White is for Virgins (41 page)

I shivered. It was a delayed reaction, but a response nonetheless.

He took me to the guest bathroom and told me I could use whatever they had in there. He went to take a quick shower while I took advantage of my surroundings. The bathroom was heavily stocked; boxes of new toothbrushes, tooth paste, makeup, and other um… feminine products.

I brushed my teeth. Twice. Once I’d washed my face and put some anti-frizz gel into my hair, I coated my lashes with mascara. Fox had seen me in all my morning glory: no makeup, messy hair, white face, baggy eyes. Not to mention my breath... All the while, he smelled great.

How is it that he smiled at the sight of me? Was I really that amusing?

I trudged to the kitchen where Fox was standing in ripped dark wash jeans and a white tee. The table was covered in silver platters steaming with hot food.

He lives the good life.

Sasha walked out of the kitchen and curtsied with a glare.

Fox motioned for me to sit across from him. We started filling our plates.

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, holding a piece of crunchy bacon before my mouth.

“No, why?” Fox asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Sasha doesn’t like me very much,” I pouted, chewing the strip of meaty goodness.

He chuckled. “Don’t flatter yourself, she’s always like that around new people.”

“New people?”

“Besides some of the guys from Track, I never have people over,” he explained, cutting into his waffle. “Let alone girls.” He smirked, dipping the piece into some maple syrup.

“You’re kidding right?” I smirked as well.  “Fox Evans never brings his
lady friends
home? Forgive me if I don’t believe you, buddy.”

“It’s the honest truth Emery,” he said seriously. Why was he acting like what I thought mattered?

Sasha reentered the room; refilling his cup with coffee, and mine with tea. The icy glare was still on her face, and I gazed fearfully at Fox. He looked like he was restraining his laughter.

The witch left the room, and Fox burst out in fits.

“I’m telling you, she wants me to get hit by a bus,” I sighed, biting down on some toast.

“Nah, she’s just old.”

I gave him a weird look.
What does that have to do with anything?

“She is one of those people that thinks you sleeping over is
terribly scandalous
,” he elaborated.

“Aha,” I nodded, taking a sip of my tea. It was scalding.

We continued eating, occasionally stealing glances across the table. We’d lock glances every now and then, too.

After I’d finished my tea, I cleared my throat. Fox, who’d polished off his plate, looked up at me.

“I’m gonna be honest with you,” I told him. He listened intently. “This is strange.”

“What’s strange?”

“The whole eating at the family table for breakfast thing.”

He nodded, “Yeah, usually I just eat in my room. It pisses Sasha off, but this place is too big – makes me feel lonely.” He added puppy dog eyes for emphasis.

I smiled. “You get lonely?”

“On occasion.”

I bit my lip and brushed my bangs out of my eyes.

“Um, what happened yesterday anyway?” I dared to ask.

“You don’t remember?” he asked with an incredulous grin.

“Nah it’s all coming back to me, but I’m hoping it’s not as bad as I think it is…”

“Remember the party? And the dancing? And the countdown?” he started.

“Yeah.”

“Um, do you remember being wasted?” he asked.

“Definitely,” I nodded, feeling my head throb.

“Okay, do you remember the car ride back home?” he asked curiously.

“Bits and pieces…” I said with a blush. I remember it rather clearly actually.

“You talked about your new bra and wanted to show me it,” he stated, “Talked about all your firsts – was I really your first kiss, Em?”

I blushed crimson. “What else did I say?” I asked, obviously not remembering the conversation as well as I thought.

“I’ll take that as a yes, ‘cause you kept repeating it. Uhh you mentioned wanting to have sex and sneaking into a movie – somehow those two things are parallel on your scale of epic accomplishments… You kept asking me to sing you to sleep, and you kept saying how attractive I am and how you wanted me to kiss you again.”

The truth comes out when you’re drunk.
At least I didn’t admit to liking him. A lot.

I remember him actually singing to me… but the kiss never happened.

“What time is it?” I asked suddenly, looking at my plate and covering my red face with my hair.

“Emery, don’t change the subject,” he laughed. “You wanted to know.”

“No, seriously, Fox. What time is it?”

Fox pulled out his phone. “Eleven forty-two.”

My jaw must’ve dropped, because Fox looked worried. “What is it?” he asked.

I swore under my breath. Sasha’s head popped around the corner disapprovingly.

“Can you take me home?”

***

The drive home was quiet with lots of things unsaid. I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want the day to end.

I stared nervously at the house. We’d been sitting outside of it for the past nine minutes as I tried to get up the courage to walk through the door and accept the consequences.

“Everything’s
gonna be fine, Emery,” he whispered thoughtfully.

“You believe that?” I huffed. He peered up at me through the wisps of hair in his face. My stomach dropped.

He inched closer to me, and I held my breath.

“Only if you do,” he murmured, reaching over and opening my door for me.

“Thanks,” I smiled weakly, “For everything.”

With my heart still recovering from its somersaults, I went home. And oh, how wonderful
that
turned out.

As soon as I step foot in that house, my mom pounced.

“Where have you been?” she demanded.

“Out,” I stated obviously.

“Out where?” she inhaled deeply.

“With a friend,” I shrugged, “You know, since it was
New Year’s Eve
and I
didn’t feel like spending it at home
while my mom partied and my Dad watched TV on high volume.”

She was ready to smack me, I knew it. But she wouldn’t. Part of me felt bad for making her feel guilty, because she deserved a break. But a whole other part of me hated the fact that she didn’t think twice about
me
last night.

“It would’ve been nice for you to have given me a heads up before you left the house in the middle of the night,” she growled.

“Like you would’ve picked up your cell phone,” I muttered, “You would’ve thought it was Dad! And eight o’clock is hardly the middle of the night.”

“You could’ve left a message. A note. Anything!” she yelled as I walked up the stairs.

“Well excuse me for wanting to get out of this horrible house just as much as you did!” I barked, picking out a few clothes from my room. I walked across the hall to the bathroom and slammed the door. I opened it again seconds later. “And I wrote a note and stuck it on the fridge! So you have no right to be pissed! If anything, I do!”

My mom had nothing else to say. She knew she had no right to take her anger out on me.

I took a long hot shower and hopped into bed, blasting my trusty iPod.

It was only when I looked up at the ceiling that I realized there was a piece of paper taped to the wall.

I stood up on my bed and read the words slowly, anger bubbling within me.

You are grounded.

I smirked and ripped the paper off the wall, crushing it into a ball. I threw the stupid ball at the trash bin in the corner of my room.

Unfortunately, I missed.

Everything is gonna be fine
, my ass.

Chapter 26

I was grateful for school. Not only did I have an excuse to get out of that stuffy house, but I also got a chance to see Fox.

Pathetic, I know.

My mom and I weren’t speaking, not that I saw her much. Dad wasn’t saying much either. I suspected he heard us screaming at each other the other day.

School however… was a disappointment to say the least.