The Second Virginity of Suzy Green (2 page)

It turns out we
take all the same classes, except she’s in the AP class for math and
English—can’t see that happening to me somehow. I’ve never been known for my
high-flying academic ability—studying used to be well down my to-do list.

***

Well, I’ve
survived the morning. Now it’s lunchtime. At the moment I’m standing in line at
the school cafeteria waiting to see what culinary delights are on offer. No-one
brings their own lunch it’s included with the school fees. I’m starving, but
judging by what’s on Lori’s plate eating a lot is passé. So I best follow her
lead and take a salad, if that what it takes to belong. Don’t get me wrong, I’m
all for being healthy. As long as a few hamburgers and lattes are thrown in for
good measure.

“Lori, over
here,” calls a girl sitting at a table by the window, as we walk away holding
our trays.

Lori grins and
turns to walk in her direction, with me following. But as I get closer I notice
there’s only one spare seat. Oh. That’s me dumped then by the looks of it.
Typical. Just as everything was going so well. As if sensing my dilemma Lori
stops and calls over her shoulder. “You don’t mind sharing the seat, do you?”

Yay. Forget
those last thoughts.

“Sure.”

Especially if I
can sit on the left because in the next seat is the hottest boy I’ve seen since
moving out here last week. Okay, that’s not hard seeing as I haven’t actually
been anywhere—not counting the supermarket. But even so, he’s really cute.

I place my tray
on the table in such a way as to angle myself next to hot-boy—Maddie would be
way proud of me.

“Hey,” he says,
flashing a brilliant white smile and causing my knees to go all weak. “I’m Guy.
And you’re new.”

I try to reply
but somehow my voice and brain have slid into unconnected mode, and no words
make it through my open mouth.

“Guy,” says Lori
leaping to the rescue. Not that I think she realizes. “This is Suzy. And you’re
right. She’s new. And this is Jana, Mark, Rachel, Lulu and Sam.” Lori
introduces the rest of them before I have time to respond to Guy. Which is good
because I still can’t do anything other than nod and smile—a bit like one of
those nodding dogs you see in the back of cars. Which is so weird. I’m not
normally known for my reticence in speaking. My old school reports wax
lyrically about my inability to keep quiet.

“Suzy, you into
badminton?” asks one of the girls. Rachel, I think. “The girls’ team is
desperate for some good players. Especially since she,” Rachel nods in the
direction of Lori, “has chosen to play netball instead.”

Help. Me and
sport have never been best buddies. I could lie and say yes, but I’m recovering
from a knee injury. Or I could tell the truth and wreck my chances of being
part of the gang.

“Give her a
chance, Rach,” says Lori. “It’s her first day. Suzy has plenty of time to
decide what sport and clubs to be involved in. Although,” her voice drops to a
loud whisper and she looks from side to side before continuing. “See the girl
with black skanky hair over there, two tables behind Jana and sitting with a
girl with short hair?” I scan the room behind where Jana’s sitting and see who
I assume she’s talking about.

“Yeah, I think
so.”

“Well keep
clear. That’s Janey North and one of her entourage.”

“Why?” I whisper
back.

She looks
perfectly okay to me. And to be honest I wouldn’t call her hair skanky, I quite
like it. Not that I can tell what it’s like down as she’s tied it up.

“It’s not that
they belong to any official clubs, or anything. But, as my mother would say,
‘not our kind of people’. If you get what I mean.”

Oh yes, I more
than get what she means.

“Gotya.” I
reply.

“Tarts,” says
Lulu, clearly not caring about being overheard.

The other girls giggle,
and the boys shuffle uncomfortably in their seats—at least I think that’s what
they’re doing, if it’s not—well, let’s not go there. Meantime, I sit there not
sure how to respond to this Janey North revelation. If I laugh they’ll think
I’m a bitch as I don’t even know anything about this girl and her friends. And
if I try and stand up for them (though, why would I?) they’ll think I’m one of
them. And even if I was once, which is debateable, I’m certainly not now. Nor
do I intend to be.

“Oh right.
Thanks for letting me know.” Hopefully that response did the trick, not too
interested and not too dismissive. “Tell me about the clubs. Any in particular
I should join? Or not join?” I glance around the table.

Rachel meets my
gaze then reaches into her bag, which is hanging from the back of her chair and
looks remarkably like the three hundred dollar one I was drooling over last
week and Mom refused to buy me because ‘no-one in their right mind would pay
that much for a school bag’, and pulls out a glossy leaflet.

“Here,” she says
handing it to me. “This is where we all hang out.”

“A what?”
screams Maddie down the phone.

“A Virginity
Club.” I reply, trying extra specially hard to stop giggling. This is, after
all, serious business. “You know, where everyone pledges to stay a virgin until
they get married. You must have heard of them.”

I make it sound
like they’re everywhere, but to be honest when Rachel gave me the leaflet my
reaction was much the same as Maddie’s is now.

“Of course I’ve
heard of them. Just never thought one would cross my path.” She pauses a
moment. “Geez, I can’t believe you’re joining a Virginity Club.”

She laughs so
loud I have to hold the phone away from my ear. Not that I’m surprised. I mean,
me and a Virginity Club is hardly a match made in heaven.

“I didn’t say I
was joining.”

“It sounded like
it to me. You’re so funny, this beats the staple-gun incident hands down.”

“That was an
accident, and you know it. Although I’m not saying she didn’t deserve it, after
the rumors she spread. Anyway, all I’ve agreed to do is go to the meeting and
see what it’s all about.”

“Why?”

“Because
everyone belongs. Apart from the school tarts, and a few geeks, and—well, there
are lots of members.” I think. I don’t actually know how widespread membership
is, but I won’t mention that for the moment.

“And now you. I
know you want to turn over a new leaf after everything that happened, and I
fully back you; but really, this is going too far.”

Maybe she’s
right, but I don’t care. It’s too important for me not to take every opportunity
to be one of the in crowd and achieve my goal.

“I told you, I’m
just going to look. And don’t worry, I’ll tell you all about it. All I know so
far is it’s called ‘Wait for Love’.”

“Wait for Love?”
She makes loud vomit noises. “That name is so awful it’s not funny.”

“I know. I felt
like reaching for the bucket myself when I heard it. But it’s only a name. I’m
going to go with an open mind and then decide.”

“Look, I hate to
burst your bubble. But aren’t you forgetting something?”

I drop down onto
my bed and lean against the headboard, crossing my legs underneath me.

“And it’s taken
you this long to mention it.” I laugh. “You’re definitely slipping Maddie. Most
definitely slipping.”

“Well?”

“Well, I know
that technically I don’t qualify for membership, but—”

“Technically?
What do you mean technically? Is there any other way to qualify? You’re either
a virgin or you’re not. And you my friend are not.”

“There’s no need
to put it quite like that. What I meant to say was, although I might not be a
virgin I’ve only done it once (well, twice but in the same session) and that
was over a year ago. So I could well have closed up. Which means that although
technically I’m not virgin, in reality it could well seem like I am when I do
it again.”

That has to
qualify as the most stupid thing I’ve said in a long time. And judging by the
snorts coming down the phone Maddie thinks so too.

“Suzy. I’m going
to miss you soooo much. No-one else I know could say something like that and
get away with it. Maybe they’ll let you in if you explain your re-virginisation
theory. I can see it now. You’ll stand up and say ‘my name is Suzy Green and
I’ve been re-virginised. And I take the pledge to remain so until I next have
sex.’”

“Stop it,” I
say, laughing so much tears stream down my face. “I’m trying to be serious.”

I reach over, grab a tissue from the box on
my bedside table and wipe my eyes. I really should laugh more often.

“Yeah, me too.”
I can almost see Maddie’s eyes rolling toward the ceiling and her head shaking
in reproach. “Anyway, I still don’t understand why it’s such a big deal.”

“Because Lori’s
a member.” How pathetic does that sound? I really need to get a grip.

“And Lori is?” I
detect a note of sarcasm in Maddie’s voice. But I don’t know why. It’s not
like Lori and I are best buddies or anything. We hardly know each other. Unlike
Maddie and me. We go as far back as kindergarten, and apart from a couple of
weeks when we were fourteen (which was very silly and over some boy who turned
out to be a complete dick) we’ve always been best friends.

“A girl at
school. She has to look after me and show me around.”

“What’s she
like?”

“Cool. Really
clever and sporty. And she’s pretty. But not up herself,” I add quickly, before
Maddie has a chance to say anything, which she’s quite likely to when you think
about our views on the in-crowd at my old school— views we weren’t reluctant to
express. “You’d like her. She’s okay.”

“Sounds like
Rosie.” The tone of Maddie’s voice drops a little when she mentions my sister
Rosie. Or should I say ex-sister. That doesn’t sound right. I don’t mean ex as
in isn’t my sister anymore. I mean ex as in Rosie is dead. “Sorry I shouldn’t
have said anything.”

“No it’s okay. I
don’t mind talking about her.” Not to Maddie. Anyone else, well—some things are
best left unsaid. At least they are until I can deal with it better. “And now
you mention it I suppose Lori is a bit like Rosie. A passing resemblance,
maybe.”

In a pale
imitation sort of way. Rosie is, I mean was, unique. Everyone loved her. There
was nothing she couldn’t do. And no-one could have wished for a cooler older
sister. And she was as popular as they come. Yet she always had time for
everyone—unlike the aforementioned in-crowd. So where’s the problem in me
wanting to be like Rosie? Especially as I know Mom and Dad want me to be more
like her—even if it’s the total opposite of how I’ve been for most of my
seventeen years.

“So this Lori.
She’s the reason you want to join the VC?”

“VC?”

“Duh. Virginity
Club. You know the place you’re wangling entry into, despite falling a tad
short on the entry criteria.”

“Oh, that VC. No
it’s not because of her. And before you ask it’s not because of Guy either.”
Oops, I didn’t mean to let that slip just yet.

For the second
time a snort echoes in my ear. Maddie really needs to control herself. I’m
feeling more and more like I’m on a farm.

“Excuse me,” she
splutters. “Guy? Who is Guy?”

“Just some guy,”
I say, sniggering at my sad attempts at a joke. “Who happens to be hot,” I add,
sort of under my breath but it comes out louder than I intend.

“And who also
happens to belong to the club. Now that’s more like the Suzy I’ve come to know
and love. If there’s a guy-Guy involved then I can see why you want to join.”

“That’s not the
only reason, though it may have a slight bearing on my decision. But really
it’s all to do with my plan to become miss-perfect student, who the teachers
don’t pick on for no reason at all. And if it means hanging out with the
popular kids to achieve this, then I’m prepared to make the sacrifice.” I let
out a huge sigh for effect.

“So, homework in
on time from now on. No more cheeking teachers. And joining all the right
clubs, with all the right people.”

“You can mock.
But let me tell you being good all the time is a lot harder than our usual
trouble-making modus operandi.”

“Modus operandi?
One day at your new elite school and you’re spouting Latin. I can’t bear it.”

“Shut up,” I say
giggling. “This is serious business. And not just involving my behavior. I’ve
had a total appearance overhaul as well, remember.”

“Oh to be a fly
on the wall. And, by the way, I’m still waiting to hear what this guy looks
like.”

A smile breaks
out on my face as I think about him and my heart skips a beat. Oh dear. I think
I’ve got it bad.

“He’s hot. With
blond hair that curls a little over his ears. And he has pale blue eyes and
such a killer smile.” I can feel a blush creeping up my face.

“And I bet he’s
up himself. Guys like that usually are.”