Chapter 13

13

Lauren opened her front door, and Karina, Sam, and Amanda all trudged in, one right after the other, like ducklings following after their mama.

All three of the women were weighted down with garment bags and makeup cases and carrying totes full of hair-styling implements.

Lauren laughed. "I'm used to seeing Amanda and Karina walk in this way," she said, "but Sam, I think all I've ever seen you carry when we're getting ready for a night out is your gym bag!"

Sam grinned. "Oh, I'm full of surprises. I've been discovering whole new worlds since I've been with Luke, and not just of the carnal variety. I've actually found that I like getting dressed up. Can you believe it? I like putting on makeup. I like curling my hair!"

"Aww..." said Karina, "our little Sammi's growing up. She's discovered it's actually fun to be a girl!"

Sam laughed. "It actually is. Isn't that crazy?"

The four of them followed Lauren to her master bedroom, where she had the three gown options laid out on her bed. Lauren gestured towards the adjoining bathroom. "You guys can go get your stuff set up in there if you'd like," she said. "I was just in the middle of trying on dresses."

Amanda, Karina, and Sam set down their garment bags in empty spaces on the bed and then immediately headed into the bathroom to relieve themselves of their heavy bags.

"I was actually kind of surprised that you're going to this," Amanda called back into the bedroom. "I mean Sam and I kind of have to go because Mountain Ridge bought a table…and Karina is…well, Karina…and you know there is no way Renata wouldn't insist she was there to represent the tribe. But, honestly, aside from the possible real estate networking opportunities, I wouldn't think you would have had any interest in going."

"Oh, I'm not going for me," Lauren clarified. "Eric asked me to go about a month ago."

There was silence from the other room, but Lauren barely noticed it. She was busy studying herself in the mirror wearing dress option number one. So she was surprised when, less than a foot from where she was standing, she heard Karina say, "Excuse me?!"

When Lauren turned to face Karina, she saw all three of her friends standing there, their mouths agape.

"Oh, it's no big deal, you guys," she assured them. "We're just going as friends."

"Still," Amanda said. "It's kind of a big deal when you get asked out on a date by someone we all know and you don't even choose to tell us about it until moments before the date."

"I don't even think it's a date," Lauren said, downplaying.

"Does he know it's probably not a date?" Sam asked.

"A very good question," Karina said, "and one that occurred even to the least sexually savvy of the four of us—no offense, Sam."

Sam shrugged. "None taken."

"So it definitely should have occurred to you," Karina finished.

"Look," Lauren said defensively. "We did it, like, one time and it was forever ago, I doubt he's still thinking about it—"

"What?!" Amanda shrieked.

"You and Eric did it ?" Sam asked in surprise.

"Oh, girlie girl," Karina said, plopping down on one of the few empty squares of bed. "You know you're gonna have to tell us about this now, right?"

Lauren said, "It's seriously not as big of a deal as you guys are making it out to be."

To which Sam replied, "Oh, come on! How can you say that you did it with someone we've known since elementary school and then follow that up with, 'But it was no big deal?!'"

Karina and Amanda nodded in enthusiastic agreement.

"And," Sam continued, "you've lost your mind if you think you're actually going to get out of this conversation without telling us how it happened."

At this, Amanda's and Karina's nods of agreement became even more vigorous and insistent.

Lauren sighed, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "Fine," she said. "Here goes. So, it was the summer after senior year. Eric had just gotten out of the military and I was about to leave for college, and…well, I had a "to do" list that summer."

"And Eric was on it?" Karina quipped.

"Well, losing my virginity was on it. I didn't want to start college as a virgin. Again no offense, Sam."

"None taken."

"I kept an eye out for opportunities all summer long, but nothing seemed to feel right, you know? Then, the very day before I was leaving for school, I ran into Eric having lunch at Sue Ann's. You know he was a few years older than us, so I didn't know him that well, but I had always thought he was a good-looking, nice guy. And most importantly, I trusted him. I realized that he was the perfect choice.

"We chatted for a while, and then I asked him if he wanted to drive up and park at The Top of the World."

"Oh, so he knew what was up!" Amanda chimed in.

"Well, yeah...I mean, he probably thought we'd make out a little or something. But, yeah, for sure. If you go parking at The Top of the World, it's not to have a philosophical discussion.

"So he agreed and picked me up in his truck at ten that night. When we got there, I pulled out a six-pack that I'd liberated from my parents' fridge. I think that's the first inkling he had of how seriously I was taking it. He gave me a really strange look and asked how old I was. I told him I was eighteen.

"Well, I think the situation must've been giving him some pause, because he nursed one beer in the time it took me to down three. We sat there, drinking, looking at the view...talking about college, the future, his time in the military, where he'd been stationed, what he'd seen...

"Then, at one point, this song came on that he liked. Hotel California, a classic. He jumped off of the bed of the truck and ran around to the cab to turn it up.

"I knew that was my chance. Maybe my only chance. It was now or never. I stripped out of my shorts and T-shirt, so when he came back around, I was wearing nothing more than my matching bra-and-panty set. My sheer, matching bra-and-panty set, no less. It was so funny. His mouth literally dropped open like you see in cartoons, and he just stood there gaping and shaking his head, like to clear it.

"Well, I figured the last thing I needed was for his head to clear, so I'd better act before he had too much time to think about it. I sat down on the edge of the truck bed, wrapped my arms and legs around him, and started kissing him. Hard. It took him a few seconds to join in, but then nature took over, and the rest—as they say—is history."

"Well," Karina wisely observed, "you're going on a date with him tonight, so maybe it's not all history. Or at least not ancient history..."

"It's really not a big deal between Eric and me though. Truthfully, the only thing I'm worried about is whether Ben is going to see us there together and get the wrong idea."

Amanda and Sam looked at each other, puzzled. Karina, on the other hand, just watched Lauren with a small smile, clearly recalling their whispered phone conversation.

"Wait a second," Sam said archly. "You live in a small town and are going on a pseudo-date with someone who you consider "just" a friend, though you lost your virginity to him ten years ago, and the part of this scenario that you're worried might get complicated or awkward is whether or not your coworker sees you on the date or not?"

"Not everything's some big drama," Lauren said, but she could already feel her cheeks beginning to flush.

Amanda and Sam stared at her with twin looks of so-not-buying it.

"What?" Lauren shrugged.

Karina, smiling slyly, said, "I don't know, maybe there's a part of the story that we're all not hearing. Could that be the case, Lauren?"

Lauren sighed, dropping her face into her hands and shaking her head.

"Oh, Lord," she groaned. "Okay, so here's the deal. Ben and I hooked up. In Aspen. Well...Grand Junction, actually."

Reluctant to view her friends' reaction to this revelation, she inched her fingers apart and slowly peeked out through the gaps. They were looking at her, mouths agape—but not in a horrified way, she was relieved to see. So Lauren took her hands down and sat up straighter.

Karina shook her head, impressed. "You little secret slut, you!" she cried.

"Come on, Karina. It's not like that."

"Oh, are you kidding me?" Karina said. "In the space of the last ten minutes, I've found out that one of my best friends has actually slept with two of the hottest guys I've ever seen. It's a very big deal. Aaaannnddd you deserve a very big pat on the back."

Sam and Amanda both laughed.

"So you don't think I'm a horrible person?" Lauren said. "Going back on my ideals? Saying that I hated him and thought he was the most annoying person ever and then turning around and sleeping with him? You don't think that's weak?"

Amanda looked at her, shaking her head at Lauren's foolishness. "Please, Lauren," she said. "We could all tell that you were head over heels for him. You even admitted that you wanted to sleep with him. It was really just a matter of time until this happened."

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "It was pretty obvious."

Karina wrapped up by saying, "There's really only one question left to ask."

Lauren groaned and said with trepidation, "What might that be?"

Karina laughed. "Well, I was going to say that the only question left to ask is 'Was it good?' But now that I think about it a little more, I realize that the only question left to ask that really matters is—who else do I know that you've slept with?"

--- ~ ---

Lauren walked into the great room at the Hope Falls Recreation Center on Eric's arm and knew that she should, by all accounts, feel like a princess. She was walking into a fancy event, in front of the whole town, dressed in a gorgeous gown and perfectly made up, on the arm of one of the most handsome and eligible bachelors Hope Falls had to offer.

Yet she found it hard to muster up any excitement or enthusiasm for the night ahead.

Still, she told herself, it was important that she put on a good face, shake off her worries about Ben, and enjoy the night to the best of her ability.

It wasn't Eric's fault that the electrical impulses connecting her heart and her brain were getting crossed. This was his night—the Hometown Heroes Ball was, after all, about policemen first and foremost—so she needed to do her part to be happy, to be cheerful, to show him the best time she possibly could, her own emotional state aside. Eric had asked her here as a friend. The least she could do was be a good one.

Lauren pasted a wide smile on her face and looked around the room more carefully. People she'd known and loved her entire life were seemingly everywhere her eyes rested.

Sue Ann, who not only owned the café but was also Ryan's grandmother, was chatting with Henry, who was Amanda's godfather as well as the town's acting mayor.

A few feet to their left, she saw Karina's grandmother Renata, who was being enthusiastically chatted up by Bernie—who was now not only Karina's manager, but hers as well.

Renata, an elegant and reserved beauty, was clearly doing nothing to encourage Bernie's shameless flirting—but she was doing nothing to dis courage it either. Rather, she stood by, her facial expression smooth and immovable, rewarding Bernie every once in a while with the tiniest twitch of her lips that, if you were to interpret it in the most generous way possible, could conceivably be viewed as the beginnings of a smile.

Bernie, for his part, was obviously employing this interpretation with great enthusiasm, because he lit up like Times Square every time Renata's lips twitched even slightly. He was clearly infatuated with Karina's grandmother and ecstatic at any bit of positive feedback he was able to get from her.

Eric pulled Lauren out onto the dance floor, smiling at her gallantly and saying, "May I have this dance?"

Lauren laughed and gave a little curtsy, replying, "But of course!"

As they swayed together out on the floor, Eric grinned and asked a little shyly if she ever thought about that night up at The Top of the World.

Lauren smiled back and said matter-of-factly, "Of course I do. I could never forget that. It was my first time."

Eric took a step backwards, his eyes widening in shock. "It was what?" he exclaimed.

"You didn't realize that?" Lauren asked. "I thought it would've been obvious, in hindsight."

Eric shook his head, moving back towards her and resuming their swaying motion. "No," he said, his voice a little shaky, "I had no idea. I never would've done it if I'd known that! At least not without you being my girlfriend."

"Well, yeah, of course I knew that, silly," Lauren replied. "You're too noble for your own good. That's why I didn't tell you before we got started. I was leaving for college the next day and I'd made up my mind that I was not going to start college as a virgin and so...there you were!"

Eric threw his head back and laughed. "I think I should feel used?" he said uncertainly. "But I actually feel sort of honored in a way. And, I mean, hey...if I'm going to get used, there are worse ways, right?"

They both laughed and Eric took the opportunity to lean down and kiss her. Lauren was surprised, but she didn't pull away.

This should be exactly what I want, she told herself. On paper, Eric's perfect for me—he's handsome, he's nice, he's got a stable job, he lives where I live. This. Should. Be. What. I. Want.

Eric pulled away and looked at her thoughtfully. "That was..." he began, obviously struggling for the right words.

Lauren filled in the silence with, "Nice?"

He chuckled a bit and said, "I was going to say something like kissing a relative...but sure, 'nice' works. Let's go with nice."

Lauren smiled kindly and said, "So I guess we're better off as friends, then."

Eric looked at her happily. "Friends works for me."

Suddenly, Lauren felt her blood run cold. It occurred to her that Ben might already be here and could have seen her and Eric kissing. She quickly looked around to see if she could catch a glimpse of him and did.

He was standing in the corner of the room, attention laser focused on Kelly King as she regaled him with some seemingly scintillating story—but, more importantly, positioned herself with shoulders back and chest out so that he was getting a full view of all of the cleavage her low-cut dress was putting on display.

Lauren shook her head. She should've known. She couldn't believe she'd been worried about what he might think about her sharing an innocent kiss with an old friend.

It's fine , she told herself. I don't need to worry about what Ben thinks of me. I don't need to worry about that at all .

But all night, as she danced and talked with Eric, she found that that was all she worried about.