The Second Virginity of Suzy Green (6 page)

Well, if I could
sort it out in my own mind it would make it easier to explain to someone else,
but I’m still not sure. Thinking about it, I can sort of see the value in
having kids pledging. Would stop lots of teenage pregnancies, I suppose. Help.
I’m sounding like creepy Jamie.

“Oh, you know.
Just had to say I’d stay a virgin ’til I get married. And it felt strange. I know
lots of people do it, but it does seem sort of—oh, I don’t know. Contrived I
suppose.”

Yeah, that’s it.
Contrived. It’s like they’re forcing kids into doing something because everyone
else is doing it and not because it’s a good idea. Except it is a good idea
with HIV and unwanted pregnancies. Oh, I don’t know. I’m confused.

“Well, the whole
thing sounds weird to me. And you’re telling me it’s seen as really cool to belong
to this club and take the pledge?”

“Yes. It’s just
how they are at this school.”

“More like
something in the water making them act like this, if you ask me. And what
happens if they find out you’re not really a virgin? Will you be burnt at the
stake like that French woman hundreds of years ago?”

“Do you think they’ll
find out? I don’t know how they could. Unless we have a sleepover and I talk in
my sleep and confess to them. I don’t talk in my sleep do I?”

“Suzy, the only
thing you do in your sleep is snore. And believe me that will drown out any
mumbling on your part. Come to think of it, it’s impossible to talk and snore
at the same time so you’ll be fine.”

“Well, I suppose
that makes sense. Even so the burden of this sort of secret is huge.” My body
slumps in acknowledgement of the fact.

“Good job you’ve
got broad shoulders then.” A snort reverberates around the room.

“Maddie,” I
yell. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather you didn’t burst my eardrums?”

“Sorry,” she
says in between two more snorts. “Anyway, what I want to know is are you
allowed to go out with guys?”

“Of course we
are. I think. I’ll go check the handbook.” I leap off the bed and almost
immediately come to a standstill. Where is it?

“Excuse me? The
what?” Maddie’s incredulous tones interrupt my train of thought.

“Um—the
handbook. Why? What’s wrong?”

“Earth to Suzy.
Your new Virginity Club has a handbook and it doesn’t register on the TRULY
WEIRD scale at all?” Put that way, she could be right—I suppose.

“It depends on
what it says. Which I’ll tell you when I find it.”

“Back pocket of
your pants?”

I reach into my
pocket and it’s there. She’s done it again. I’m telling you, one day this
girl’s going to make it big. I open up the handbook, scan the list of contents
and flick to the chapter called “Dating, yes or no?”

A giggle bubbles
in the pit of my stomach. “This is so funny,” I say between giggles that simply
won’t abate. “Maddie you’d just die if you could read this.”

“What does it
say? Tell me.”

I perch back
down on my bed, and take a deep breath. The look on her face is so funny I can
hardly contain myself.

“Okay. I’m calm.
I can do this. Right. There’s a chapter on dating and it gives a list of dos
and don’ts.”

“And?” Maddie
asks impatiently.

“And—I’ll read
it to you. Being celibate doesn’t mean you can’t fraternize with the opposite
sex, as long as you remember the golden rule: look but don’t touch—.”

“So no kissing
then?” Maddie interrupts.

“Doesn’t look
like it.”

“What about
air-kissing? Does that count?” She moves her head from side to side and makes
kissing noises.

I try to ignore
her. “Should be ok.” I read a bit further to myself. “Hey, listen to this: If
you feel you might give in to temptation take a chaperone with you. A
chaperone. Can you imagine going to the movies and having someone sitting
between you?”

“I’ve a better
idea. Instead of taking a chaperone you could sit at either end of a row. That
way you can have loads of people sitting between you. It might make sharing the
popcorn a bit hard, though.” We both giggle. “What else does it say?” Maddie
asks after a few seconds when we’re a bit more controlled. I open my mouth to
read out some more when there’s a knock on my door.

“Suzy. Are you
ready yet?” Mom’s impatient shout stops me in my tracks.

“Ooops, she doesn’t
sound too happy,” says Maddie.

“I’ll say. I
don’t know why. I’m not that late, am I? Better go, before she calls again.
Sorry. I’ll text when we get back, which hopefully won’t be too long. Shopping
with Mom isn’t my most favorite thing, as you well know.” I log off and reach
for my shoes. “Coming Mom.”

I drag myself
out of bed when the alarm goes off, a feeling of impending doom in my heart.
Okay, so maybe I’m being a bit melodramatic, but today is make or break day.
I’ll find out whether my performance at Friday’s meeting has earned me the
privilege of being friendless.

Mind you, even
if Lori and gang don’t want to know me there’s bound to be someone to hang
with—not that that’s going to help my cause. Although, even the not so popular
kids will be more acceptable to Mom and Dad than most of the ones at my old
school. Of course, there’s always a chance that Lori will tell the other guys
not to be friends with me. That’s the thing when you’re popular, everyone does
as you say. Well, they do at St Peter’s.

At my last
school the popular girls weren’t so influential, though they could be right
bitches and some of us (aka the
have-plenty-of-friends-but-aren’t-totally-up-ourselves-and-plastic group) took
great delight in doing things to wind them up.

It’s weird that
here the coolest people support virginity, study hard and are sporty. And get
invited to all the parties. The complete opposite to the cool guys’ behavior at
Carlton High. Whatever. I’ve got to face Lori and the rest of them. And the
sooner the better.

“No breakfast
for me, Mom,” I yell as I run down the stairs. “Or I’ll miss the bus.”

“Suzy, wait,” Mom
says coming out of the kitchen. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You haven’t
been yourself this weekend. Is it Rosie? It gets to all of us sometimes out of
the blue when we least expect it.” Now I feel awful. They think I’ve been upset
about Rosie when really my main concern has been me and my social standing.

“I’m fine Mom.
Just got a lot of work on at school.” She frowns. Isn’t she pleased I’m working
so hard?

“There’s more to
life than study, you know.”

Excuse me? Now
who’s been taken over by aliens? If I had a dollar for every time Mom or Dad
went on at me for not studying I’d be a millionaire several times over. This is
so strange, but there’s no time to ask her, as I wasn’t joking about missing
the bus.

“Very funny, Mom.
I know your views on achieving and not letting the family down. And I’m really
trying hard, honest.”

“I know you are.
But remember—” her eyes glaze over. “Never mind,” she adds, giving herself a
small shake. “Off you go. See you later.”

“Okay. Bye.”

I race down the
street and only just make it in time for the bus. None of the gang are on it,
because most of them have their own cars or get a ride. Something else I might
work on Mom and Dad about soon. Rosie’s car is sitting untouched in the garage
and I’ve been toying with asking if I can use it. Not sure how they’ll take me
asking though. Rosie would have let me use it, I’m sure.

“Hey, Suzy,” a
voice calls, distracting me from my thoughts.

I look up and
notice the bus has pulled into a stop and Janey North is walking along the bus toward
me. As in the Janey North, tart extraordinaire, who Lori warned me to keep away
from. Thing is, I think she’s okay and am not sure she deserves the reputation
she’s got. I don’t see her that much, apart from on the bus sometimes and she’s
in some of my classes, but anytime I do bump into her she’s always friendly. She
did ask me to sit next to her the other day in class but I made an excuse not
to. I didn’t want Lori to get the wrong idea and it jeopardizes me being
accepted. I feel really mean about that.

“Hi Janey. Want
to sit here?” I pick up my bag and put in on the floor to make room.

“Thanks.” As she
sits down a huge silver cross with green gem stones slips out the front of her
school shirt.

“Hey, love that
cross. I’ve always wanted one.”

Janey gives me
the strangest of looks.

“Yeah, sure. I
can imagine you wearing one of these. Not.” She holds it in her hand then tucks
it back in.

Oops. I should
have remembered my people don’t wear jewelery like that.

“Good weekend?”
I ask changing the subject before I drop myself in it even more.

A shy smile tugs
at the corners of her mouth and she flushes slightly. “You could say.”

“Come on.
Spill,” I say curiosity getting the better of me. Or as Maddie would say, my
nosy-bitch beacon on full alert.

She shifts
awkwardly in her seat and starts to twist her hair around her fingers. She
seems really embarrassed. I’d never have thought she would be like that. This
has got to involve a guy, why else would she be acting like this?

“I met someone
on Friday night at a party.”

“And?” I lean in
toward her.

“He’s nineteen
and goes to college. And—”

“Janey,” calls a
disheveled looking Amy, another girl from school, as she walks along the bus.
“Geez,” she continues, clutching a hand to her chest. “I’ve just run half a
block. I really thought I was going to miss the bus. I couldn’t believe it when
it was still at the bus stop. The driver tried to close the door on me before I
got on but luckily I shoved my arm in and it opened automatically.” She rubs
her arm.

“Are you okay?”
I ask. “I bet that hurt.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.
It didn’t hurt that much. Move over and let me sit down.” Lucky we’re all small
as three on a seat made for two is nothing if not intimate. “How was the party
on Friday, Janey? As boring as you thought?”

“Depends on what
you mean by boring.” Janey smirks. “I was telling Suzy about it, wasn’t I?”

“Yes, and we’ve
just got to the interesting bit. Come on Janey, what happened? I’m getting all
hot and bothered just thinking about it.”

Janey and Amy
both look at me with bemused expressions of their faces. I think I might have
said something wrong.

“That’s not the
sort of comment we’d expect to hear from a member of the Virginity Club,” says
Amy, her tone distinctly sarcastic.

What the—

“I’m not. Well I
am, but I only went on Friday. How do you know?” And more to the point, does
she know what else happened?

“I saw you leaving
Starbucks with Lori and Rachel.” Phew. “I know that’s where they go so I put
two and two together and got my answer. Hardly rocket science.” She rolls her
eyes.

What a bitch. I used to think she was okay.
I shrug. “Oh, right.”

“We had such a
cool time,” Amy says, averting her gaze from me to Janey. “And there’s this
real cute guy working in Starbucks. Have you seen him?”

I think back to
Friday night when I was there for all of one minute. I don’t remember seeing
any guys working there. Only girls.

“No,” says
Janey.

“Neither,” I
say.

“Well hands off,
he’s mine.”

“Well, that
might be a bit hard,” says Janey. “Seeing as we don’t even know what he looks
like.” She glances at me and starts to giggle. “So maybe we’ll fight you for
him.”

“Count me out,”
I say emphatically. “I’m definitely not interested.”

“Because?” asks
Janey, arching an eyebrow.

Luckily the bus
pulls up outside school before I have time to answer. I pick up my bag from the
floor, wait for Janey and Amy to slide out of the seat and follow behind them
as we make our way to the door of the bus.

Looking out of
the bus window I see Lori leaning against a big oak tree, and my heart plummets
as the reason I’m dreading going to school this morning comes flooding back.  My
steps slow to a crawl in an attempt to prolong the inevitable. I’m so pathetic.
Where on earth is in-your-face-Suzy who dare face anyone and anything?

I can’t delay
stepping off the bus any longer as there’s a line of students behind me. Maybe
Lori won’t notice me if I slouch and tuck in behind Janey.

“Suzy, over
here.” Crap. She’s seen me. But she doesn’t sound as if she hates me. Not that
I can tell after three words. I suck in a deep breath, but it doesn’t seem to
slow my pounding heart.

“Hi,” I say when
I get to the tree. I give my best and brightest smile. “What are you doing
here?”

“Waiting for
you.” She folds her arms and looks decidedly fierce.