God, are you in love?! Tell us!”

Heather practically spat her coffee, she was laughing so hard at the questions. “Well, actually, it was the best night of my life,” she declared, beaming. “And to answer your questions, yes, yes, and yes. But it's not what you think.”

Lisa Marie squealed with delight, like she was thrilled to be back on ordinary lightweight love-life problems. “Tell us everything.”

Heather took a deep breath. “Okay, I'm going to cut to the chase here, because otherwise, I'm afraid I won't say it.” She took another deep breath. More like she was hyperventilating. “I finally came to accept a truth about myself last night. I'm gay.”

Marianna's mouth dropped open. What a shocker! It took a moment to process it, but then all at once it made perfect sense.

So
that
was it. No wonder! Like the gears in a slot machine, her brain clicked through all the stuff that had been so hard to explain about Heather. That she wasn't into guys. That she didn't want to be manipulated into a hookup with Tony. That she froze every time Marianna talked about Luke's tongue down her throat. It all made sense.

“Wow,” Lisa Marie said. “That's . . . amazing! And it's so . . . cool! I mean, you telling us. I feel totally honored.”

“Me, too,” Marianna chimed in quickly. “God . . .” She ran through all the inappropriate things she'd said to Heather, considering. “I feel like an idiot for not knowing.”

“
You?
How do you think
I
feel?” Heather laughed, though it wasn't really a joke.

Marianna laughed. “Yeah. I guess.” Her head was racing with questions. “But how long have you known? I mean, you didn't just realize it last night, did you?”

Heather shrugged. “I guess I've known for a while. But I was having a hard time with it.”

Lisa Marie nodded. “I'll bet it was awful trying to hide it.”

“Painful,” Heather admitted.

“Wow,” Marianna said, still amazed at this news.

“So wait, does that mean something happened with a girl last night?” Lisa Marie's eyes lit up. “Tell us everything!”

Heather hesitated, but a smile crept across her lips. “Um . . . maybe . . . well, not really.”

“So, like obviously, Tony's not the one you're in love with.” Lisa Marie was barreling ahead with all her questions. “So who is it?”

Heather giggled and shook her head. “Details some other time,” she promised. “I'm new at this. Okay?”

“Okay,” Lisa Marie agreed. “Definitely on your timetable. But if it were a guy, you'd tell us now, so this shouldn't be any different.”

“Yeah,” Heather said, smiling at that idea as if it made her happy. “I'll tell you soon.”

Marianna reached across the table and gave Heather a hug. “I'm so glad you told us at all,” she said. “It's like, you're the same person you always were, but now we know you so much better. I love that.”

Heather blushed, maybe for the first time in her life. How interesting, Marianna thought, amazed to see a new vulnerable side to Heather. But then, she couldn't expect her friends to stay exactly the same forever. They were all going to change . . . that's what leaving high school was all about.

Marianna gazed out through the greasy window of the Pancake House and watched the cars go by. All those people running errands, going about their ordinary lives, shopping, buying gas, wiping slobber off their babies.

None of them knew what she and her friends had been through the night before.

“Doesn't this feel like the final scene in a movie?” Marianna said. “The whole thing has such a morning-after vibe.”

“Yeah,” Lisa Marie said. “Or maybe the beginning of one.”

“Definitely,” Heather agreed. “It feels more like the beginning to me.”

Marianna thought about how she was going to go home and tell her dad to get off her case. And then live her life the way she wanted to from now on.

“Right,” she said. “It is the opening scene. And it's an epic. Who knows how or when it will end?”